A good weekend

Early in the month, G asked me if I wanted to get away during the three-day weekend this month. At her job, MLK day is a paid holiday - not for me. Because we cancelled our Portland trip in December due to the snow, I thought this would be a great idea. My boss kindly gave me the day off.

Instead of driving two plus hours to stay in Portland or Vancouver BC, we decided to just stay for one night at the Tulalip Resort & Casino. It takes less than forty-five minutes to get there so that meant less time driving and more time at our destination. And, because we only gamble once or twice a year, we thought we'd have fun playing with those cleverly animated slot machines.

Before we left the house on Saturday, we fed the cats two helpings each. I told them, "Listen - eat half now and, in the morning, eat the second half for breakfast." But, being Luna & Maddie, they simply shoveled food down their mouths and, most likely, ate everything that night. We didn't have anyone feeding them in the morning so we needed to keep that in mind and make sure to be back at a decent time.

What a hotel! We paid only $150 for an amazing room! I've stayed at three different hotels in Vegas and must say that this was right on par with those places. The room was beautiful - it has to be a four or five star hotel. There was a 47" flat screen TV and one of those showers with three different water nozzles to wash your entire body.



We ate at the buffet around 6:30 and were stuffed by the time we started playing slots at about 8:30. We were both able to play for a couple of hours with me losing only $40 and G losing only $25. The place was packed and we weren't able to play our favorite Leprauchan game. Instead, we played three different slots and finally settled on a two-cent Angels & Devils game for awhile.

After a very relaxing evening and a good night's sleep, we decided our plan for Sunday would be to eat brunch, play slots for a little bit, and go shopping at the nearby outlet mall before going home. The cats were probably hungry and we didn't want to get home too late. After stuffing ourselves at the buffet (again), we settled down at our favorite Leprauchan slot machine around 1:30. We played two hours. G had lost her $40 but I was able to break-even. We decided to leave and that was fine with me. I had only lost the $40 from the night before.

As we walked away from the slots, G said, "I had done much better at the Angels & Devils game..." Hmmm... I asked if she still wanted to play. I could tell she was entertaining the thought of reducing her $65 in losses. And, of course, I was all about staying. The slots have fun bonus rounds. I still wanted to try to hit those.

Moments later, we were back at the slots. G's luck changed! She started with $20 and, after an hour, she had won back her previous losses. I, on the other hand, was doing very badly. I quickly lost $15 at Angels & Devils and told G I was going back to the Leprauchans game. But after only 15 minutes, I lost my remaining $25.

Now I was now down $80. $40 was of my own cash from the night before. G had loaned me the other $40. I went back to her and asked for another $20 cash. I sat next to her, played slowly, but still lost all my money fairly quickly. Gone. Ugh. But she was still having fun and I wanted her to keep playing while she had her luck.

It was getting late. We had a decision to make. Does G keep playing with all that luck? If she does, do I continue to gamble? What about shopping? And what about the cats? It was already 4:30. They must be starved.

Okay. I was down $40 of my own cash and $60 of G's. I told her to continue on with her luck and loan me just another $20... no, wait... another $40. After we were done from the casino, I would go to the bank and withdraw the $100 I owed her. Forget about shopping. She would just keep rolling with her luck and we would see how it went.

It was horrible for me. I lost $20 again very quickly. I was trying to go as slow as possible. I would watch G play three or four games then I would play one. I was still having fun but just felt so unlucky. I finally decided to screw it. I needed to just focus on my game and develop some sort of rhythm. I started developing a pattern with my wagers and concentrated on my own machine. I soon won back the $20 I had just lost and was having so much fun!

In no time, my last $40 turned into $80. G had the same amount. She looked over and couldn't believe I had matched up to her. My history with slot machines is riddled with bad luck. But, now, I was just feeling great! I started wagering more and my luck was changing dramatically. I was hitting all types of bonus rounds and loading up so much! All of a sudden, one game gave me $200 plus in winnings! I was up to $250. I kept betting more and more... suddenly, I was just under 30,000 credits... at two cents per credit, that meant almost $600! I couldn't focus. What had just happened was unbelievable. Being at $250 was nerve-racking but I just couldn't think anymore. I played a bit more, lost some, and finally settled at $500.

What a great weekend! We had an awesome place to stay, good food, and great entertainment... all for free and with about $120 to spare. It was like someone paid us $120 to go out and have fun. I've always heard of other people gambling in Vegas and winning so much that they left with their flight & hotel paid for and extra money. This was my first! I hope it happens again someday, preferably in Vegas. That was so much fun... and the cats didn't seem too unhappy with us when we came home around 6:30. They were just happy for us and our winnings. Meow.