John M: My Luckiest Vegas Trip – 1991

Reader John M. shares his luckiest Vegas trip from 1991…

My luckiest Vegas trip was one of my first trips to Las Vegas, and it took place around 1990 or 1991. I was about 23 years old at the time. I didn’t know much about Las Vegas then. I wasn’t even familiar with the difference between Downtown Las Vegas and The Strip or how far apart they were. I booked a room at The Plaza, then called Union Plaza, and made the trip with my girlfriend. When I made the reservation, I just booked their cheapest room. When we checked in, I tipped the front desk employee $10 and asked for a room with a view. That “$10 trick” worked, and we got a great view looking toward Fremont Street. This was also before the Fremont Street Experience existed, so the view of the Fremont Street casino lights was unobstructed. I loved just looking at all the neon from my hotel room.

I wasn’t much of a gambler in my early 20’s because I just didn’t have much money and also lacked knowledge. My Dad liked to play craps, and he taught me the best, conservative bets to make at a crap table. My Mom liked video poker, but she didn’t know anything about the proper strategy of the game, and neither did I. Any video poker carousel with signs saying 99% or 100% payback was definitely a draw. My favorite slot machine to play then were the old mechanical slots that took one coin at a time. A $5 or $10 in nickels could last a long time spending one nickel per pull. The only place I’d ever played those old machines was at Harvey’s and Harrah’s in South Lake Tahoe.

Since I didn’t have much money back then, frugality and taking advantage of any coupons or deals was the way to go. One of the coupons we had was for a free drink at Lady Luck, currently Downtown Grand. During out first evening in town, we walked over to Lady Luck to take advantage of the coupon. We went up to a bar, which unfortunately only had $1 video poker, and I ordered a gin and tonic. I don’t recall what my girlfriend ordered.

A $1 machine was way over what I was comfortable playing with maximum coin in, but after a few sips of my drink, I gave the bartender a $20 bill and asked for a roll of dollars. I started playing $1 or $2 a hand. Again, I didn’t know much about video poker strategy, but I was making my best guesses at which cards to hold. I don’t recall what video poker game I was playing, but it had a fixed jackpot of $4,700 for a royal with a five coin bet. After a while, I was down to my last $7 of my $20 buy in. I decided to go for broke and put five coins in the machine. This was the one and only time I had played a hand with the maximum coin in. Up came a Ten, Jack, Queen and King of Hearts, which I obviously held. To my astonishment, I drew the Ace of hearts! I excitedly said, “I won! Oh my God, I won!” A Lady Luck casino staff member came out to get my ID, took care of some paperwork and later counted out forty-seven $100 bills in my hands. What an incredible feeling! The casino employee took a Polaroid picture of my girlfriend and I holding the $4,700, and I have no idea what I did with that picture. I wish I still had it. While we were waiting for the paperwork to be completed, we were chatting and celebrating with the bartender. She said that when she heard me say, I won, her first thought was, “Oh man! Too bad he only put in one or two bucks.” She was very happy for me and seemed like a nice person. I felt like a big shot downing a couple more gin and tonics, on the house, while waiting for the payout.

Another detail I remember was walking back to the Union Plaza with $4,700 in my fanny pack. Yes, I wore a fanny pack. It was 1991! As we were walking, I was constantly looking over my shoulder to see if anyone was following us. When we got back to our hotel, I went directly to the front desk. I got a safe deposit box and locked up most of my winnings for safe keeping.

It’s amazing enough to get a royal flush but to get a royal the one and only time I put in five dollars was an incredible stroke of luck. Also, after many gambling trips to Reno, South Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas, over the last 25 years, learning and practicing video poker strategy, this is still the only royal flush I have ever had. I’m due for another, right?

[Images: VintageLasvegas, Over50Vegas, UNLV]

John M. sent this in as part of our Author For A Day Challenge: “My Luckiest Vegas Trip.” If you’d like to share your luckiest Vegas trip, it’s easy. Write three (or more) paragraphs about your first Vegas trip, include details like the year, where you stayed, where you played, etc. Then drop us an email. There is no limit to how long it could go, so just have fun with it. If you have any images you’ve taken as part of your luckiest Vegas trip, feel free to send those along as well.

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