And Now, the Requisite Weirdo Encounter

No trip to the casino would be complete without a denizen pulled in by Val's Weirdo Magnet. I'd been there scarcely an hour when he appeared. 

I'd established residency along the back wall, at a set of Wonder 4 Spinning Fortunes slots. The Pony and I like to play there, and he'd given me instructions (what with him staying home, feeling a bit indisposed) to take a twenty and play it on his favorite game, Brazil.

Of course my desires came first. I played my Buffalo Gold on the very machine that had given me my $8,600 win. Not with hopes of that lightning striking me twice, but because that slot gives a lot of bonuses, which (while not always profitable) are fun to play. Indeed, I had several bonuses that didn't even pay back the amount of my bet! But then the slot felt remorseful, and gave me a screen that was a winner.

Bottom left, I had a buffalo in all five columns, thanks to the multipliers, which are wild. Usually, you get ONE multiplier. Sometimes two. But to get three of them, with two being X3, is GREAT! This slot plays four games at a time. The bet per spin was $2.40, but each individual game is only a $.60 bet. So that payoff was actually very good. Too bad the other three screens didn't hit such a winner as well!

Anyhoo... I moved to the slot on my left, that one being The Pony's favorite, the one he has the best luck with Brazil. I don't understand Brazil, but when it hits a good bonus, it can be as lucrative as Buffalo Gold.

 

The Pony got $99.30 on this bonus, from a $2.00 bet. It has already added itself over to the "CREDIT" total. I played it down to $100.95 for him, in case another win was forthcoming (it wasn't), and then cashed out.

This was not a great bonus, and I can't even explain what paid off. First of all, I don't understand anything about Brazil, except that you get a bonus with three big green fish (that look like piranhas to me), shown in the top right screen. The bonus gives you 5 free spins, of only one screen. If you get gold butterflies, that's good, because they are wild, and they lock in place, and give you a replay of your win. So in effect, it's like hitting a 2X your win. Here, the bonus already ended, and the screen went back to when the bonus hit. The total bet was $2.00 a spin, with each individual game being worth a $.50 spin.

ENTER THE WEIRDO!

I was thinking about moving back to my favorite machine, but I fed this one a twenty to see if it would do any good on Buffalo. I was only a couple spins in when I heard a guy at the bar to my right, ordering a beer. He sounded friendly and polite. Maybe overly so... 

Of course Beersly came over and sat down at MY slot! I mean, the one I was thinking about playing. My former jackpot winner. Dang it! I made up my mind to lose that twenty (or win big, but that rarely happens), and move on. I hate playing with someone next to me. Even though there was a see-through plastic divider sticking out past my shoulder, and I was wearing the required mask. I didn't even notice if Beersly was wearing one! It's not a big deal to me, with that divider acting as a sneeze guard. I felt as safe as a buffet salad bar!

Anyhoo... Beersly sat down and greeted me. "Hey, how ya doin'? Get anything good?"

"No. Not really." I make it a rule to NOT ENGAGE with small-talkers in the casino. I don't need any new friends. I'm not there to entertain them. I'm usually counting spins in my head. My luck or lack thereof is nobody's business.

Beersly leaned way over. Getting a bit forward with me, it seemed. But he was only shoving his beer bottle between our slots, on the shelf they sat on. The plastic divider was making it difficult. Not my problem.

Beersly continued talking. I continued ignoring him. No eye contact. No more responses. Beersly played really fast. About half the speed you might use in a slot tournament. Eegads, man! That must be using up money at a really rapid rate on these Wonder 4 Spinning Fortunes! The minimum bet is $2.40 if you play all screens. And why would you play them if you only wanted a single screen?

THEN Beersly turned bitter! He yelled at the machine, where before he had been wheedling, pretty-pleasing for a bonus. In fact, Beersly cursed the machine! And commenced abusing it with his open palm! Smacking the screen, and punching the SPIN button with his fist! As you might imagine, this did not make the slot pay out. I got a little nervous. 

 

I've encountered such tipsy hotheads in Joplin, at the Downstream Casino, and once in Norman, Oklahoma, at Riverwinds Casino. I try to stay calm. Blend into the loudly-patterned carpet. At Downstream, security came and followed the guy around. At Riverwinds, a cleaning employee called security on her radio, he left, and they announced for him to go to the front entrance (after a mini-conference at the slot, while running his player's card info). I know the Eye in the Sky is always there, watching (usually ME, for taking pictures of my wins), but nobody showed up for Beersly.

I attribute that to his otherwise goody-goody demeanor. He was a small, stocky guy. Neatly dressed. He wasn't staggering or slurring. In fact, when he sat down, he reminded me of RUDY, in the football movie with Sean Astin. Nobody is going to have security come after RUDY!

Anyhoo... Beersly ripped out his player's card, saying what thieves these machines were, and moved to the same kind of slot that was two machines to my left! He started the same abusive curse-and-pound routine with it. He was farther away, and not trying to engage me, so I stayed where I was. In retrospect, not a good idea, because my lucky streak had been broken. I'm sure it was due to Beersly's karma, and not to random chance!

Beersly lost his money, I guess, because he left the area altogether, still hot under the collar. I went up front to register for the slot tournament (no Fourteenthampionship for me this day), and then meet Hick for lunch.

I left with a $50 profit. And The Pony's $100.95. Plus my full casino bankroll that I'd come in with. So I'd call it a successful day at the casino.