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Those "other" players

10 March 2016

Casino entertainment can take many different forms. There are the games, of course, where winning is the best entertainment. Losing, not so much. There are the showrooms, lounges, dealertainers at casinos that have party pits, and much more to keep us amused.

And then there are other players. Sometimes what we take away from the casino are the stories about who we’ve seen and what they were up to.

Avi: Maybe the third time I was ever in a casino, it was not very busy night. There were open machines all over the place.

One woman was ready to fill the gaps. I was playing quarter three-reel slots and there was a row of six machines with this lady playing every one of them. She was working from aisle to wall. She’d start at the machine on the aisle and pull the handle, then pull the handle on the next one down, then the next, then the next. After she pulled the handle on the one on the wall, she’d come back to the aisle and start over again.

As far as I could see, she didn’t even stop to see if she had any winners. She was two machines away by the time the reels stopped.

She saw me watching her and said, “One of them has to be the hot machine, honey.” I just told her good luck, and I found a seat at another row to play one machine at a time. Trying to keep up with six at once would drive me bananas.

Noreen: I’d always heard that baccarat was a good game, but never really played. My husband said maybe we should try the big baccarat together, just once to see what it was like. We’d been doing a little casino hopping, and we found one where the baccarat room had a big table with $20 minimums. They had a little appetizer buffet in the room, really a nice atmosphere.

The other players were VERY serious, and betting a lot more money than we were. They had the biggest bettors picking up the cards, so Alex and I never got to touch them. Hah! But we enjoyed the show. This one guy picked up a hand and just sat there for the longest time, like he was afraid to spread them apart. When he finally moved, he spread them so slow. I’d say he inched them apart, but that would be too fast. Maybe he millimetered them apart.

When he’d get a losing hand, the cards had to be punished. He’d crumple them up, even tear them up. I guess Alex and I looked shocked, because the dealer told us, “Don’t worry, we’ll get new cards when we shuffle.”

We didn’t win any money, but we had an experience that we still laugh about.

D.J.: It was Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season, and I was in a sportsbook in Vegas. I don’t remember the game, the Cincinnati Reds and somebody else. I made a bet on the game and took a seat to watch a little, and the waitress brought me a beer.

Somebody hit a home run and this guy a couple of seats down from me pounded the desk, let out a big “Yes!” and stood up and walked away with a big grin on his face.

Maybe he had a bet on who would score first or something, but I’ve always told myself he just wanted to see the first home run of the new season, and when it happened, he was happy.
John Grochowski

John Grochowski is the best-selling author of The Craps Answer Book, The Slot Machine Answer Book and The Video Poker Answer Book. His weekly column is syndicated to newspapers and Web sites, and he contributes to many of the major magazines and newspapers in the gaming field, including Midwest Gaming and Travel, Slot Manager, Casino Journal, Strictly Slots and Casino Player.

Listen to John Grochowski's "Casino Answer Man" tips Tuesday through Friday at 5:18 p.m. on WLS-AM (890) in Chicago. Look for John Grochowski on Facebook and Twitter @GrochowskiJ.

John Grochowski Websites:

www.casinoanswerman.com

Books by John Grochowski:

> More Books By John Grochowski

John Grochowski
John Grochowski is the best-selling author of The Craps Answer Book, The Slot Machine Answer Book and The Video Poker Answer Book. His weekly column is syndicated to newspapers and Web sites, and he contributes to many of the major magazines and newspapers in the gaming field, including Midwest Gaming and Travel, Slot Manager, Casino Journal, Strictly Slots and Casino Player.

Listen to John Grochowski's "Casino Answer Man" tips Tuesday through Friday at 5:18 p.m. on WLS-AM (890) in Chicago. Look for John Grochowski on Facebook and Twitter @GrochowskiJ.

John Grochowski Websites:

www.casinoanswerman.com

Books by John Grochowski:

The Craps Answer Book

> More Books By John Grochowski