Jack Manfred I'm not an enigma, just a contradiction. Jack Manfred A wave of elation came over him; he was hooked again... watching people lose. Jack Manfred Chapter 13. It's all numbers, the croupier thought. Spin of the wheel, turn of the card, time of your life, date of your birth, year of your death. In the book of Numbers the Lord said, "Thou shall count thy steps."