A round of slot golf - July 16.

This is an excerpt from my trip report. Five of us were in Vegas for a week for a guy trip. We set aside a day for a slot golf game. First the rules (for those who don't know) and then the report of our round:

THE RULES:

Slot Golf is a game played on slot machines. Like golf, a game consists of
"holes" and the winner is the person with the fewest strokes over the course
of the game. In slot golf, each "hole" is a turn at a slot machine. A
"stroke" is a pull on a slot machine.

Play goes as follows - for each "hole" the player puts a $10 bill in a slot
machine. The payer bets a pre-determined number of credits and pulls the
lever. Each pull is considered a stroke.

* If the player wins one or more credit on the first pull, the
player's score is 1 stroke. The player cashes out, which includes any
remaining original credits and whatever was won on the pull. The player
registers his score of 1 on the scorecard for the first hole and the amount
cashed out is put into the money pot.

* If the player wins nothing on the first pull, the player repeats
the bet and the pull. This continues until the player wins at least one
credit. For example, at a $.25 machine, we decide it will be a five credit hole. The player spins. Lets say that nothing is won on the first two pulls, and then
there is a winner on the third pull for 20 credits. The player records a 3 for that hole. The player cashes out $11.25 ($6.25 are his remaining credits plus he won $5 on his winning spin) and the money goes into the pool.

* All players play the same or identical machines. So in our case, all five players gather near one machine. The first player puts in his money and takes his turn. Then the other players take their turn.

* This is repeated for 18 holes.

In an ideal game, you play a hole at one casino, do some drinking, maybe
gamble (craps, blackjack, video poker, whatever) and then move on to another
casino and repeat. After 18 holes, the players are ranked according to their
total score, with the winner being the player with the lowest score. The
pool of winnings is distributed. Winnings will be divided based on a payout
schedule determined by the number of players.


OUR ROUND

We met up at Planet Ho for the first tee at 2:30. We each played our $10 and were off.

I am not going to give you the hole by hole thing – first of all, it might bore you to death. Secondly, as I write this two mornings later, some of the details were fuzzy. Instead, I think I will just bullet the most memorable parts of the soujourn.

• We spent a total of $900 on slot golf ($180 per person and there were 5 of us). At the end of the day, we had $812.80 in the pot. It could have been a lot better. We never really hit any really good payouts. I think the largest payout was about $40.

• We played all different denominations of machines. A couple of penny slots where we bet $2 a spin, some $.50 machines for 2 units and mostly $.25 machines s with 3 and 5 units. So the max on the holes ranged from 6 to 15.

• Some machines seemed so damn easy to win one or two units. Good for the score, but not much for adding to the pot. A couple of holes, we all scored one or two. Then there were holes when nothing hit. One was at the Casino Royale. We hit there about midnight. Two of the people had the max score of 15 while the others hit after 4, 6 and 8 strokes. On the 13th hole at Imperial Palace, 4 of us had holes in one and one guy had an 11. That is what can make the game fun. When you pick the machine and set the betting units so you have a possibility of a high score, it can really allow for some separation among the players.

• Drinking is a huge part of the round. Realize that it only takes about 2 or 3 minutes to actually play the hole. This is not long enough to get a drink at the machine. So we would head over to craps table, Blackjack table or roulette when we were done each hole. Buy in for $100 and play until we ordered and received a drink. Sometimes we would continue for 30 minutes or more filling up on beer or Vodka and cranberry. We also made stops at some bars Olives in Bellagio – I love that place – for a round of five nice cold appletinis about 4 PM, at a frozen drink place in Aria (it was a pretty hot day so the frozen margherrita was appreciated) – at Cayote Ugly for a buy one get one Blue Moon during Happy hour. We actually paid for very few drinks, mostly we got them at the tables.

• My friend D and I were successful getting $1chips from all the casinos we played to add to our collection.

• We found a very very fun dealer at a roulette table at the Trop. We stayed there a good 45 minutes. And had about four rounds of drinks with him. I was playing my usual set of numbers (3,6,9, 14,23,27) which are the birthdays of my wife, I and our two kids. I hit the 6 three times and 8 once in that span, so I made a nice profit. (Remember – any money you make on this table play does not go into the pot.)

• I continued to have a cold feeling about the Bellagio. Very disappointing. In prior trips I loved the place. I had a bad experience with a dealer my first night of this trip and it just spoiled my taste for the place.

• We took the tram from the Bellagio to Aria. It is not the best way to go if you want to be efficient with time. A lot of walking through the back halls. But I love the actual ride. It always makes me feel like you are in the “spaceship” in the opening scene of the Jetsons , weaving in and out of the modern buildings of the City Center. I hope at least someone remembers the reference.

• At the end of the front nine, we took the monorail from the MGM to the Venetian. We had 8:30 reservations for dinner at the Public House. We had to keep calling and pushing back the reservation. We did not get there until 9:45. It seemed like a nice place, but we all needed a break from the drinking. We had a nice dinner – I would give it about a B+. I had a very nice salad with greens, fennel, blue cheese, figs and a vinegarette. My boneless short ribs were delicious , but they were not kidding about the short part. I do not think it was more than 3 ounces of meat. Delicious, with a great sauce and a pea puree. But It would have made for a satisfying appetizer.

• Scores after the front nine were me in the lead at 19 strokes, D with 29, J with 28, Mr G with 35 and M with 43.

• The backnine travelled a lot less distance. The front nine went across to Bellagio, Down to Excal, across to Trop and MGM. The back nine was a straight shot from the Venetian back down to the Planet HO, playing the cheap smaller places. A lot less walking so more time for additional gaming and drinking.

• We started the back nine about 11. The Venetian had high minimums so we did not play there except to get our $1 chips.

• We took a lot of time at the Harrahs and some of the folks chilled out in the Keno room. Keno can be a great place when you want to conserve your $$$ and drink. I did not – I found a very friendly craps table and had a fun time. Turned $200 into $300.

• The best gambling I had was at the Imperial Palace at about 1 AM. It was going to be just a quick hit – play the hole and leave. But someone had to hit the bathroom and I bought into a hot hot craps table. It was filled with some really colorful players. I bought in between two craps virgins, at least one a very fun gay woman (self proclaimed) and another tall black haired woman. I love helping to teach the game to newbies and they were well into their drinks. The shooter was a tattooed guy at the other end who just kept rolling. Along the way, we were joined by a beautiful blond who said she was Sweden named Ulrica. I am not sure if she was a hooker or not, but she was friendly as hell. Chatting her up was a lot of fun too. I had bought in for only $100 thinking I would cash out quickly adding a chip to my collection. Instead I stayed almost 30 minutes and turned my $100 into $350.

• This brings up an interesting challenge of slot golf. It can be difficult keeping the five players together – in fact, you don’t want to. After you play the hole, you often go off in different directions with a time and place to meet. But you know gambling – you buy into a hot shoe or hit a hot shooter, one person might be “stuck” (a good thing) while the others are ready to leave. Cell phones and an understanding group is a necessity.

• We rolled into Planet Ho and played our last hole on the Hangover Machine. Now I hate slot machine – I just do not see the attraction – but when I feel like throwing away $20 I will hit that machine.

• We sat down at Planet Dailies – the 24 hour restaurant at Planet Ho at 4:30 am. We added the score and counted the pot . Final scores – M 78 (won $40). Mr G ($81), D ($181), J(212) and ME THE WINNER (with $406 of the pot)

• We ordered some breakfast and headed back to the rooms. The round took over 14 hours and covered 16 casinos (we played two of them for twice). SLot golf couldbe played a lot quicker. You can do it all in one casino. Or play it without the extra gambling and drinking. But I enjoy the marathon aspect of it.


Crawled into bed about 5:00.

 

Wow, that's one heck of a marathon! I would have a tough time not crashing during that 14 hour binge. But it does sound like a lot of fun, especially with the right folks.

Someday, I'm going to try and learn craps.

 

This sounds like an awesome way to spend a day with a few friends. Something different than the wake up, eat, drink, gamble routine!

 

That sounds like a blast! I'm sure we'll try it out on our next trip (either to Vegas or just around here). Thanks for the fun TR!