At the Cow Creek Indian Gaming Center

Coyote and I are traveling through Canyonville and we decide to try our luck at the Cow Creek Indian Gaming Center.

We saunter across the asphalt parking lot, under the neon eagle that seems to fly as it flashes, past trucks and motor homes and cars with out-of-state plates, up the carpet and through the front entrance. We pass the hat and coat rack, the model of South Umpqua Falls with real water that smells like a swimming pool, past the change cage and straight to the slot machines.

"I like games where I can win bucks," says Coyote. "And I've got a way with the nickel slots."

"That figures," I say. "Kind of smoky in here don't you think?"

"I like the smoke. Are you forgetting who brought tobacco into the world?"

"That figures, too," I say. "Maybe I'll give the slots a try."

So Coyote and I plop down at the nickel slots, I at one with fruit on the dials, Coyote at one with pirates, each with a free soda, and the wheels start turning.

Five minutes go by and I am broke. I don't like these slots. They're all electronic. There's no arm to pull, only buttons to push, and a computer readout instead of a metal tray for the coins to cascade into and sing their wonderful song.

But Coyote is still playing, and there's a crowd gathered around him, watching him win time after time, and listening to him -- yes! -- listening to him singing gambling songs.

"That's how we've always played," says Coyote, and he starts crooning: "bolemna, bolem bolem bolem, bolemna...."

Hours later, Coyote and I head out of Canyonville, heavily laden with Coyote's winnings. We traipse into the hills and find a place to camp. All night we sit around the fire, Coyote teaching me the best gambling songs, firing up for another day at the Gaming Center.

"Some things are best done the old ways," says Coyote. "Those high tech slots are a lot easier to outwit than gamblers from the old days."

As Coyote rattles his coins, I nod in a way that tells Coyote that his friend will put up with the smoke and the electronics and the funny smelling water for one more day, just to see if it really works.