Yesterday was a busy morning for me. I don't know why I got up at 4am, but I did. I got cleaned up and drove to Texas Station for a Fatburger breakfast. There is a Fatburger very near my house, but their dining room is closed in the late/early hours. I get to Fatburger and the drug addict that takes the orders said the grill is out of service and has cleaning fluids soaking on it. It should be ready in about 2 hours. I've never had that happen to me before.

So I don't order anything and he offers me a free cola. I got a drink and headed to the 100% 10 cent games. After a very long session, I turned $20 into $40 by not hitting anything big, just a little here and there. So I took the $40 and stopped by the 100% games for some quarter VP and after racking up many points, I left with over $200.

On the way home, it was almost 7am and I was still hungry, so I stopped in at Arizona Charlies (Decatur/west) for breakfast. Before breakfast, I played a nickle 3 play machine and lost pretty quick. I had breakfast in the coffee shop. It's not a bad breakfast, nor is it a great one. Their breakfast specials are 24/7 whereas most of the specials don't allow weekends, so I often eat there on a weekend breakfast. Service can be spotty, but was good this time. The steak and eggs is usually above average compared to the other $2 specials around town. You can almost tell what cut of steak the meat came from. The hash browns are usually good. And if you order coffee, you get an insulated pot full to serve your own refills. Just don't order the scrambled eggs. I made that mistake twice a while back. I don't think they are real eggs. I think it's a mixture. After breakfast, I went to my favorite 5 cent VP machine to get my $5 breakfast money back. I got that, plus my $20 I lost earlier, plus another $30.

So I was feeling pretty good and had one more chore to do. I had to go to the Silverton to pick up my prize of the week. It's a locals thing where casinos send you coupons for a free gift if you come in on a certain day. The gift is usually something that you could easily find at a dollar store. Stuff like a flashlight, an umbrella, a set of coffee mugs, coasters, blanket, thermos, etc. I guess the marketing plan works because I have way too much junk in my house. Most of the gifts that I got, I have not opened or even labeled the box, so I don't know what's inside. On this day, I went in and got a cute little box with a deck of cards, a set of dice, and pen and paper to keep score on.

As I went in to get my gift, I noticed that the bank of deuces wild games I often play was packed. The progressive sometimes gets over $2000, and that usually draws a crowd. After I goofed around a while, I found an open seat and put in $60. On the fourth hand, I held three card to the royal and hit the progressive for $2055. Way Cool. In reality, I have chased this royal before. So there is almost $500 that has been thrown in that machine with nothing but greed as intentions. When the attendant first arrived, she worked fast but had no personality. All she could say was ID and social, ID and social. I had to move my drink, my jacket, and my Silverton gift out of her way. She must have said "ID and social" 10 or 12 times. When she came back to pay me, she said nothing except counting the money to me. I dont' know why, but I tipped her $5. Strange as it may seem, I never saw a cocktail waitress come by between the time I hit and the time I got paid.

After I got paid, I cashed out and started to leave. I noticed a quarter bonus progressive at $1801. I thought it would be cool if I could hit two progressives. I found a seat and played for hours, but I just couldn't hit it. I hit aces, I hit jacks, I hit queens, I hit fours, but I just couldn't hit the royal. I even swithced up to 50 cents and dollars for a while to mix up the machine a little. Still no luck. About noon, I was tired and couldn't concentrate well enough to play, so I cashed out a $200 profit and left. Normally that would have been sweet. I felt really disappinted walking away from a progressive bonus machine at $1900.

So I left the Silverton and took most of the money to the bank to pad my entertainment account. Then I washed the car, changed the oil in the car, and took a nap. Then it pretty much turned into a normal uneventful day. BTW, Walmart has a 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 oil for under $21. It's usually $5-8 per quart.

JMT - With a day like that, it sounds like you could be a professional VP player!! $200 at Texas Station, $30 at Arizona Charlies, $2,200 at Silverton = $2430 profit for the day X 5 days per week X 52 weeks = $631,800 per year! I could live on that!! Congrats!

What a great day!
and cheap oil too!
Enjoyed reading a day in the life.
I needed a Vegas fix, thanks.

I think I need another VP lesson ... WTG!

It was fun. I think I'll go back and get a couple more of those cheap jugs of Mobil 1. I was still playing somewhat disciplined. has it all been losing session, I would have lost $20 at Texas Station, maybe $10 at Arizona Charlies, and little or nothing at the Silverton. That would have been a $35 loss, a cheap $5 breakfast, a free cola, and a free gift from the Silverton, plus a lot of wasted gas. And if it would have been a total loss, I have a coupon from a local pub and grub that will put $25 cash into a VP game if I put in $25. No limit on how long I have to play. I always play them out to empty or $100, whichever comes first. So far I have 3 emptys and one $100.

I kinda treated myself today. I had a great prime rib at the House Of Lords and then saw the Platters, Coaster, Drifters show through Tix4Tonight at half price. It was a good show, but I'm glad I paid half price and minus another $2 from a coupon.

Daisy, I'll see you soon and we can give each other VP lessons. My play has been consistantly streaky, both good and bad.

JMT,

Really enjoyed reading about your "busy morning". My being happy about hitting deuces twice in one day this week doesn't seem to be much when I read about your nice haul.

Those casino giveaways around this house end up being wrapped as Christmas presents for a Chinese auction every December. The family has a fun time with it and the granddaughters remind me each year that we must do it again. Just received a thank you card for a birthday present from one granddaugter that contained a note saying, "Do you remember seeing this thank you note before". So those casino gifts sometimes do get put to good use. I especially love the ones with no logo.

Inside thought: I'm still using the glass cutting board from Sam's Town.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations, JMT! Wish my errands around here were as interesting!

Question on progressive vp machines: what is the number that get people thinking its gotta hit soon? What's the highest you've seen one go?

ANd when it re-sets after a win, how low does it go?

I have not played many progressives, so I've not paid much attention to that readout at the top.

SO - JMT, you gonna treat yourself to Avenue Q before it leaves? (Had to throw that in!)

Beth, you don't know how hungry I've been for deuces. Congrats!!!

Kes, 25 cent VP progressives normally start at $1000 for a royal. About $1600 is when it starts to catch peoples eyes. At $1800, the hounds with cell phones start calling the professionals to come in. Deuces games, multi-play, and more complex games get higher since the play strategy is different. For instance, in JOB, you would throw deuces to draw to a royal and in a deuces game, you would keep the wild royal. I think dollar video poker starts at $4000, and follows the same trend.

Then there are the machines that give various progressives for different hands. I've found that these are usually in the lower denominations. They might run a different progressive for royals in the different suits. They might run a progressive for various 4 of a kinds. Again, they start at whatever the paytable reads, and progress up until hit. Usually these machines are relatively busy, so the progressives never get that high.

That's about all I have experienced with video poker progressives.

Kes -

I've seen a quarter progressive go as high as $3,000 and a dollar progressive that was almost $8,000 (and no, I didn't hit either of them!).

I'll usually start chasing a quarter progressive when it's around $1,500 and a dollar progressive when it's near $5,000.

Mike

Wow, JMT, what a great day!! Too bad you got tired, and couldn't play any more. Seems like most everything you were touching turned to $$$$.

Congratulations, and please pass some of that luck on to the rest of us!!

Congratulations, JMT.......WHAT a DAY!!! Next time you are going to do that, let us know, and we'll go watch you. Wouldn't it be grand to have a cheering section when you have a day like that?
Congrats to you, too, Beth........Twice in one day.............hooray! I've been chasing Deuces for almost a year...........sigh........
It's nice to read about the winners!

Gee. I hit deuces last night. Too bad it was just on the freeslots practice game.

1000 points. whoo-hoo!

It is fun to read about others good fortune, though. Nothing like living thru others excitement!