Norman's Good Times in Las Vegas

2 July 2022

By Jerry Stickman

Norman writes:

Hi Jerry, I was in Vegas the first week of March and you are right about things becoming more expensive.

I also noticed the disappearance of favorable odds and pay tables in a couple of the casinos. As one example, I have gone to Ellis Island for a lot of years for one evening to enjoy their barbecue ribs and play 8/5 bonus poker. This time every machine was only a 7/5.

That leads me to one of the war stories I was going to tell you about. I started off my week in March by staying my first two nights at the Freemont. One of my daughters turned 50 and for her birthday I flew her out to join me.

I generally bring $4,000 with me and hope it lasts the week. I’ve been lucky the past few trips and have brought that money home and then some.

I play mostly at the 25-cent level. I know you’re great at math so $1.25 x 700 hands per hour x 12 hours per day x 5-6 days is a lot.

On the second day I get 5 of a kind twice playing joker poker and take the $500 and go to a machine and start playing 8/5 bonus at the 50-cent level (big for me).

About 10 minutes in I’m dealt 4 cards to a royal flush and sure enough I get the fifth card for $2000. I called my daughter over from wherever she was to see a hand-pay that she had never seen before.

We then go to Tony Roma’s and have a 15-minute wait for dinner. She sits down at a slot machine and goes and hits a $1500 bonus.

What a couple of hours that was. We each got a red shirt saying I hit a jackpot at the Freemont. I would never wear that but my wife loved it as a night shirt. Lol.

Till next time,
Norman


Hi Norman,

What a fantastic story. Almost like a fairy tale.

I am of the belief that good things can happen when you bring family with you. And even if your experience would have been less profitable, the time you spent with your daughter is irreplaceable.

How fortuitous for you to switch to 50-cent denomination.

I have a similar incident that happened to my wife when she was very new to casino play.

She got her first royal flush on a video poker machine decades ago on a river boat out of Council Bluffs, Iowa (near Omaha).

She played nickel slots and hit a nice-sized win and decided to quit while she was ahead. However, when she tried to get off, the boat had already left the dock.

With nothing else to do, she decided to try quarter video poker. She did well and decided to take a shot at the dollar level. She was shocked when she hit the progressive royal for about $5,500.

Situations such as yours do not happen very often. When they do, it is glorious. Savor those memories.

For the record, five days with 12 hours of play each day at 700 hands per hour is 42,000 hands.

At $1.25 per hand, the total amount run through the machines is $52,500. Yikes! And that is on a 25-cent game.

May your “glorious” times continue, Norman.

As always, may all your wins be swift and large, and your losses be slow and small.

Jerry “Stickman”

Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines. He authored the video poker section of Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pai Gow Poker! You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanjerryg@gmail.com