I picked up Johnson and Brandon and headed to the bus stop, Dennies. We get there early since we are quite anxious and ready to go. So what else should three guys do in a Dennies parking lot with 20 minutes but throw disc. Brandon has one. Sweet.
The bus is full. This sucks. We each grab seats anywhere we can find one. I get a seat next to an elderly Asian woman. Johnson sits next to a member of the big hair club (perhaps the founder). Miller gets trapped in a Black Jack game with the senior crop (don't know how he made out there). Chapman and Seth get seats together, commies. They commence with Ro-Sham-Bo action. Only problem is they hit on four. On FOUR, are they crazy? Brandon hits it big, he gets to sit with Crack Boy. Not that the guys smokes crack (not that he doesn't either) but the guy is wearing his shorts so low that he may actually be a plumber on a day off. He is also rather lit and Brandon gets to talk with him the whole way out! Turns out the guy is an assistant manager of an Ogden Burger King. This of course makes him an "expert at every game" (to quote him) and he wastes no time on the ride out explaining everything to Brandon. I think Brandon went on Tilt about there.
On the ride out they play bingo on the bus, yes bingo. Two or three games are played and the same woman wins twice. Her friend also wins. I start floating conspiracy theories around the bus. Seems no one believes me, are they all that naive. On the last game (which was blackout) I shouted to Chapman "One dollar says I get more spaces covered". Brandon immediately says "I'm in". Seth jumps in as well as Johnson and Miller. The tension is pretty thick. Also we are all thinking "how do we verify the winner?" Someone says honor system - we all laugh. I get 9 of the last 10 numbers called and shout BINGO! The group is shocked to say the least but I collect the two dollar prize as well as my five dollars on the side bet. Sweet.
We arrive at Wendover and I am up $7 already. I also have lost a few friends that think I somehow cheated. At bingo? Gimmie a break. Group Tilt.
I then wonder around a while concerned that I am going to loose a lot of money before I even know what hit me. The glamour and glitz and all that ya know. Well I go try the poker slots and manage to get ahead for a while and then lose a little. I tell Johnson "I've lost enough at this I better quit." I then count up my money and realize that I have lost only $1.50 over the 15 minutes I was sitting there. Seemed like more since I was just throwing quarters into that machine. So naturally, I stay a bit longer to up my losings a bit.
So we venture over to the other casino and run into Green. He is stationed at the Black Jack table apparently holding his own. He taunts me into sitting down and playing a hand. He even spots me the $2 bet since all I had was $1 tokens that I didn't know if that casino accepted. I win. I win again. I win a lot. Green gets a little upset. He takes 2 chips and gives me back my $1 tokens. Tilt for Green.
The only bad part about this was that there was to much pressure. I didn't know when to take a hit or when to stay. Not because I don't know the game (which I don't know much about) but because I cant add fast enough! Luckily there are two people to the right of me so I get a little extra time to figure things out. I managed to get up about $10 when Green decides he had seen enough and left. Johnson now joins in the game and starts playing. He starts with $20 and makes himself some nice change. Basically we are playing group Black Jack at this point. He is looking at my cards and I at his. Sure, he was actual help where as I was just an annoyance but...
About a half hour later Green returns. Close to disgusted that I am still there with about $12 dollars in front of me all built off of his original $2 spot. Never going down. He squeezes between Johnson and I to play a couple hands. This makes me bet in a new betting ring. I lose. I lose again, and again. Green keeps winning. Bastard. Takes my spot and wins with my cards. He eventually loses and leaves. I take back my circle and get Black Jack. Sweet.
I should mention that I am not experienced at this at all. In fact this was my first time at a casino. This was evident when the dealer says to me "you're supposed to flip your cards over when you bust". Johnson tells me "Don't play with your cards, let the dealer do that or they get jumpy". The dealer then comes back at me on the next hand with "one hand on the table only please." This of course rattles me, but I kept winning. Later Chapman comes by and I tell him "I have no idea what I am doing, the dealer even yelled at me for using two hands." Well the dealer didn't let this pass and she jumped in with "I didn't yell, I just told you..." Rattling me again, damn. Tilt.
I ended up losing back to the original stake so I left to check on others progress. Johnson stayed as he was still up about $8. I went by the poker tables to check up on Brandon and Miller. Brandon is not looking good. He is way down, way way down. Miller is entertaining everyone so he must only be down a little. Strange that Miller knows everybody in the poker room (well almost anyway). Turns out that Brandon is down around $80 and Miller is down about $40. Holy Shnikes. I decide not to sit in since the game is Texas Hold-em, which I know how to play but with $2-$5 spread limit I decide I could lose money more slowly elsewhere. Miller seems to also be getting the best of Brandon on the tilt-scale. During one hand while playing heads-up against each other Miller says "oh, its you. I raise 5." Brandon's reply was of course, "...bastard." Tilt often Brandon?
I leave the Poker room and head out into the casino. I run into Chapman. It is about 7:00 and he is already saying "well, lost all my money so I guess I will just drink what I can the rest of the way." Also a little bitter since he was playing craps with Seth (who didn't know the game) and Seth is up about $10 already.
Dinner is approaching so I go to collect Johnson, still playing Black Jack. He seems to be bored with the game since he is now betting crazy. Making the game "more interesting" I believe is what he said. I cash in six dollars and sit down to play a few hands. Time runs short, and so does my chip stack. I am down to $2. This means my last hand if I lose. I win. I double down and win. I lose. I win again and leave for dinner. Why now?!
We all get our moneys worth out of the buffet. $8 buffet but I think I ate a whole animal of some sorts. Plus rice crispy treats. Sweet.
The evening rolled on. We played Keno once, which is enough to realize that the odds of winning are about as good as winning the lottery with less prize money. Bite me keno! I offer Chapman $1 to eat a Keno crayon. He says $5 which I wasn't willing to cover. Missed opportunity, I should have collected money from the rest of the pilgrims to make this happen. Next time.
After throwing money at slot poker and slot Black Jack I had one chip left. I saw Green and he says I know what you can do with that chip, actually a little snide in his tone. He drags me over to the craps table and says "bet the field". Now the field, as it turns out, is a bad bet. I didn't know this ahead of time so I bet the field. I win. Which makes Green laugh that no matter what he does I win. I take the $1 winning chip off and leave one on the field again. This time the roll is a 2. Double my money. $1 into $4 just like that. Green steals a chip and leaves saying something about "services rendered." Of course after he left I lost that $3 but he didn't see it. Sweet.
Time to head out. I left with $1 token left of the original $11 given to us. Plus the $7 winnings from Bingo against the chumps. So this is either $3 down or $8 up depending on your viewpoint. Johnson came out $11 up, and was actually carded once (at 27 that is a feat). Chapman was down at least $20. Green was no where to be found but he was still down $40 or more, if his luck held. Seth made a last second run at nickel slots and finished the evening $30 up. Miller finished $40 down (I think). Brandon was the one that got hurt, $160 down. Not looking forward to seeing the wife that evening!
We all start angling the other bus passengers to get seats together. Crack boy puts up some resistance. One couple flat denies. Won't even Ro-Sham-Bo for it. Two gentlemen in back agree. Crack boy relents. Success. All six together. This was important since all the seniors were quick to go to sleep and we were the only awake people there. Brandon kept trying to get people to bet with him so that he could get back to around $100, but no success there.
We make it back to Salt Lake at around midnight. Head home knowing that we weren't beaten by the casino, well all of us but Brandon...
the end.
tom.