Return to the Casino

[onemoretry]

Last week, my wife and I went to a casino for the first time in over 17 months. We are still somewhat "trapped" here in Ontario due to the ongoing travel restrictions, but, at least, Ontario casinos have reopened.

So, off to Casino Rama we went, and, eventually, it turned out pretty good. We were heartened to find that the machines we usually played there in the past were still available, albeit in reduced numbers due to spacing shutdowns, and that they hadn't messed with the pay tables. It did feel a little strange, as the spacing made it feel like you were playing in a vacuum.

I started out playing 5 line 25c bonus deuces wild, and, initially, it sure didn't look like it would be a good day. I blew through my first $200 extremely quickly (probably in 10 minutes or so), despite a couple of promising deals, three deuces once, and four to the royal once) neither of which produced much of anything. I persevered, put in another $200, and thanks to the appearance of some of the better hands (wild royals, five of a kind, etc.) played for close to an hour before the inevitable crash to zero.

At that point, I said to myself:"What the hell, I'm going to play 10 line, and see what happens" It played fairly evenly foe awhile, but the $200 had dwindled somewhat when I was dealt four to the royal again. This time, I didn't whiff, and actually hit two royals on the draw (how often does that happen?). Later, on a draw to two deuces and an ace, the other two deuces appeared on one hand for another nice win.

That's all the really good stuff, but the $2500 in big hands was enough to carry me to a plus $1700 day. Since my wife dropped only $400, it was a pretty good day for the team.

As we all know, you can't count on those big hands all the time, but it sure was a nice way to get back into the casino game.

[Waiting4RF]

A nice Welcome Back gift. Congratulations!

[Tedlark]

Congrats to you and your wife on the success OMT. Many a time my nights have been redeemed by a timely big hand.

[case]

OMT
I have a son in Gravenhurst and on the way to see him went to Rama for a couple hours. I see they moved the VP machines to the old poker room. I assume poker will not return. Not many eating choices but indeed good to return. It was my first casino since March 2020.

[OTABILL]

WTG OMT.

[olds442jetaway]

Ditto. What a nice start to welcome you back. I’m sure by now, the gang is tired of my same old stories, so nice to read a new one. Congrats!

[FAA]

Crash to zero IS the same old story. The eventual triumph is unusual, assuming funds to survive the initial crash to zero. I’d be returning home in a daze.

[olds442jetaway]

The return home is the fun and easy part. The immediate follow up trip at least on my end is the one mired with quicksand.

[onemoretry]

I see they moved the VP machines to the old poker room...

I was forewarned about that, and it's a good thing I was. Otherwise, it would have been a gigantic "What the hell?" moment until I figured it out.

I liked the previous location more, but, at least, we still have some not too bad video poker to play.

[onemoretry]

My wife and I have been back to Casino Rama two more times since my earlier posts, and, contrary to all the tales of woe I've been seeing lately, we've done quite well.

Our second trip, about two weeks after the first one, produced a royal each, and a net team win of about $900. I was actually down $400, despite hitting a royal, but my wife more than covered that loss with her $1300 win.

Our third trip, last week, was the best result yet, despite neither of us hitting a royal. My wife, however, playing 10 line 25c super aces, had the four aces six times, plus she was dealt a straight flush for another nice hit. Her session had actually started out quite badly, and she had $900 in the machine before it, thankfully, turned around.

I, on the other hand, did not have to go into my wallet at all, after the initial $200 deposit in the machine. Missing from my previous results playing deuces wild bonus, had been the four deuces, as I had whiffed countless times drawing to three of them. But this time it was different. First, drawing to three, in one hand I drew the fourth one, plus an ace. Then, not too much later, again drawing to three deuces, I drew the fourth one three times. Later, I hit the deuces again, for a total of five on the day, one of which was the premium one with an ace kicker. Other significant hands were two dealt straight flushes, and a dealt wild royal.

At the dat's end, I was up $900, while my wife did even better, at plus $1300.

So, three trips, and plus $4500! We both know that this kind of result will not continue, but it sure is nice to enjoy it while it lasts.