Day 4, conclusion of trip
After lunch we head over to the ballroom where the slot tournament is set up. Here are some of the details-
- 10K buy in; I believe they had 3, 5 and 25k tournaments as well
- first prize is 225K in cash, after that it drops off sharply. Basically you have to get into the top 10 to get more than your buy in back
- ~ 40 runners
- 3 rounds, your best 2 rounds (scores) count towards your total. Highest total wins. Each round is 10 min long
- the game- that 2x, 3x, 5x slot machine game that is out on the floors. Basically has a bunch of symbols as well as those multipliers. You need to line up all multipliers to make a really big hand, and 3x 4x 5x is the "jackpot hand".
- optimum strategy- none, just hit the button to spin as soon as possible. Credits can only go up and you need as many as possible.
The plan is my dad and I will each play one round, and whoever has the highest score will represent us for the 3rd round. They have the place pretty nicely done up; the ballroom is decorated like the inside of a TV studio (that's the theme), lots of memorabilia, full bar/food/desserts/waitresses. It's pretty nice, but it'd better be given most of the entrants are going to walk away with much less than they started with.
Tournament machines.
TV studio motif.
Two machines, number 12 on the left. Kind of hard to see the machine numbers- what's missing here?
My dad starts us off in round 1. I immediately notice jackpots going off right and left, and surmise that the settings on the machines have been changed a ton such that jackpots come up MUCH more often than in real life. I'm keeping an eye on my dad while also trying to watch the other numbers- some people, it seems, simply cannot help themselves and are hitting over and over. Every time I look over, their score has jumped up by another 1-2 jackpots over my dad.
The round continues this way- my dad ends up with an above average score, but the top people have more than double his. So sick. OK, on to round 2. For this and the final round we've drawn the same machine at random- maybe it's a sign!
I sit down, and the round begins. Let's just say it was... worthless. I line up 2 of 3 symbols over and over, and blank the third. I finish with a mediocre score, definitely below avg and below my dad's. That means, he's playing the final round which obv I'm ok with- the round wasn't even that fun, honestly.
The 3rd round is good for my dad- he hits a ton of jackpots and ends up coming in 4/40 for the round. Between our other two scores, we know there's no way we won, but maybe he'll make the top 10. Either way, we're not going to find out until later that evening- I'll be at the airport going home.
Now, it's time for the final gambling session until I need to head to the airport. I'm continuing my plan of giving my wife 1/2 of every jackpot.
The session is pretty cold- I think I got dealt 3 aces, 2s, 3s or 4s at least 10 times, but missed every time. I'm getting frustrated, but continue to video (then delete) every attempt in the hopes of sending my wife something. Finally, I pick up 3 aces again and make this-
I almost didn't video it, but I'm glad I stuck with the plan. Send my wife the video and feel pretty satisfied with myself. I play for a bit more, but it's cold. I decide I have to lock up a nice win for the trip and I'm done with video poker, so I head back to Walking Dead. Walking Dead continues the icy-ness- it takes 300$ from me pretty quickly and I never even get to play one bonus round. OK, that's enough.
I head back to the room to get an early dinner- my flight doesn't leave until 8:30 and I won't get home until almost 10, and I'd rather not eat crap airport food if I can help it. The fried chicken and greens sound good- I'll get that.
WORST FOOD AT THE WYNN, EVER. The chicken was way over-salted, as in inedible. The greens were too sweet. I ate the vegetables just bc but I couldn't eat the chicken despite being hungry. I end up eating cookies and chips for dinner- sad.
From there, I grab a (comped) limo to the airport; Sat night check in/departure is completely empty and I breeze through everything in 15 min. A nice, smooth way to end a great trip.
Day 4 total- +1K, but giving 3.8K in jackpot to my wife = -2.8K$
Trip total- +13.2K
Get the update on the tournament from my parents when I'm at the airport- they didn't crack top 1/2, let alone top 10. Result = 2.5K in free credit (from a 10K cash buy in).