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What was your first gaming experience?

Discussion in 'Casino Gaming' started by lowsmith, Oct 2, 2012.

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  1. lowsmith

    lowsmith Low-Roller

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    I am in the process of booking my 2013 spring Vegas trip and was thinking about my first trip to a casino.

    The first time I stepped up to a table and placed a bet was in Lucern Switzerland when I was 16 years old (high school trip to Europe). Several of us snuck off after hitting the Beer Hall and hung out in this hole-in-the-wall casino with some slots and a couple of Roulette tables.

    A few years later I tried blackjack for the first time at the old Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas (now it is Atlantis). Played about 10 hands of blackjack for $5 / hand. Heart pounding like crazy and quit the second I got back to even.

    The next time I gambled (and the first I approached it seriously with preparation and a decent bankroll) was at the Princess Resort and Casino in Freeport Bahamas (the resort is now out of business). This was a guy's trip with my Father-in-law and Brother-in-Law, and the trip has continued as an annual tradition every spring for the last 20 years. we moved it to Las Vegas for the last 10-12 years, as the economy in the Bahamas tanked, and with the odd trip to Tunica thrown in.

    I would love to hear how other folks got started.....
     
  2. ardee

    ardee It's only money.

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    For the wifey part of this username (me) it's Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.
    I'm originally from the Boston area and when it first opened, friends made plans to hit
    the place back in the early 90's.
    I was a wide-eyed, 20-something "innocent" and went
    along for the ride with my work buddies, soon after the grand opening.
    Well, the stars aligned and I hit a few mini-jackpots on the slots.

    So. Much. Fun.

    Came home with over $600 on a rinky dink budget (Maybe $75-100 or so).

    The casino fun stayed in stasis til I met my husband-to-be in 2002.
    I was a slow learner. :evillaugh

    Never got a chance to visit Vegas til I explored the place with my soon to be other-half, in 2003.

    I've been in love ever since. No regrets. Only great memories.

    Of course, this is a story in the making and it's a good one...:beer:
     
  3. fas87

    fas87 Tourist

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    My wife’s uncle used to take his office employees to Vegas once a year, and my wife and I were invited to tag along the first year after we were married, about 10 years ago. I thought it might be fun, but hadn’t done any research about Vegas or gambling at all. We arrived late in the evening and checked into our room at the IP and agreed that we would meet up early in the morning for breakfast at the Mirage.

    I can still vividly remember walking up to a $5 blackjack table in the Mirage after breakfast. My wife’s uncle gave me a $100 bill and told me to give it to lay it on the felt in front of the blackjack dealer (I don’t think I had even ever seen a $100 bill before, much less throw one around like it was pocket change!). This was mid-morning, the BJ tables were empty, and the very nice blackjack dealer explained the game and procedures to me. I probably played no more than 10 hands, all with my heart racing like I had just sprinted from our room at the IP to the BJ table at the Mirage.

    I think I lost $25 or so and offered to pay him back, but he told me to keep the change and play some more later in the day. We then proceeded to walk across the aisle from the BJ pit and grab a beer at 10:00 in the morning…I was hooked!

    Little did I know then that I would end up descending upon Vegas at least once per year thereafter (we live on the East Coast), read as much about Vegas and gaming as is available on the internet and work my way up to betting blacks without batting an eye (and I was so nervous about that first $100 buy-in!).

    I will be eternally grateful to my wife’s uncle for introducing me to my favorite place.
     
  4. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    The card game Sheepshead, every holiday at mom's house after a big dinner. 4 brothers, 1 brother in law and 5 handed sheepshead as the daughter in laws and one sis, cleaned up the dishes. Not being a male chauvinist, that's just how things were in the 60s.

    Played poker with 5 friends in one guy's (well actually his parent's) screened in porch back in the late 60s. We had almost weekly games in warm weather.

    First trip to Vegas in 1973. Been hooked every since. Craps, VP, sports betting I do on line weekly during football season.

    Yea, I'm a degenerate gambler.:poke: But just never have crossed the line to a problem gambler. I/we gamble what we can afford.

    Other people on this board are in an entire different strata amount-wise.
     
  5. Natural21

    Natural21 Low-Roller

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    I went to AC in the early 80's shortly after gambling was legal there. Sat down at a $5 BJ table and ordered a drink. When the drink arrived, I was down $150. That was half of my bank! I learned how to play after that!
    Good luck. :beer::beer:
     
  6. ardee

    ardee It's only money.

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    Right there with you, fas87, except my eternal gratefulness goes to my other half. :wink2:

    Good times, good times. :wave:
     
  7. SirSwizzlestick

    SirSwizzlestick Low-Roller

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    When I turned 21 I went to Vegas and was betting $100 bills on black or red and won HUGE. Been hooked on Vegas ever since, but sadly have never come close to matching that initial run.
     
  8. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    Strangely, I didn't even gamble on my first two visits to Vegas.

    The first gambling came in late 2004 at the Sam's Town in Tunica. A poker playing buddy and I drove there to see his old roommate and meet his fiance. I brought $50 to play blackjack and that was it. We played for about three hours and somehow I was only down twenty bucks (we had found five and three dollar tables). The final hand before driving home that night, I decided to bet all of it. I was either going home with nothing or up $10. And I hit a blackjack! I think I was pretty much hooked from that point forward :thumbsup:
     
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  9. Nevyn

    Nevyn VIP Whale

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    I was back from University for Christmas break, and talking with a couple high school friends about things we could do.

    And after some spitballing we settled on going to Niagara Falls and visiting the casino.

    We drove down (about two hours), parked nearby and went it. It was ridiculously busy on a Saturday night and the cheapest blackjack tables were 25/hand. Me and a buddy sat down with 75 and 50 bucks respectively, lol. He didn't do so hot, but I won a bunch of hands to start, played half an hour, and finished up $175, enough for new golf shoes! I shudder to think of how much of a beginner I looked like in that session.

    My other buddy won some money at video poker, we ate at the casino bar, and then moved on to other locales.
     
  10. BlueSkadoo

    BlueSkadoo VMB Sweetheart

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    My first gambling experience was at the Bellagio in 2003. To steal a phrase from Larry Flint, I was barely legal. My best friend from college was graduating in December, and his parents sent us for his graduation present. (Originally he was supposed to go with some of his guy friends who all bailed on him about six months ahead of time). We were both poor college students who had tried to save up by couponing and living cheaply, but our bankrolls were only around 150 bucks each. The entire time we were there, we didn't play much above a nickel slot, and the "high rolling" was with quarters. We didn't understand why we weren't getting more comps. We did enjoy the posh accommodations of the Bellagio, and did most of our gambling at the B as well. Our favorite machine was a nickel machine that had a caveman on it who sang out "Gobba gobba HEY" when you hit a jackpot. I think it even paid out in nickels.
     
  11. runningonthehub

    runningonthehub VIP Whale

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    My first gaming was my first trip to Las Vegas in May 1995. I was trying to think of a place to go on vacation when a co-worker told me I should go to Las Vegas.

    My response was-why would I go to Las Vegas?, I don't gamble. She said -you don't have to gamble in Las Vegas to have a good time. Well, I got three other guys together and hoped on an America West flight and went to Vegas.

    The minute we hit the Vegas strip, I feel in love with the place. We stayed at the Riviera, but we went to Circus Circus for our first gaming experience. I had never played a slot machine before then. So, I guess it was beginners luck that I cashed out with about $300.00. I thought that was a huge amount. I was lucky the whole trip and went home with about $500.00. I was hooked.

    Since that first trip, I have been going back three times a years. I do very little gambling now. I guess I have have lost enough to know better and losing my money does not excite me. But, I am fascinated about the way gaming has changed since then. Back in 1995, you saw very few penny slots in casinos. Now they have taken more of the casino floor. Just another way the casinos change to meet the needs of the customer and take more of their money.

    The first gaming experience hooked me on Las Vegas, but not on gambling.
     
  12. Tammy58

    Tammy58 Frugal Slot Jockey

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    Dad had us playing poker and BJ at the kitchen table with his penny jar by the time we were in elementary school.

    High School was spent doing his "system" on his race program for that night.

    1990....be at the busline down the street at 3:30 am...bus to Atlantic City took over 6 hours to get there....bus back at night and get home at 2 am. Slots quarter and nickel (bankroll of $150) and my neighbor brought a sandwich to eat at the machine so she wouldn't have to take time to eat. Had my first buffet it was at the Showboat. Did it every year for 5 years. Always the Monday after Mothers Day.

    1995 first Vegas trip with the hubby. 17 years later and I am on this board always planning my next trip. :wink2:
     
  13. mdk63

    mdk63 Low-Roller

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    Hooked

    Playing $2 blackjack for hours on a $20 bill pounding back cold ones at Silver City, I think. :beer: Then I took my then $30 bankroll over to the craps table and ran it up to $800 cuz I was a craps virgin. If I had known what was going on it would have been at least double that.

    I just did what the guy next to me did and had no idea what bets I had out there. The crew was giving me a lot of heat, regarding things I didn't understand at the time, and the table became packed, loud and sweaty. When I finally crapped out I stuffed my pockets full of mostly red chips with a few greens mixed in. I didn't know I could "color out". I literally ran from the table because I was so drunk, confused and felt I had done something wrong. As I ran away the crew was yelling at me to come back.

    Needless to say, I was hooked.....
     
  14. zamboni

    zamboni VIP Whale

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    My 18th birthday was in the middle of the week, and I was born in April, so a school day normally. But for my 18th we had teacher in services so there was no school, so I went to Jackpot Junction in Morton MN. Played some BJ and slots, went broke and went home.
     
  15. Auggie

    Auggie Dovahkiin

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    First gambling:
    When I was 8-10 years old we used to go to my grandparents every week and my brother and I would play them poker for pennies.

    More "casino" style gambling:
    I hadn't shown any interest in gambling but for my 12th birthday my dad bought me a "Nick the Greek Home Casino" set

    Actual casino gambling:
    Quite a few years back my then girlfriend (and later wife) and I used to go out every weekend to find something to do, sightsee, etc. We were at a public market doing some shopping and they opened up a new casino on an old restored riverboat... we went up there to check it out. First thing I ever played was Jacks or Better video poker.
    Back then it was something we did about once every three or four months. Eventually we saw just about everything there was to see in our area so for going out we would go to the casino about once every 4-6 weeks.

    First time in Las Vegas:
    I had a website doing online ordering back in the early 2000s. It was doing pretty good and I saw an opportunity to go to Las Vegas to attend a big convention of restaurant owners.
    At that time we were engaged for about four years, just couldn't find the right time or place or finalize plans on getting married... so I just said: convention runs for 5 days, I can come home then or you can fly down the next day and we can get married in Las Vegas... she chose to get married.
    After that we went once a year to celebrate our wedding anniversary and eventually it moved up to twice a year. We would go more often, but work keeps me pretty busy most of the time.
     
  16. kitson

    kitson VIP Whale

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    family quarter limit poker games from the time i can remember, and probably even sooner playing 31 for 3 nickels a game.

    cutthroat three handed pinochle for 50 cents a game, quarter a set, double if you played it for every holiday season since i hit high school.

    won enough money my senior year of high school, after the basketball coach said he no longer needed my talent, i played poker every night with a group of adults including my parents.

    it might be that i was running the chuck-a-luck game on the bus to the away games that had something to do with the end of my athletic career...nope, it was lack of talent.
     
  17. earth-3

    earth-3 VIP Whale

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    It was in 1968 and stayed at the Sahara with my wife. I was 26 years old getting ready to turn 27, and never gambled in my life. I won some award points through sales work, and opted for a Las Vegas trip since my wife and I heard so much about it. She and I played nickel slots and we hit one win for $60. That was the start. I also remember playing BJ for $1 and $2 per hand. Now 18 trips later, I leave for the 19th time in just two weeks.
     
  18. Emeraldcity

    Emeraldcity Low-Roller

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    I was flying with my parents to Palm Springs (before they had non stop flights) and we had a stop in Las Vegas. My dad handed me a $5.00 bill and said run out and at the end of the jetway there will be some slot machines, go play.
    There was a dollar machine, I didn't know what to do so I put in the $5.00 and did a spin. $50 in silver dollars came out of the machine. I put them in my pockets and ran back on the plane and showed my dad. He laughed, my mom said "see what you started?". I still have those silver dollars. (I was 17 at the time, it was the 70's)
    For my 21st birthday, I went to Las Vegas, and I go 4 times a year since then. I play blackjack mostly but there are some fun slots I play too.
    And my mother still looks at my father and says, "see what you started?"
     
  19. Scahom1

    Scahom1 Tourist

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    In 2004 my friends and I took an 8 hour road trip to Niagara Falls to go to a casino. We were only 19 at the time. We all got our butts kicked, but it was a real fun experience.
     
  20. Reed

    Reed High-Roller

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    My parents normally went once a year. In 2004, they asked if I wanted to go with them. I was pretty much a broke college kid and decided what the hell it is a vacation. Stayed at the Monte Carlo and I have been hooked ever since I stuck the first $20 in a slot machine. Now I can't get enough Vegas or Vegas info. Always planning for the next trip, scouring all Vegas websites, reading the boards, pricing airfare, etc...
     
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