I used the song "Love In A Bottle" sung by Keith David (who also voiced the villain from Disney's The Princess and the Frog).
I wanted there to be a reason why my character was a ball... so why not make it a roulette ball?
Lyrics:
Makes you want to drink
Until you feel like you are someone else
And another... and another and another and another and another!
Love in a bottle, love in a bottle
Don't need love when it comes in a bottle
Start when you're bluffing, double or nothing
Laugh it up, laugh it up, la la la la
Love in a bottle... love in a bottle
Don't need love if it comes in a bottle
Home in a bottle... numb in a bottle...
I don't need nothing that's not from a bottle...
Another round!
At first, there is nothing behind the ball as there is nothing the ball is aspiring to do in life... but when gambling, the giant roulette wheel is behind it, giving a reflection that the ball is facing away from. It doesn't want to think about itself... it just wants to gamble in the hopes that it can win big and get out of the slump. Unfortunately, our ball didn't bet on green.
I added some area lights on the side coming from the bar and on the side of the green slot:
Everything was modeled by me. I used textures from online to give the glass cups the illusion that they were detailed.