The talk on W2Gs got me thinking ....my biggest win was in Las Vegas in 1990, when I ran $20 up to $650 at the Barbary Coast and then hit a $1758 progressive jackpot at Binions back in 1990. I also plowed a lot of money back into the local economy<g>; I remember paying cash for everything, bringing home gifts and paying deposits for my next trip, but I only came home with an extra $1200. My biggest NET win was a $2400 keno ticket in Reno; I brought home $2000 of that one. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

Daisy: Good subject. I hit a Royal in AC on a quarter machine for $1,000 at Claridge. You know, the casino in bankruptcy <g>. I took the cash and ran to an safe deposit box and came home with the whole bundle.

My last Las Vegas trip was the first W2G for me but not my biggest win. I have won a lot over and entire evening playing hit and run at the craps tables. There were no W2G's on those trips and the totals were a lot more than the $1250 I won at Caesars on the vp machine. That's the beauty of the tables. They have no record of what you won.

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John
Moderator-Dining Forum




[This message has been edited by John (edited July 31, 1999).]

My biggest win was in Atlantic City this past February. It was after meeting with the TV gang for lunch. We went to play at the Taj and I hit a royal on a quarter progessive for $1082. After we left the Taj, we went to play at the Showboat and I played 5 Deck poker. I got five two of clubs for $2500 and my first W2G.
Lee Ann

My biggest, and for that matter, only win was at the Mirage last July. I hit a progressive $1 VP for $7000. The slot attendant was very friendly and offered to take my picture. She also arranged to have dinner comped at one of their gourmet restaurants. Over all it was a fantastic experience. BTW, we still have contact with that slot person, she is now our contact at Bellagio.

My largest win was at the Stardust about 5 years ago. I was playing a progressive, $1.00 VP and won for 8,300. I almost hypervilated. We still had 4 days left in Vegas so we went a little crazy gambling but still came home with 7,000 in cash. THAT was a great trip.
Gale

Gale, If you win that much again, buy a money order and mail it to your house so you don't spend it. I think Jeff had trouble once trying to buy a money order and mailing it home. Maybe he can comment on it. But if you have a way to convert the cash to a check and mail it somewhere, you can't lose it back. Of course you SHOULD keep some of the winnings to try to win more<G>

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John
Moderator-Dining Forum

Gale,
Here's the information I received one time from somewhere.

Location is across the strip from Stardust in a shopping center.

Buy traveler's checks
Mail to yourself at home address
Keep receipt in case they may get lost in mail
Commission free

Foreign Money Exchange, Inc.
3025 Las Vegas Blvd.

My biggest win was on a local TV show called Megabucks, sponsered by the Mich. Lottery, I won $50,000. Speaking of the lottery I just received a $700 Stereo yesterday from them just for sending loosing tickets in.

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LarryinMich@prodigy.net

Boy do I feel like an amateur! My biggest win was at Foxwoods, on a Wild and Loose quarter machine, for $187.50! I did take it all home, however! My biggest win in Vegas was at the Mirage, on a Double Spin Double Diamond machine, actually I believe that one was also $187.50, and the same night, also at the Mirage, I got a wild Royal in Deuces Wild. Haven't won a thing at the Mirage since.

Cathy in Boston

Although I mostly play VP, I confess to a fondness for 3-line Red, White and Blue machines ($.25 and $1) since my biggest wins have come on them here in Peoria. I hit $10,000 on a $1 RWB on my birthday in 1997, and a month later hit the same machine for $4800! I hit a different RWB machine later that year for $2400. Added to several progressive $.25 VP royals, I had 7 or 8 W2Gs that year -- lots of W2Gs. I do have them take out the state tax because otherwise you get socked at the end of the year in Illinois since you can't deduct the losses against the winnings like you can with the IRS.

As far as vp, my best win was $1500 and change on a $.25 progressive 8-5 JOB (also in Peoria)this January.

The best I ever did in LV was $400 on a $.50 double bonus multi-play machine at Treasure Island last month. (hit the 4 aces)I also did well at the old Harrah's on some $1 slots they don't have anymore, but no one-time big win, just cumulative. I think I hop around too much in LV; there's so much to do and so many places to go that I can't stay put more than about 45 min at a time, and I keep looking for the "good" pay machines that are getting scarcer and scarcer<G> so I walk around a lot.

But even at "home" I don't play VP for more than an hour or so, tops, at any one sitting because my brain hurts after a while!! Plus, I'm ususally VERY thirsty for adult beverages by then and that doesn't mix well with VP for me. <G>

Our best win wasn't a big win but it was great fun. It started when we where walking through nickel town @ the Riv. I had four nickels in my pocket so I gave two to my wife and I took two. She hit a decent pot with her spin and we split the pot and kept playing, and playing, and playing. I have no idea how much we played as we didn't have slot cards but we played for at least an hour before going broke.

Doug, you make a good point here. I remember being in Nevada to take state boards (many years ago<g> ), and three of us played roulette for several hours after starting with a $2 stake.

Best win! Have hit three royals for $1000 each in Vegas. Won $1,500 with four of a kind on let It Ride in Windsor.

Best run for winnings was a quarter video Carribean Stud at Stratosphere. I kept hitting full houses with max bet. I palyed for over an hour and walked away $1,200 ahead with a couple thousand points on my payers card. Would have kept playing but a security guard camped out over my shoulder and just stood there staring at me. Guess they didn't like someone winning. Finally I picked up my five buckets of quarters and cashed out. Guess i got back a little of the money I lost on Stratosphere stock.

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Ed, A security guard camped out over your shoulder? I wonder how he knew you were winning so much. Does the computer track what is going on with each machine? I don't know but if it were me, I would have harrassed the guard to death. Ask him for a drink like he was a waitress, ask him if he is bored, etc. etc. As long as the machine was paying they would have had to start a fire to get me to leave the machine.


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John
Moderator Dining Forum
john@talkvegas.com

If a security gaurd our any other casino personnel is haressing you ask for a caniso host and let them know you are unhappy about it. If that don't help report this to the gamming commission. In all the years I have been going to vegas I have been to the gamming comm. Only twice but it will sure get the casinos attention and it will be corrected

John,

<<A security guard camped out over your shoulder? I wonder how he knew you were winning so much. Does the computer track what is going on with each machine?>> Shows I've watched on casino security mentioned that any slot player who's winning or losing a large amount is highlighted on their screen to keep a watch on.

jm

John,
From the min. you insert your slot card the computer keep track of every coin in and out of the machine. Just go to the slot desk and ask to see your play for that day or even that week, and they can show you every machine that you played on, how much you won or lost. Every casino that I was in on my Birthday, (within 2 mins. of putting in my card) there was a host standing next to me wishing me a happy birthday and offering me a meal comp.

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LarryinMich@prodigy.net


[This message has been edited by Larry Sowinski (edited August 18, 1999).]

My best win was at Caesars Palace this year, hitting a royal flush for $2,000. This was on a quarter "Reel Deal" machine that doubled the normal $1,000 payout. Gregg

Ah Ha!! So, Big Brother is watching us and keeping track of everything!!<G> I'll see what I can find out on my next trip as far as getting daily updates of my play.

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John
Moderator Dining Forum
john@talkvegas.com

My best win.....hmmmm
Ok, but it wasn't at the casino's
It was at the airline counter in Las vegas.
Getting bumped 2/$500 vouchers in my pocket, cab fare, to & from the airport to the hotel, first class seating on the next days flight, and another day in Paridise (Las Vegas) priceless!

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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com

Best one yet Lee.<s>

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LarryinMich@prodigy.net

My best win was on a ncikel keno machine in Harrah's Laughlin while waiting for some friends to come down for dinner.

I won $330 and had to buy the dinners.

Cocktails, too !!!!!

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will800

I would have to say that all my wins are great ~ much better than the losses! But... I would say that my favorite win was in '97. I was in Vegas for a bowling tournament. A few friends (four of us) decided to try the $5 slots. We pooled $400 and hit the machines at the Orleans. We tried one machine first and then the cocktail waitress said that the bank behind us seemed to be hitting more. So of course we jumped on that bandwagon! After a few spins with each of us taking turns, I deposited two coins (those $5 coins feel great in your hands!) sang some silly song my kids taught me, pulled the handle and hit a jackpot for $1600!!! Not the biggest hit in the world but certainly one of the most enjoyable!

[This message has been edited by Pam (edited August 20, 1999).]

Pam,

I like that story of a win. Sounds like that's the way to do it. Plus all of you were lucky that day.

Beth

Our best 'wins' was on our May '97 trip. We couldn't loose! After laying in the sun all morning we would shower then go down to do a 'little' gambling then go to eat. Everyday on this trip we would go downstairs put in $20 or $21 (depending if 2 or 3 $ machine) and hit some kind of jackpot. We usually play 1/2 of the highest score on the machine and cash out when it reaches 1/2. Then we "hide" our money for the rest of the trip. One day my husband hit the 5x machine for $600. While waiting for payout, I moved down 2 machines. After 2 pulls, I hit for $3,750. At Flamingo they have Flaming 7's that constantly hit. We both hit progressives (around $1100). Usually when they are just before $1200, they pay off. When we came back to the hotel the night before, I told my husband this one machine was going to hit and we should play it. We put in $21 and nothing. The next day, the progressive was over $1200. While at the pool, I had a dream we went to play it and won. Later when we went down to play, we did go over to try our luck. Wouldn't you know we hit 4, $300 jackpots within 20 minutes. While racking the coins, we went to the next machine over and hit for an additional $500! Our entire trip was like this. We came home with over $8,000. Now when we go back it's kind of depressing because we don't win like that again. :-(
But we keep hoping! And returning!

Carol,

WOW, what a trip. I hope you made a note of where the moon was and what shoes you had on and anything else you could think of to try and repeat your luck!

jm

Actually, my husband bought Good & Plenty for him and Neccos for me as a snack to tie us over until dinner. Well we brought them on our next trip and ate them like that last trip, but unfortunately, it didn't work.

That was also the first time we sat out at the pool all morning and would have a couple of pina colada's. We tried this the next time, too, but this did not work either.

Maybe it was the "old" underwear I had on and have since disposed of???? Better get to the garbage dump! :-)

Just wanted to make a blind post here, about how much I'm enjoying these posts.
This is a great thread!
It's fun to read, it's ike everyones favorite Las vegas moments!

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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com

Please....nobody go negative here and post their biggest loss. It would be too depressing to even have to think about. Let's just stay with the biggest wins subject and leave it at that <g>.

My biggest win (not big by most standards) was $1,000 for winning on coverall during the very last game of a bingo session at Monte Carlo. I expected $200 and was rather surprised when they started counting the 9 bills plus the 20's and a couple $10's.

We decided to get a bite to eat and attend the next session within an hr.. Headed for the restrooms before eating and I was so nervous that I followed Fred into the men's room. A porter grabbed my arm and quickly turned me around with a comment, "No way, lady". My meal did not settle very well, either.

Best win At Harrahs Oct 1996 Harrahs Hot Streak machine $11,565. I played them every time we went back and never won again. They took them out when they remodeled. If they would have left them in long enough they would have got it all back and I am not a big slot player.

Wow...that was some win. What denomination machine was it? Did you get to bring most of your winnings home with you?

Beth, <lol> Thanks for my daily laugh. Following Fred into the men's room- that must have been so funny. That would be a great photo for the TalkVegas Photo Gallery!

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gail@talkvegas.com
Moderator, TalkVegas After Hours
Administrator, TalkVegas BB

Yes we got to bring most of the money home. Any time I win 1000.00 or over it goes back to save for the next trip. That made several trips after taxes of course. It was a quarter machine and I had only been playing it for 5 minuets.

My most satisfying win occurred several years
ago, as I was leaving Las Vegas headed for home in Southern California. I decided to
stop for lunch at Nevada Landing in Jean, NV.

After lunch, I decided to gamble $30 before
leaving. I sat down at one of those JUMBO
Video Poker machines there, and began putting
in one dollar at a time. Fortunately, the credits began to mount up until I was playing
$5 at a time. Suddenly, the screen "froze".
I didn't know what was going on, until a change person at a carousel behind me said "Don't touch anything! You've got a royal flush." When I looked more closely,
I saw that I'd been dealt a royal in diamonds, and in sequence! The casino paid
$4,000 for the royal, plus another $1,000
for being in sequence. They paid me in
$100 bills (no checks), which I pocketed and
headed for California, after requesting and
receiving the services of a security guard to
escort me to my car, in case someone with bad intentions was watching the payoff.

I've hit about three other royal flushes since that time, but that one still brings back fond memories.

Dick

Dick, I can understand why you remember that Royal! I would have headed for the closest bank to get a check.

FWIW, my bro just had a nice win in Reno, and he was advised to NOT TOUCH the money when he was paid off..they put it in a cup for him, and a security guard escorted him to the cashiers cage where he was able to get a check. I don't quite understand the reasoning, but he was told if he picked it up, they wouldn't be able to give him a check.

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Daisy-Beyond Vegas Moderator
daisy@talkvegas.com

Beth, your story had me ROTFLMAO. While working up in Oregon, we three trainers had a nice dinner at a really crowded, noisy steak joint in Corvallis. When we got up to leave, I didn't hear Chaz say he was headed for the restroom, so I just followed him through the crowd....right into the men's room. He told me afterward that he played it to the hilt, turned to the guy at the next stall and said "jeez, these woman chase a guy everywhere!"

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Daisy-Beyond Vegas Moderator
daisy@talkvegas.com

Kizzy.....do you mind if we touch you for luck when you meet us in Las Vegas? [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] I think the best I've ever done on a nickel machine was $100 for hitting the aces/kicker on DDB Triple Play at the Silver Legacy in Reno.

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Daisy-Beyond Vegas Moderator
daisy@talkvegas.com

I don't know if it "counts" to share someone else's best win, but my mom (a .25 video poker player) has had four royal flushes DEALT to her in the past 3 years. (besides hitting others<G> ) The last time was last year at NYNY when she was dealt a royal about 25 minutes after she sat down. Less than an hour later, she held 3 to ANOTHER royal on a machine in the next row. When the attendant came over, she couldn't believe it was my Mom hitting a royal again!!
My Dad was nowhere to be found, so when they met up later and he asked her how she was doing, she replied "Well, I hit that thing that's a straight but better than a straight . . ." And he said "You mean a straight flush?" And she said "Yes, but that one with all the high cards." And while he was catching on to her little "joke" she added "And it's the second one this morning, too!"

Supermom, I love your mom's sense of humor! I also would love to have her luck<g>.

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Daisy-Beyond Vegas Moderator
daisy@talkvegas.com