Day 3

Today was one of the most fun, albeit useless and frustrating, days of my life. I went to the casino. That should tell you everything. It was actually my girlfriend's idea because her other plans had changed for the day. Rather than "wasting the day" as I had been doing gladly throughout the earlier half of the week, we wanted to go out and have some fun. It really was a good idea.

We slept in for a little bit because we had no real place to go and no schedule to keep. I never used to think getting up at 8am was sleeping in, but when you get up as early as we do on a regular basis, it really is. After a small breakfast of french toast, she helped me pack all of my stuff into my car. I was going back to my house after we got back from the casino and didn't want to spend a lot of time packing later. It would give us the opportunity to just sit with one another for a bit before I hit the road home.

We kissed the kitty goodbye and then jumped in the car for our hour-long trek through the coastal mountains to the casino. I let my girlfriend drive because I expected to be driving for a few additional hours later in the day. It also meant that I could sit back and either nap or read a book. I elected to read (my girlfriend started reading this interesting mystery series and I was trying to catch up with her).

We pulled in to the tiny casino and found parking easily near the entrance. It was more of a tent with gambling than a casino, but at least it had card tables and slot machines. We went inside and looked around. It had been about a year since we had been to this particular casino and it had changed a lot. The restaurant was bigger (when it was only a bar before, this was a big change). They had also changed the color of the carpet from light red to maroon, a change I didn't immediately notice but that my blackjack dealer later pointed out. Apparently the darker color hides dropped chips better; the casino keeps any chips that fall unclaimed onto the ground.

After losing several hands at an exotic form of blackjack I only half-understood I moved on to the slot machines. I really dislike the electronic slot machines. Video poker, too. I always feel like the machine is trying to cheat me. No wheels, no dials, no hamsters spinning the symbols on the screen. I just don't trust them. So I made my way straight over to the "antique" section with the real slot machines.

I found a nice big machine in the corner that had all the normal BARs, cherries, 7s, and jackpots and plugged in a $5 bill. It was a quarter machine, and I always bet the full amount. I played for the better part of a half an hour before I finally got my jackpot. Triple BAR + full bet = $20,000. I can't remember exactly, but I think they heard my cheers in the next state.

Jumping up and down I was shocked when the lights went out. My machine's backlight blinked off, as well as the "credits earned" display. The color from my face must have drained right about then because I woke up leaning against the man at the machine next to me. The lights had come back on and my machine was blinking: "GAME OVER," taunting me.

Apparently, the slot machine reset to zero when the power went out. Unlike the fancy newfangled digital machines, it doesn't keep track of how much the last player won when it turns back on. Yay for me. On the upside, I really only lost $5.

Good thing I had already won $1,000 on the blackjack table. An entire day of gambling on ten bucks.

Maybe next time I'll use the digital machines.

Day 3 of 100 - Summary: Easy come, easy go.