That discarded coupon book

6 October 2016

By John Grochowski

Readers send me A LOT of stories of their casino experiences – tales of their first trips to Las Vegas or Atlantic City, big wins, things that impressed or depressed them and even times when they couldn’t win for losing.

I am grateful, and when I share the stories, I hope you find them as much fun to read as I do.

The latest comes from reader Dave, who wanted to tell about his first trip to Downtown Las Vegas in the 1980s. He was there for a trade show and a little gambling, but amid the bright neon and cheap eats, he found that three-reel slot machines were gobbling up his budget much too fast.

“On the morning of my last day, I had barely enough cash left for a hot dog and bus fare back to the airport,” he said in an e-mail. “Since I was taking the red-eye home that evening, I had the rest of the day to waste. Being completely busted and utterly disgusted with myself, I decided to look for some free entertainment or anything that would keep me occupied.”

Fortunately for him, it was a time when coupon books were common. It wasn’t hard to come by a cheap or free bet here and there, or a free hot dog or tub of popcorn.

A coupon book turned Dave’s trip around.

“While bouncing around from casino to casino, I found a coupon book lying on the sidewalk,” he said. “The page that caught my eye was for a free slot pull. In the old days many Vegas casinos had a couple of one-arm bandits that accepted promo tokens. I ended up with a free roll of quarters.

“Naturally, with a pocket full of quarters I just couldn’t resist playing again. Hoping to extend my playing time, I played the minimum bet of 25 cents a pull. In no time I was down to my last two quarters. So I went all in with a 50-cent max bet. Unbelievably, on that last pull, I hit the jackpot for $250.

“What an incredible feeling of relief and euphoria, going from completely down and out to my first jackpot, all because I found a discarded coupon book.”

Dave was determined not to blow his new bankroll. He settled in at a keno lounge to make inexpensive bets on the slowest-moving game in the house.

“After several hours of playing, amazingly, I hit 5-out-of-5 for $600 - my second jackpot of the day. After playing for a while longer, it was apparent my luck was running out. So I decided to head back to the airport.”

He had enough time for a slight detour. The bus made several stops on the Strip, and Dave hopped to make one final keno bet.

“When I got to the main entrance, there was an elderly lady with a walker trying to manage the heavy glass doors. Being the gentleman, I gladly stopped for a moment to help the poor lady. Once inside, I promptly headed for the keno lounge and filled out a ticket with my five lucky numbers.

“As I approached the keno counter, the sign flashed “Game Closed.” I just missed that game by a few seconds. As you may have guessed, my lucky 5-spot hit again. Was it bad luck, fate or just being a gentleman that caused me to miss my third jackpot? I’ll never know.”

Nonetheless, Dave went from flat broke to going home with $800 in his pocket.

Today?

“I’m always on the lookout for discarded coupon books.”

Look for John Grochowski on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/7lzdt44) and Twitter (@GrochowskiJ).