Let me share our crazy Saturday night at the casino...
It was an eve of a no-work day, and so we were allowed to stay uber late. Instead of going to a bar at 12am, we went straight to the casino, to play not blackjack nor pontoon, but slot machine..Wheel of Fortune.
Let me give you some introduction why we gambled that night..Rewind back to the weekend before, we were tagged along to the casino, as it was still closed during my visit last year. Watching our friend play pontoon (and spend thousands in matter of a night), enticed us to gamble a little bit. And so, we went to the slot machine and with my beginner's luck, bagged home winnings of SG$150. Not much for a pro gambler, but we were happy enough, as we felt the luck on our side.Our 'adrenaline luck' was cut short as we had to go home early for work the next day.."damn, we were winning" was actually our reaction..
And so as continuation, we bravely and crazily took a taxi at 12am, and asked driver to drop us to resorts world.. We never really gambled and in fact when we were in Macau, we just spent the night drinking at the bar right in the middle of the casino.
We swore to only spend our previous winnings of $150, all for fun. With a $50 bet, we started hitting the button, $4 a hit. Without understanding how things are computed, whether by $3 or $30, we just cant figure out how the machine sets the patterns and the corresponding winnings. All we wanted was to get 5 letters, w.h.e.e.l, to come out in one hit. This is the ticket to a free SPIN of the wheel and increase the winnings. Red strip will give you at least $500. Purple is the least of the four colors (other two are green and blue). We quickly spent the $150 and got frustrated that we lost the money in a flash. And so, we shelled out another $100 hoping to get back the $150. Out of the 250 / 4 chances of spelling the WHEEL and spin, we only got around 3 spins. Even though we managed to sum up the money to $300, by winning consecutive Wild Card patterns (multiple appearances of a wild card in one hit, the pattern of which still unknown to me). At winnings of $50, total money of $300 in the machine, greedy we were, we decided to still go on, despite the negative feeling of luck leaving our side... Guess what. we lost all the money... So frustrated, we shelled out another $100. and as again we lost. Total of $350. with meager income, this is huge money for us!! We were nearly giving up and almost decided to go home and charge to experience all the frustration. "if we only cashed out the $300, then we will go home happy and with $50 more, just enough to pay the taxi..and we can say we had fun.." almost the conclusion of our Saturday night.
We walked around, watched the other gamblers play pontoon, roulette and other table games. Almost tempted to try our luck with pontoon... In the end, we decided to gamble one last $100, in the hope to get back the $350. We rushed back to wheel of fortune...
Golden hour. At this time, we banked around 12 points in our resorts world membership card. Enough to get us free meals from the restaurant. "at least we can get to eat for free after." Art cashed in the first $50. While quickly losing $20, i told him to cash in the other $50. Hit the button and got the SPIN quickly. We devised a strategy of switching machines once you get a free SPIN, because in our theory, the machine will not yield another SPIN quickly after you get a free one. So we shifted until we were losing down to $50 again. I was playing this time. We were hoping to get a free SPIN. I got one, then landed on a purple strip. Not enough to cover the losses. Another free spin. then Art was blabbing about " Nobody ever wins the red strip. its a hoax." Then loud ring... we won the RED Strip,ended up winning $750!!! Play more. That's the instinct of a greedy soul. Realizing the events of the night, i instantly pushed "cash out". Argued to Art that its better to end the night happily than with regrets.
We ended the night using the points we earned and ate meals for free. It was indeed a fun and crazy night. In an instant, we were back to happy mode. Its amazing how fast things can change, and all out of your control. Well, the patterns were the ones out of our control.
Lesson learned : Greed is part of human nature. Manage to conquer it. Learn to be satisfied.
