8/7 Barona mini "TR"
I'm pleased to be able to write this one up for all of you. Consider it an appetizer to the next Vegas trip, scheduled for later this month...
As I said, I've managed to curtail my San Diego play to essentially zero, to preserve the roll for Vegas trips (which quite frankly seem to be more regular and more frequent than in the past). For the last few trips, I basically have left my roll in Vegas/insta-deposited funds as needed to pay for house expenses. I had a nice, impromptu 4 day weekend just now and on Sunday we got together with a good friend who lives in AZ- we haven't spoken in a year and it was good to catch up. Our friendship was forged one long weekend way back in 2004 in Vegas- before, we were just work acquaintances, but over the course of that weekend we bonded and clicked in one of those rare ways. I made a friend for life, who just so happens to be a fellow degen...
Anyways, so of course part of the convo on Sunday was about gambling- we got each other caught up on big hits, etc. That kind of set the itch which was at it's normal "dormant, but just below the surface" level to active desire to play. So, I took the opportunity on Monday to go. Had to withdraw money from the bank account which stung a bit, and of course that limited the amount I was willing to lose as well. I took out 900$ and with a 100$ offer in the mail brought my session roll to 1k. I knew I was likely looking at a quick bustout session.
I decided to go with 25c credit, multiline full pay TDB. I was playing 10 lines, so 12.50 a push (about my usual at Barona). The first 500$ went pretty fast. I got a little more play out of the next 400$, but didn't hit anything bigger than 400 credits (4 3's). I feed my last hundred dollar bill in assuming I'm going home in 1 minute, and have the thought "god damn I run bad here. I can't remember the last time I won". As if on cue...
BOOM! If you don't count the dealt 4 AWAK with my dad in June (I kind of don't since we split that), it has been almost 2 yrs and one month to the day that I have been dealt this hand.
Any true degen will know what I was experiencing as the credits ran up. Happiness, obv, but also vindication and in a strange way validation. I had that thought as I drove up here, "I can't believe it's been over 2 yrs since I've been dealt 4 AWAK". True, I've had that thought on many sessions and DIDN'T get it, but of course we only remember the times it comes true. It sure makes you feel like you "knew" it was coming. Also odd how I had that thought literally just before I pushed the deal button again.
OK, so I'm booking a win this session, obv. Only question is how much will I let myself give back. I decide on 3k- meaning, I'm cool going home with a 6k win. I feed in more money and increase the lines...
I proceed to just abuse this machine. It's like it tried to make up for all the sessions where it just raped me. Here's just your standard "turn one ace into a top prize hand"- I think this happened 3 times yesterday.
22.5/1 shot comes in SIX times in 60 hands, TWICE with a kicker! This may be the sickest pic of the whole bunch IMO.
Oh, you know, 47/1 shot comes in three times in 50 hands. NBD.
I literally would feed in 500$ at a time and generally turn it into 2k or more. Sure, there were a few bullets that were completely dry and I lost the 500$ in 2 min, but the general slope was pure upswong. At some point I crossed the "up 12k" mark and decided I was going home with at least 10k profit. And I kept hitting...
Look carefully. I held NO CARDS. I made a ROYAL. Was I somewhat upset that I couldn't get dealt a royal on the deal? What do you think?
Just your standard 47/1 shot coming in three times again...
One ace into a top prize... again.
Pair of aces into quads TWICE.
It seems like I jumped from "up 12k" to "up 17k" pretty fast, which meant I was going home with at least 15k. I lost track of time- the next thing I knew, I was starving and of course elected to eat lunch at the machine- how could I leave? Gotta let those horses run as far as they can when they're actually running...
There's that 47/1 shot coming in three times AGAIN!
Hold 2 broadway cards. Make a royal...
There's that pair turning quads twice again...
Plus, over the session there were a bunch of quad a,2,3,4 w/kicker that came in that I didn't even bother to snap a pic of, a three card royal hit and two "4 to a royal" hits. I think I made a royal at least 5 times on this machine.
I'm now up 18k. The AC is blasting at this machine and I am freezing. Plus, I've now stuffed 1.5k back in in 5 min with no result. Time to mix it up just a bit- I say goodbye to my savior and head to hi limit, for 50c credit multiline full pay TDB action. Basically same game, higher denom. You may have noticed I was playing up to 80 lines at the 25c machine- I decide on 30 lines, 50c credits.
3 hands in I am dealt 4 to a royal and hit-
TWICE! Handpay amount-
I proceed to hit THIS machine a few times- sorry if the amounts don't line up exactly with the hits- it should be right but I lost track with all the pics I took-
This one actually upset me a bit! Quads three times, but none with kicker, thus making it ONLY worth-
Shocked to get a handpay here bc I only started with a small pair. Quads twice, once with kicker.
At my height, I was up 21k. I stick 1k back in the machine with no result. I'm actually getting kind of tired and believe it or not, BORED. I'm basically trading punches- putting in 1-2k and hitting 1k ish hand pays. I decide to stuff 1k in UX, 50c credits and tell myself if I get a handpay I'm gone for the day. That 1k lasts about 30 min before it evaporates. Finally, I decide to sit at Extra Draw Frenzy, 50c credits, 10 lines. This machine has always been ice-cold for me- I figure if I'm ever going to hit on it, it'll be on a day like today...
Total waste. I'm now up 18k and decide to call it quits. What a day. 11 hand pays. Just an insane number of premium hands. Dealt 4 AWAK. Plus, I have AT LEAST one more Vegas trip completely paid for. And perhaps the most important thing- I literally couldn't think of anything else to play when I started getting bored. The UX paytables aren't great and the way I ran made it very unlikely I would hit anything there I really cared about. EDF cold as always. Full pay, multiline is where it's at, but that usually isn't that fun as well. So my takeaway is that I'm less likely to donk this money back at my old rate, and I think that's the best news of all.
Can't wait for Vegas! Thanks for reading!