Got two weeks off from work, so every chance I get I go to the
casinos to play some VP for what I consider to be, "Rest and
Recreation," although given the nature of gambling for real money,
some may disagree with the "rest" part, I jump in my car and do
battle with
the gambling Gods once again.
Saturday, I headed over the river once again to Sarnia, to play
dollar Pick'Em at Hiawatha Racetrack, that last bastion of full-pay
Pick'Em in the Detroit/Windsor area.
As I crossed the Blue Water Bridge, I noticed that the line of
cars heading back to the states, stretched back almost past the
center of the bridge. This was probably due to the high terrorist
alert that was announced over the holidays by Homeland Security. I
hoped that on my return later that a lot of this traffic would be
gone.
When I got to the casino and walked up to the dollar bank of
machines, an old gambling buddy was there playing. Joe and I go back
several years now ever since we both admitted to Pick'Em being our
favorite video poker game. We have play played many an hour together
and seen our share of winning and losing sessions.
I asked him how he was doing and he said he has been playing for
about an hour and was holding his own at the moment. In vp, that's
damn good. I exchanged $600 American for, I think it was about $730
Canadian, stuck $400 into the machine, and started my own quest for
riches beyong
my wildest belief.(Yea, right!)
We played together for about four hours with him still ahead a few
hundred and me losing a few hundred. We had just commented on the
fact that we must have played at least two or three thousand hands so
far and
should be coming up on that theoretical point where a quad might show
up soon, (with a lot of luck) when Bang!, he hit four Kings for $600.
"That's it," he said. "I heading for home." I think he won about
$800. Not a bad day at all.
Meanwhile, I was losing at a slow, steady pace and only a quad
would save me now.
I looked at my watch and said to myself, "Self I'm outta here at
4:00." At 3:55 I hit four sixes for the $600. After cashing in the
coins from my tray and turning my money back to American, I finished
up $125. I'll take it and as old VP Pappy says:
"It's not the winning and losing that matters the most, it's the
adventure." --VP Pappy
On the way back it took me almost a hour to get across the bridge.
And when I finally got to the window to be questioned by the custom
officer, he noticed my "VP PAPPY" license plate and asked me what
the "VP" stood for. I told him it was for video poker because that's
the name I use when I write about gambling on the internet. He then
proceeded to reccomend some video poker machines up in Sault St.
Marie (or as my late Mother used to call it "Saint Soo Marie)
His advice was to play the "Hot White Aces" (as he called them)
machines. If I had more time
I would have explained to him about pay scales and percentage of
payback, but seeing the line behind me I said, "Thanks for the
advice," and left.
Terry Murphy & VP Pappy
"The battle is not between you and the casino, but between you and
your ego."
--VP Pappy