Loot or Consequences

Thevictorians made a trip to the casino on Monday. We have not been since June or July! That is an incredible amount of time for Val to hang onto her disposable income. It needs disposing! Hick had made a couple trips to Casino Town for business, but not to the casino. Even though he'd invited me, my knees declined the offer. So here we were, five months out of action.

Upon arrival, we all traipsed to the Player's Club to have our cards activated. You don't have to do that every time, but Monday's gimmick to draw people in was a points multiplier. Points get you free play here, but not much else. Not merchandise and free hotel stays like the Oklahoma casinos.

Anyhoo... we all had our player's card and our ID ready. Hick went first, and disappeared as usual. I went next. I noticed that the guy was taking a while to activate my card so I could start having my points multiplied as I played. I wasn't watching him, but was turned around talking to The Pony. Then I noticed the guy struggling to get my card off the ring that attaches it to my stretchy bright green phone-cord-looking loop that I keep it on.

"Oh! Am I getting a new card?"

"Yep!"

I've had my old card for several years, so that was not a surprise. The Pony stepped up next, but kept the same card, just had it activated. To be fair, he had gotten a new card last time we were there, due to leaving his other one(s) at home. 

When I sat down at the first machine I play, which is next to the Pompeii machine that The Pony likes to play, I slid my card into the slot.

"Hey! Wait a minute! My card is GOLD now! What does that mean? Have I been demoted? I want my PLATINUM card back!"

"Probably. See? Mine is like yours. It's what they've given me the last two times I got a new one. But I still have $30 in free play! Just like you."

"Huh. Well. Dad has the gold card, and he only gets $10 in free play. I don't know if he even got that this time. He didn't get the thing in the mail like I did this time."

"I guess we'll find out when next month's offers come. We'll get less if it changed."

"Yeah. If you don't spend as much, the offers go down. I'm pretty sure you get your card status for one year. Maybe it's that time of year when they review your play, and assign your card. But if you play MORE through the year, I think they'll increase your status when you reach the limit, and upgrade your card. They just don't keep dropping it except when that year is over."

I guess time will tell.

We met for lunch at 12:45. The one lady who takes orders and brings out the food was BACK! We hadn't seen her in forever. She remembered us. And the other lady who had taken her place also asked where we'd been. Funny that this was that one lady's first day back! She was being re-trained on their new system.

Hick ventured away from his standard cheeseburger, and got the fried chicken sandwich.

Hick didn't mention his sandwich, so I guess it was okay. It's a nice plump piece of chicken. Even The Pony mentioned how it looked better than the thin scrap I got the one and only time I ordered the chicken sandwich. They sure didn't go overboard on the onion! And the pair of pickles looks a bit anemic. I'm guessing most of his special sauce was stuck to the top bun. I hope. Hick didn't even get his usual slice of pie this time! 

The Pony veered away from his usual fried chicken sandwich, and tried the Mississippi Burger.

It came with bacon, pimiento cheese, and jalapenos. The Pony said it was good, but he probably wouldn't get it again, because it seemed dry. He prefers the special sauce of the chicken sandwich, or mayo and ketchup, rather than the pimiento cheese. I prefer that The Pony either wear nail polish, or doesn't! Rather than rocking the chipped leftovers on his fingernails!

I couldn't decide what I wanted, so made an impulse decision from a sign on the counter of their current special, the Smothered Pork Po' Boy.

Imagine my shock when my Smothered Pork Po' Boy was delivered to the table, still breathing! The gal said that the gravy was on the side, for me to pour it over. Which was really how I preferred it, because imagine how hard that would have been to eat with the gravy on it! That's a crusty roll, with shredded pork, melted cheese, and grilled onions. 

I tackled my Po' Boy by slicing off a portion with a plastic knife and fork. Then trying a spoonful of gravy. That seemed the the least sloppy option, though I DID still get one splotch of gravy on my shirt. In the end, I mainly ate the innards of the Po' Boy, leaving 3/4 of the bread. If I had unlimited time, I would have dipped part of it in the gravy, holding that gravy cup under my chin in the absence of a bib. But Hick and The Pony were done way before I was, and I wanted to get back to gambling.

Score one for Val! This time MY fries came in a separate container, even though I ordered the combo, same as Hick and The Pony. I ended up sharing about 1/3 of them with The Pony, who had finished his already. And some of my gravy for dipping. I didn't mind if The Pony doubled-dipped, and he didn't mine if I ate gravy off my spoon and put it back in the container. Family blood is thicker than gravy.

Hick lost $60, The Pony lost 1/3 of his casino bankroll, and I left with a $140 profit. So a good day was had by one. We all enjoyed our outing. Even The Pony talked all the way there and back, rather than having his nose in his phone.

We might be returning next month, when The Pony has some time off.