When you least expect it ...

[kenotherapy]

A friend of mine that played video poker always used to say to me "when you least expect it!" whenever she would hit a big payout.  One evening I took her with me to meet an old friend of mine who was tending bar at a local pub.  Well, when we got there i found out my friend was off that night.  I was disappointed and said " lets go over to our regular hangout".  She said, " Oh, let's just stay and have a drink since we came all this way here."Well, I really didn't want to stay because I didn't know the bartender on duty. nor anyone else there, but she charmed me with her lovely smile and I caved in and said "Okay."  I surveyed the progressives and they were kind of low, which usually means they have hit recently and generally won't hit again until they build up a bit.  Now this was back in the day where you used to buy a roll of quarters which also entitled you to a free drink.  So I gave the bartender a twenty for two rolls and our drink order.  The bartender promptly brought back our rolls and then went off to make our drinks.She started playing and I was kinda holding on to my roll waiting for my drink and just having conversation with my friend and eventually busted my roll open and dropped five quarters into the machine.  I was expecting the buttons to start flashing to hold after it delt my hand but nothing happend, except I briefly saw "CALL ATTENDANT" flash across the screen.  Now I'm thinking this is just great - my friend is not here, I'm not very comfortable at this bar and now the machine has malfunctioned.As the bartender brings our drinks I say to her, "Hey this machine is broken, I just put 5 coins in it and it didn't even let me play a hand!".  My friend looks over and says "You hit a ROYAL FLUSH PROGRESSIVE!"  I guess I looked pretty silly complaining about a machine that just paid me over one thousand dollars ....  we all had a laugh on that, and then she says to me "See ... when you least expect it!"   

[FloridaPhil]

Fun story.  It must have been some time ago as I have not seen a real money video poker machine in quite a while.   My wife was sitting next to me at the Beau Rivage bar years ago and everyone was pounding away at a Jacks or Better progressive.  The guy next to her would stop and tell her every time he got a flush or a full house.  She was a little annoyed, but humored the guy anyway.  After about 20 minutes he stopped and told her his machine had broken.  She looked over and you guessed it, he had been dealt the royal progressive and the machine had locked up.  All you have to do is be sitting in the right seat at the right time.

[FAA]

All you have to do is be sitting in the right seat at the right time.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------And be making the right bet at the right time. Sixty two won't do!

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=FAA]Sixty two won't do![/quote]Good point.  There is a good time and a bad time to play single coin.  Progressives are not one of the good times... 

[FAA]

My recent min coin RF was not a progressive. I would have been even more upset.  I'll treat full pay JOB as a min three coin game from now on. $187 RF is a bit more palatable. 

[BobDancer]

My recent min coin RF was not a progressive. I would have been even more upset.  I'll treat full pay JOB as a min three coin game from now on. $187 RF is a bit more palatable. 


Three coins is MUCH worse than one coin. Voluntarily playing one coin (at 98.4%) instead of max coins (at 99.5%) can make sense for bankroll or "loss per hour" kinds of reasons. Playing more than one coin but less than max gives up all of the reasons for playing one coin. If you don't have those sensible reasons, you should play five coins which is a far more lucrative gamble

[FAA]

Yes, Mr. Dancer. No bargain to get stuck in the no man's land in between either! I'll just pick one or the other polarity then.