Hi Gang:
Hedy and I have been traveling a lot lately (a Hawaii cruise out of
Honolulu, a Bermuda/Caribbean cruise out of Bayonne etc.) but except for a couple of
royals early in the year at the South Point our gambling luck has been
running from lousy to just plain rotten.
It was looking as if the VP gods had turned their backs on us and we were
now paying for our 2006 bonanza when it seemed as if we were hitting a royal on
every trip to AC, capped by the $16,000 weekend we had (2 4G royals and one
8G royal in two days) over my birthday weekend in August.
One losing trip piled on top of another and we actually were relieved to
find that the ship we took to Hawaii (NCL's Pride of America) DID NOT have a
casino onboard.
So, awash in red ink, we rolled into the Borgata this past weekend for a
two-night stay, hoping to break the losing streak that was growing alarmingly
large. Friday at the Borg, we attacked the 9/6 JOB on Multi Strike and the Super
Times Pay machines to which we've just about become addicted. We had several
hits during the afternoon and evening hours (4X quad for $250 on STP, aces
for $200 and a dealt SF on the progressive triple-play joker poker for Hedy --
$375) but at the end of the day, we just added another negative number to
our gambling journal.
Saturday morning was more of the same, but worse, and we found ourselves
down several thousand dollars as we drove over to Harrah's for a mystery
multiplier, an afternoon drawing plus a jackpot bonus promotion that offered an
extra $150 for every hand pay over $1,200.
We ate in the diamond lounge and wandered over to the bank of 9/6 JOB
machines by the Xhibition Bar only to find the bank full, with people waiting to
get an open seat. The frustration was really starting to grow when I looked
over at the pod of $1 8/5 JOB progressive machines nearby and saw that the royal
was up to $6,300. I said to Hedy, "Why don't we take a shot over there. The
royal's fairly high and we can pass some time until some seats open up on the
9/6 bank."
So, we wandered over, sat down, put in a $100 bill each and started to play.
Hedy's hundred was evaporating rather quickly, but I was getting some play
at first and had about $75 left after about five minutes. Then, I was dealt the
A-10-Q-K of spades and a throwaway card. I called over to Hedy and said,
"Well, I need the jack of spades for a $6,316 royal."
She left her machine, stood behind me and we both fell silent as I held the
four royal cards and hit the draw button. And, wouldn't you know it, up popped
the most beautiful looking jack of spades we've ever seen!
Bells! Music! Euphoria!
I jumped out of my seat, thrust my arms into the air and shouted, "Yessss,
the drought is over!!"
And, just like that we had wiped out several weeks of losses ... and put
some color back into our faces.
It was the 149th royal of our VP career and the largest one I've ever hit.
Only Hedy's $8,000 score on STP at Trump Plaza eclipsed this one.
Plus, when the attendant came over, he was nice enough to remind us about
the $150 hand pay bonus because we were so excited we had completely forgotten
about it. So, the full payoff was $6466.
Yippee!!
Anyway, we played for about an hour after getting paid, lost $100 or so and
headed back to the Borgata where we ran into Harry Porter and Bev. We had
breakfast with them the next morning in the buffet and were joined by Ellen
Carbin and a friend, and a good time was had by all.
So, I guess the moral of the story is, when things look their bleakest, a
ray of sunshine can be lurking just beyond the ugliest looking clouds. It was
for us. Oh, and a little bit of luck helps!
We're back in AC this weekend at Harrah's for a slot tourney and 7X points
on Friday before we begin the countdown to BARGE in Las Vegas at the end of
the month. Maybe, the new streak (a positive one) can continue.
Regards,
CoachVee (Tom V) & Hedy
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