I’ve been in Vegas for 12 days now as of this morning. The pace of this class has prevented me from wandering too far into the belly of the Vegas beast, but I have (on three occasions now) had the opportunity to play a slot machine: once at an actual casino, and twice in the vestibule of CVS. It’s always jarring to me to see slot machines outside of casinos. Back home in Oklahoma, that’s the only place you see them. Here in Vegas they’re everywhere including convenient stores and grocery stores.

The entry to CVS has a line of multi-game touch screen poker machines. Twice now I’ve dropped $10 into a machine there. The first time I walked away with $40 and the second time I ended up with $50. I’ve been joking with my co-workers that to me they’re just like ATMs — I just walk up, press a few buttons, and money comes out! I need to quit while I’m ahead before the illusion is ruined.

My strategy for electronic blackjack is simple: put a $10 or $20 in, play enough hands to triple my money and then walk away. Nothing fancy. While it’s all random, my experience is that in the short term you can make a little pocket cash and in the long term you’ll do good to break even. So, I win in the short term and walk away. It doesn’t always work out that way, but… actually it mostly does usually work out that way.

Last night after class ended Ellston and I drove over to Margaritaville for dinner and drinks. On the way out I spied one of my favorite slot machines. I call them “five-way” machines because they allow you to play up to five credits at a time. allowing you to win on multiple lines. These machines aren’t always easy to find so when I spot one I always play it. I told Ellston to give me five minutes, and five minutes later I had turned my $20 into $88.50. Do you know what I played next? NOTHING! I took my money and got out of there!

Before I leave Vegas I’m going to hit CVS one more time to “withdraw” some cash before I hit the road. If only more ATMs had a double-down button!