My cousin S. mentioned in a message how much she enjoys my casino win posts. I'm always hesitant to post specifics....recognizing that gambling is something many people strongly disapprove of. I have moments during play when I think 'why am I doing this'? And then I'll hit a win and think 'that's why'. It's fun. And I'm blessed to be able to play and blessed to be able to fund the play adequately without putting any needed money at risk. I type that and really want to emphasize it because I've seen and witnessed plenty of people who are playing who maybe shouldn't be. Like the lady at the small local casino I overheard saying she had just written two checks to the casino for cash and she hoped she'd be able to cover them before they cleared the bank. Um....not good. That same lady was also talking about how she'd spent the previous day planning how to end her life. I was shocked. Another player (her friend) went over to her and talked to her quietly and said 'I think you need to take a break'. She didn't. A bank of 8 machines and we're all listening to someone who is making slot play their life. She started winning a bit - and was immediately better.
I've had some incredible luck since the Grand jackpot post back in April. A total of 17 hand pays since that jackpot - truly an epic run. I might put together a collage of some of the bigger wins - because I remind myself that this blog is pretty much like my diary and I love revisiting wins. In March, I changed my approach to playing and so far, I'd say the new approach is working. A much larger 'stake' to start with which allows for some larger bets - and BOOM! Things have been happening. So many things. It's been wonderful and awesome and I'm grateful beyond words. Keep in mind that most of those wins definitely went back into play - but that's OK. What's not to love about playing with the casino's money?
About a week ago, our Atlantis casino host M. called to invite us to a 'very special limited event for high level players'. Basically a drawing - not advertised to anyone else and only open to 120 players the casino chose. Sounds epic, right? Well, sort of. 3 night stay (Th-Fr-Sat) and then Saturday evening, they will host a dinner and drawing. Your entries for the drawing will be determined based on the tier points you earn during your three day stay. The 'grand prize' is a trip to New Orleans - everything included. Plus other prizes like free play, wine, etc. - sounds fun. But yesterday, they sent out an email that winners could only win one of the 'other prizes' - and everyone has a chance at the Grand prize. SO....you play your heart out for three days but no matter how many entries you get, you can only win one prize other than the Grand. Like every single 'drawing' event at a casino, it's designed to get you playing and keep you playing - and possibly losing a ton - just to ramp up the entries.
We are 'in' on attending - at least so far - but I told our host that I was on the fence about participating given the new parameters - what's the point of making this exclusive event depend on earned tier points but limiting how many things you can win in a drawing where your entries are based on how much you've played. Seriously. But the entire invite has allowed for some conversations with our host that needed to be had.
See, a couple years ago - right when we were officially living here and playing a lot - they changed their player tier levels. The Black Diamond level that required 30,000 tier points every six months was discontinued. It became 'invitation only' - and even though we made that tier level's required points easily and repeatedly, we were never invited. Our host seemed to discourage it - 'you won't like it when you end up getting bumped back if you don't meet the requirement'. 'Um, we have met the requirement and continue to meet the requirement - so you are basically dis-incenting us to continue playing here. We should hit the amount we need for our current level (15,000 tier points every six months) and do a full stop on playing at Atlantis - ramp up points somewhere else'. No change. We didn't really feel terribly disappointed about it 'cuz we honestly have no idea what the tier level differences were - but there are coveted Black Diamond parking spaces and we'd sure love those - especially as we've gotten older and our joints malfunction quite a bit.
So...when our host stopped by to say Hi a few days ago, I brought up the tier level question again. I told her 'No offense, M. but it's almost insulting to be invited to this 'super limited high level player event' and yet still not be invited for Black Diamond status. So your Black Diamond players know that you're inviting non-Black Diamond players to this super exclusive event? I had a Black Diamond player I know say 'so you must be Black Diamond level now, right? I've watched you play lately and it's criminal if you aren't Black Diamond'. She asked for the person's name and I gave it because this person is someone I see all the time and we do know each other. M. said 'OK. I'm going to go take care of it right away'. I said 'but we'll have to wait until July 1 for the level to change, right?' and she said 'no, it will be immediate'.
I told her my theory about the change to 'invitation only' was that by doing that, the casino management has the right to allow anyone into that tier level - and also to eliminate the point requirement means that players who aren't necessarily hitting that tier level to continue to stay at that level. Management discretion means just that. Makes sense, right? Because if there's a Black Diamond player who hasn't maintained the tier level for a long time but owes the casino money, you can bet they aren't going to kick those players out of the tier level. And now they don't have to - no published point requirement means complete and total 'it's up to management'. I told M. I suspected we would likely never be kicked out - and my friend B. confirmed that when I she and I were talking. She said 'from what we know, it's virtually impossible for the casino to take back that perk once it's granted'. So yay!
I logged on to the website when we got home a bit later and there it was - just like that - Black Diamond.
FINALLY.
When my friend B. stopped by the machine on Thursday, I stopped my play, pulled out my player's card and said 'THANK YOU! FINALLY'. She was super happy - she is such a sweet person. I told her I had to 'drop your name' when asked who had said that and while I wasn't sure, it sure seemed like our host did a 360 degree about face and made it happen.
So now, we get increased earned free play, a buffet or $20 meal credit (each) every single day we show up there, parking spaces and a bunch of other 'still to be determined' perks. It's really wonderful and honestly, we could eat there daily and cut our grocery bill down to breakfast, lunch and snacks and be totally fine. We mostly get take out and since our player level bump, we go to the deli and get sliced meats and cheeses for sandwiches.
Our casino play creates all sorts of fun events. We attended a Reno Wind Symphony concert a couple weeks ago - and the fun paint night I mentioned in April. The annual chalk art festival is returning in July along with the Reno Air Races. We receive VIP invites, transportation to/from a variety of events that are truly epic. Tomorrow is the first Atlantis Open Tournament game here at our home golf course - free golf and transportation (if needed) to/from some really nice courses in Northern Nevada. All sorts of perks that cost us nothing - well, cost us play but that's happening anyway so why not enjoy the events!
I had a losing day yesterday which was hard because I had two days in a row of three hand pays a day at Atlantis earlier this week - ending up $7,000 for the week - and I had to remind myself that even with yesterday's epic losses, I'm still up. So yay. Losing days are never easy and they certainly have many moments where it doesn't feel fun. But every play day is a chance to have a win - and when the wins are as epic as they have been lately, it's great. I make it a point when I'm winning to bless people around me. On Wednesday, J. was playing Blackjack with a family who brought their 21 year old daughter to the casino on her 21st birthday - so when J. came by for a check-in, I gave him $100 to give to her. She and her family came by to thank me and she was so grateful for the gift. We laughed and kibitzed and I said 'now go have a celebratory meal and drink with your family and then walk straight out the door'. On Thursday, I gave a player sitting near me $100 - she was my 'player of the day' and she was so happy with the extra, unexpected money to play! And then I tipped my waitress $100 and she was over the moon happy. I like to spread the luck around and am truly blessed and grateful.
So in an upcoming post, I will try to put together some of the epic wins I've had - my phone is full of pictures and I really need to start deleting some of the really old ones.
Thank you, dear readers, for being a part of my life - and for putting up with casino post after casino post. In retirement, life is very different and sharing what we do to keep busy will always include casino stuff. It's mostly what we do for entertainment - and hopefully always will.
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