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First time gambling in a casino.

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by BlueBellThunder, Apr 7, 2020.

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  1. Rob6 8

    Rob6 8 Low-Roller

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    In 1979 my younger brother and I drove from Baton Rouge to L.A. I was 22 my brother was 18. Stopped in Vegas at the MGM. Played nickel slots and drank free for 2 to 3 hours. I remember winning $5 woo woo! Then back on the road.
     
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  2. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

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    The first time? Probably on grandma's lap in Tahoe on a ski trip. I'd hand her the silver dollars out of the hopper and she'd put them in the machine, then I'd pull the handle. If I wasn't there, she would have had to put down either her cigarette or her gin and tonic. I'm helpful like that. :)

    Legally? Reno trip with some friends I knew from high school. We were (mostly) all over 21, but inexperienced. I remember getting together at the end of the night and realizing we didn't have enough money for gas to get home. OOPS! Friend decided he could take it to the blackjack tables and win us enough to get home. Luckily, somehow we managed to get home. ;)
     
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  3. BlacklabberMike

    BlacklabberMike MIA

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    I went to the Craps table and managed to buy in after watching a few others. While I was waiting the dice landed in front of me. After the number was announced I went to pick up the dice and toss them back to the center like we did in the floating Craps game when SMACK, the stickman nearly cracked my knuckles and said, don't ever do that again.:oops:
     
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  4. bshowell

    bshowell VIP Whale

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    First time was Vegas in 2005 (or 04...can never remember). We gambled in our hotel the first time - Sahara. Penny slots, if I remember. Getting excited and feeling like a baller every time we won some change. I remember the casino being dark, dingy, and kinda loud. Loved it.
     
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  5. booker

    booker VIP Whale

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    25¢ chip from 211 Union in Seattle, WA, circa 1967. 211 Union was a card room, pool hall, bar & restaurant. I would stake certain gamblers to low ball on shares when I was a teenager. I started working there at 16 as a dishwasher and was promoted to waiter, short order cook, and fill-in bartender, because I always showed on time and did everything expected with a minimum of bitching. I also looked older than I was. I did play the 5¢ pinball machine when Louie (part owner) would let me.

    Legally? That would have been 1971 at the old Ponderosa hotel/casino in Reno, as soon as I turned 21. That trip, I lived at Harold's Club until I lost all my money playing blackjack.

    211 chip (1).jpeg
     
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  6. SMG

    SMG VIP Whale

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    My first time was at Harrah's in East Chicago which was a riverboat casino, ca. 1998. That was 2 years before my first trip to Vegas in 2000. After a couple of takeovers, it's currently an Ameristar casino today. I wasn't too impressed with the gambling back then, since the casino was rather small and I didn't have much luck playing slots. I was with some relatives at the time and they were all playing table games which I wasn't into. I really didn't get interested in gambling until I got hooked on those big casino properties in Vegas. LOL
     
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  7. nancyf

    nancyf VIP Whale

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    My first time was Resorts in Atlantic City 1978 --- we all dressed up to go to Casino back then and the machines were the cherry, orange, lemon type ... lost my $10 so quick!! Wasn't really hooked on Casinos until Showboat Atlantic City opened almost 9 yrs later 1987.... variety of slot machines and a buffet that was so cheap and good.
     
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  8. C0usineddie

    C0usineddie VIP Whale

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    Sort of grew up around gambling so it was never super exciting when I could do it legally. Parents too us to vegas when we were really little. Lived there for a number of years.

    It always confused me that you had to be an adult to play a slot machine because i thought it seems pretty easy and didnt require any sort of special adult skills.
     
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  9. BlacklabberMike

    BlacklabberMike MIA

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    I could teach my dog and maybe the cat to play a slot machine.
     
  10. NotFromConcentrate

    NotFromConcentrate It’s a Cassowary :)

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    2011, Carnival Inspiration cruise ship... somewhere outside of Tampa at that point, and at several other points as the cruise went between Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I was eighteen years old. I had some experience playing online poker and some online casino games for fun, so I wasn't completely inexperienced. But I'll never forget trying to hand the dealer a $20 bill and she said she can't take it from my hand. Argumentatively, I asked her why not, and she insisted that I just place the note on the table. So I did, and went along with it.

    Played lots of $6 blackjack and some slots that trip... definitely lost a couple hundred on a five day sailing. It was an interesting experience because at 18, I was old enough to gamble but not old enough to drink, so most of my drinking took place elsewhere on the ship where I had no trouble getting alcohol.

    Didn't know a damn thing about basic strategy... but still managed to do ok at blackjack. Funny enough, I feel like I had more fun trying to guess what the best play was, than to actually know the mathematically correct answer.

    I still can't get over that I dressed up for virtually everything back then... though I cringe at how off-the-rack that blazer looks :confused:

    [​IMG]
     
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  11. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    My dad got screamed at by a security guard at Circus for just that. We made the mistake of taking our daughter to LV, thinking she would love the games at Circus. She preferred to watch (and help) Grandpa and his then-gf play the slots.
     
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  12. Kobra2848

    Kobra2848 VIP Whale

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    My first time gambling wasn't planned. My company took us to Lousiana to go fishing at the Hackberry Rod & Gun. This was around April of 1997. The cold front blew in after the first night so my boss moved us all to the Holiday Inn that was by the Isle of Capri. He hooked us all up with $100 bucks for gambling which I was able to play on all night and still bring most of it home the next day.

    Mark
     
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  13. gs32794

    gs32794 VIP Whale

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    1983. I was 21 and visiting family in Philly. My best friend, who was also my fraternity brother, drove down from NNJ and met me at the Playboy in Atlantic City for an all-nighter. Quarter slots and roulette for 13 hours and I left down less than $10. Had a killer time. Would have really had a bang up time if I'd only known to tip the CWs. Live and learn.
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2020
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  14. KCSCOTT

    KCSCOTT Low-Roller

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    My 18th birthday in 82 before they raised the gambling age ro 21. Stayed at Ballys wirh my mom and at the stroke of midnight after flashing my ID at a security guard went straight to a blackjack table
     
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  15. deansrobinson

    deansrobinson VIP Whale

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    Back around '84...my amigo, Mark Thompson, his mom, sister and her boyfriend spent a weekend in Tahoe. Never been to a gin-u-wine casino before so it was pretty fascinating. I think the only thing we might have played was some slot machines, but we were more interested in just drinking and eyeballin' the honeys.
     
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  16. BlueBellThunder

    BlueBellThunder VIP Whale

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    Seems like you were on your cruise days before 9/11, did you have a hard time getting home?
     
  17. BlueBellThunder

    BlueBellThunder VIP Whale

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    I have fond memories of what was the Playboy club, it became Atlantis casino, then Trump world casino. I liked the layout for some reason. I had my first hot craps roll there. I was new at craps, I was betting $5 with $5 odds. I rolled for over an hour, never laid down place bets during the roll, and only halfway through upped my bets. Started with around $50 cashed out with over $500.
     
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  18. NotFromConcentrate

    NotFromConcentrate It’s a Cassowary :)

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    That was September of 2011, not 2001 [emoji12] September 2001 I was in the fourth grade.
     
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  19. BlueBellThunder

    BlueBellThunder VIP Whale

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    oh that was my dyslexia kicking in. I thought I saw 2001.
     
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  20. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

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    I'm not sure if it was the year (probably very early 1970's) or my grandma being a roller that didn't get us yelled at. :)
     
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