"It's glad to hear that. We've noticed you're talented at the poker tables, you take calculated risks, keep your temper, and speak Chinese." - the pit boss said.

I then noticed 2 men standing behind him on each of his side. They were the same guys that brought me here! "Wait, you are here?!"

"Umm, yes. We believe so"

"but the kick, that swing, and those…boobs! What was that all about? We could have walked here!" - I yelled at them in despair.

"You seemed to be in a rush, so we showed you a short-cut."

"Yeah, dude. Whatever." - I replied in disbelief.

"Well young man, allow me to tell you why you are here, but first let's bring our guests." - the pit boss said as he tapped on his iPhone, "Gentlemen, please follow the hostesses to our venue. Baldemar, why don't you enjoy another drink? Ichika, show our wildcard some hospitality!!".

Do I have to drink? I thought. I ordered the beer with the lowest alcohol volume out of peer pressure. I needed to stay focused through this day for whatever was to come.

The hostesses arrived followed by well-dressed gentlemen; however, the spotlight was stolen by those who walked alongside the fine gentlemen. I am left to believe those were their body-guards as their attire did not match their side-kicks:

a tall black man wearing a white sleeveless shirt with loose pants causing a sneak peek of his boxers, a formidable blonde man sporting a military hair-cut and wearing an Under Armour shirt, cargo shorts, and brown CAT boots; a woman wearing a checkered shirt, a cowboy hat, jeans, and boots; and a tall, chiseled, man wearing a hood that only showed his eyes, a sleeveless cloth on his body that reached all the way to his thighs and was held together with a belt on his waist, leggings, and kneepads. This last one seemed to take Ninja Gaiden too seriously.

"The rules are simple; follow me. We have prepared a fish tank for this event decorated with over-sized water lilies, cattails, and duckweed to simulate a swamp." - Explained the pit boss as we followed him.

A tall red curtain stood in front of us. The pit boss clapped and the curtain started revealing the main attraction, a huge fish tank turned into a whole swamp bio-dome, amazing! Even the room felt humid after they opened the curtains and the hostesses gave us cold refreshments to stand the weather change.

Two hostesses went upstairs to reach the top part of the bio-dome; one of them carrying a plastic box with poultry leftovers. One of the hostesses wore rubber gloves and dipped her hand inside the box, she compressed the poultry in such a way that she made several meat balls out of it.

"The first player to reach the other side of the fish tank wins! You may use any tool you find along the way", a hostess threw a meat ball to the other side of the fish tank where a piece of land could be seen, but it didn't make it through and it fell into the swamp. 

We saw how the meat ball was sinking through the glass of the fish tank - crash, crash, crash - 3 objects hit the glass, one of them snatched the fish ball with it's jaw, the other 2 tried to steal the ball from it. The creature shook It's head away from the other 2 and swam away fast, the other 2 followed it and the 3 vanished away as the green algae prevented us to see further into the abyss.

"Goliath Tigerfish!" - Exclaimed the pit boss as he raised his hand

The hostess threw another ball, it landed on a patch of land found in the center of the tank. Pow, pow, a stomping sound could be heard from afar, a small shadow was seen "jumping" from side to side heading towards the meat ball; becoming bigger and bigger as it approached; the stomping became louder, and with each hop, it revealed more its green, round, and bumpy skin appearance. -Pow! It landed next to the fish ball, it opened its big eyes, and ejected it's tongue to the meat ball. In a fraction of a second, the huge frog had swallowed the meat ball. It blinked twice before jumping back were it came from and disappearing into the marshes - pow, pow, pow!

"Humongous African Bullfrog!" - The pit boss was excited to announce it, the fine gentlemen clapped in awe, the body-guards stared ominously, and I gulped my drink. "Can I have a shot of tequila?!" - I asked a hostess.

"Now, let's not spoil the party. This is only a preview of what awaits our contestants in tonight's game. Based on your stats, you will be given odds..."