I thought I'd write a post to gain my achievement and also to say hi again after a number of years.
I posted to the boards a few times between 2008-2010. In my earliest post in 2008, I had not yet had a 4-figure hit. I'm pleased to say that finally changed in 2010 when I hit 4 Aces x 5 on STP for $1,000. That was a thrill. Then I hit $2,075 on my birthday in 2011 when I hit Aces x10 on STP.
It would take another 4 years to have my biggest hit ever ... and I thought it would be fun to tell the story ... so here goes:
I have status at Caesars and I lived in AZ so I would travel to Harrah's Ak-Chin with some frequency. I had a somewhat stressful job in 2015 so I would sometimes go down to Ak-Chin on a weeknight and do the Diamond Lounge, play some small potatoes VP, use all my drink tickets, soak in the jacuzzi, and stay in a nice clean room for a night.
One Friday I didn't have a free room but I did have some offers, maybe even a food comp, free play, I dunno ... but it was enough for me to make the drive even without the room. Most of you likely know that AkC is far from the Phoenix metro so you definitely need to allocate some time and energy to get to and from the casino.
I was planning on making the most of my evening. I used my drink coupons in The Range for some delicious wine and had their amazing prime rib (I miss that so much now that The Range is gone). I was so stuffed from dinner but had plenty in a to-go bag. I then went to the floor to my favorite bank of four 5 Star Poker machines in what was then the dedicated video poker room. These 5 Star machines were juicy and fun so I always wanted to play them and rarely had a problem getting on them.
On this night, however, I *did* have a problem getting on them. There was a hulking bald man -- likely in his 40's -- playing $1 Ultimate X on one of the 5 Star machines and then his parents -- more svelte individuals in their 60's or 70's -- playing 2 of the other 3. In the 4th chair was an ashtray. I saw the ashtray on the seat and as I approached -- the mother was like "that seat is being saved." I said OK and I wandered slowly to some All-Star poker.
I looked back to see if the person was coming for the machine and then I saw what was really going on. They were saving the 4th seat for *themselves*. When one of their machines would go cold -- either the mom or the dad would dart over and grab the ashtray and put it on the seat of the machine they were leaving and then play the newly open machine. Then the other would do it and they were basically playing musical chairs for over an hour. The son stayed put on his machine. I was admittedly getting super irritated because I really wanted to play THOSE machines and they were monopolizing them.
I'm normally not the type to make a scene or confront other people. So I just kinda stewed. Suddenly the mom was sitting off to the side -- near the border between the VP room and the rest of the casino. It was apparent that she was freezing cold from the ventilation in the casino. But now they had ashtrays on two chairs while she was shivering in the distance. I finally had enough and went to my favorite of the 4 machines and picked the ashtray up and mouthed 'I want to play this one' to her. She nodded and waved and went back to warming herself.
The big guy (think a well-dressed Juggernaut from the X-Men movies) gave me the side-eye as I sat down. "That's my mom's machine" he said in a bit of a plaintive grumble. I told him that she said I could play it and besides they were monopolizing the whole bank. He went back to his game.
Played for a while on $.25 denom. Was very content to sip on the last of my nice wine and just enjoy the evening. I think I put in $60 or $80 at the most. That was all I was planning on losing. On that note, I usually play DDB but I switched to Bonus to extend my bankroll by getting the extra 5 credits for 2P.
Suddenly I hear the distinctive bass hum of a jackpot. It's really close. The big guy leans back and I look up and see his light start flashing. I stand up and lean and glance at his machine - he hit Aces x4 on UX for $3,200. I was like wow ... but that's what you can potentially get when you play dollars. I was still somewhat pleased that I was making my money last and went about my business.
Not even 20 seconds later, I was dealt J-K-10 of Hearts. Ok -- easy hold. Hit draw and saw the Ace of Hearts fall into the first spot and then the multiplier animation came out next. It cycled through the numbers and landed on 3x. The animation paused the game long enough for me to give an audible rueful chuckle and think that this was going to be a head-shaking conclusion to this hand when the final card is a blank. I even exhaled knowing that it was almost surely not going to come through.
Then -- as if I was watching from far away -- the Queen of Hearts pops into the last space and the counter starts roaring skyward. I couldn't believe it! It was a dream. Under normal circumstances I might stand up and pump a fist and do a little dance but I was so surprised at the thought of winning $3,000 that I just sat there and watched it count up. Only a couple of other people nearby even noticed that I had a hand pay.
Ironically, when it was all done -- I couldn't hear my machine's own humming jackpot sound because the big guy's machine was louder than mine and still going from his jackpot. Still -- I didn't mind -- and I quickly got my phone out so that I could take pictures, video and text and call other people. I mean -- I would have time, right? I had heard so many stories of casinos taking forever to pay people their jackpots that I knew I'd have time to do whatever.
Wrong. The jackpot payers were done with the other guy and quickly slid over to me. They asked for my license before I could even get a picture off. I then started taking pictures and videos and they had to keep interrupting me to sign the form and supply/confirm info. I was still in the midst of selfies and such when they finally had the cash in hand. The two employees looked so nonplussed having to wait for me. I could detect their exasperation so I focused on them until I was paid and then had them take a couple more pictures and then I had everything I needed. I played it off and played a little longer. The big guy then said "That jackpot was for my mom" ... but he wasn't super upset -- more like he said it just to say it. I never saw him smile. I congratulated him on his win and said it's amazing we both won within a minute of each other. He was mildly congenial when I cashed out and left.
The first post I ever made to this group was regarding safety and management of big winnings. There was a lot of great discussion on it but I never had so much money that I ever needed to worry about it. Until this jackpot! Having $3000 in my wallet was certainly a new experience. I made sure no one was tailing me out of the VP room and then I walked very briskly to the entrance. I am a fast walker and I am 6'1" and over 250# so I was kinda like my own juggernaut through the casino floor. I tried to not look too suspicious as I glanced back at various intervals. I walked very fast to my car and no one was around so I felt pretty good that I was alone. I started the car and carefully but quickly left. No cars were behind me so I started to relax.
I called my then roommate and told him I had some exciting news from the casino -- the best news that I ever had from the casino --and that I'll tell him when I get home ... and that he might want to start being nice to me. Lol
I lived in the city of Goodyear at the time so even on a night where there is no traffic and no other issues, it's still a 50 minute drive on I-10 from AkC to my then residence. I made sure nothing crazy happened. I drove cautiously, not too fast but also not too slow. And then I was like 'please just let this be a normal, non-eventful drive.' And it was ... until downtown ... when there was a detour and everyone had to get off the freeway! I was like REALLY?? So as I slow down enough to get into the merged lanes -- another car tried to merge in the same exact space that I was in and he just barely missed sideswiping me. I was thinking -- oh no -- not an accident while I have $3K in my pocket! Just let me get home!
Then on the surface streets -- the traffic was dense and I didn't really want to rock the boat so I went where the flow took me and not tried to aggressively cut into other flows. This led me to side street after side street that took me away from where I needed to go. I would then have to do the thing where you need to make a right then a right then a right to finally get to a residential street where you can finally make the U-turn so that you can get back to the most recent intersection to take a left when the light turns green ... then the next left ... then a left again ... etc. I could feel my jaw clench tighter and tighter. Eventually I got back to the I-10 and had smooth sailing the rest of the way home.
When I walked through the door -- I had a bit of a humorous surprise. My roommate -- who was basically every shlubby-but-handsome, smart-but-underachieving, detailed-but-messy sitcom roommate rolled into one -- opened the door for me and immediately began an over-the-top aggressive charm act. He had tied a tie over his stained polo shirt and had found a bottle of old champagne that had been lost in our disaster of a fridge. As I walked in the door -- he was like "Hi Hon! Oh let me get your coat! So wonderful to see you! Here, sit down, I got us some champagne!" It made me crack up so much. I then said -- ok -- hold out your hand so you can see what this felt like. And slowly I pulled out each hundred and put it in his hand and when it started going over $1K I think he thought it was going to end soon but then when I got to $2K he was astonished and then when it went up to $3K he was definitely speechless. Then -- of course -- he gave me a big kiss on the cheek and said you're the best!!
It was all very fun. I did actually give the roommate $150 just to say here's some good fortune for you too. And then I deposited the rest in the bank directly with a teller. She was like 'dang -- why isn't this mine?' and I was like -- this is new for me too!
I bought some nice tires for my car, paid off a small loan, paid my next round of bills in advance, gave some to my parents and met them in Vegas for their 50th wedding anniversary which was weeks after the hit. We had a lot of fun on that trip and this jackpot was a big reason for that.
Thanks for reading everyone! I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!
Best to all!
-Trey
- 5 Star DSTP Jackpot_3000.JPG (67.28 KiB) Viewed 2566 times
Same here!
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