I started the day with $360 in my wallet and decided to go down the pub and have a go at the pokies (In Australia the slot machines are called poker machines or "pokies" for short).
A lot of people bet only twenty cents per spin so a $10 note lasts for a long time, but I usually bet $1 per spin, which means I can go through fifty or a hundred dollars in just a few minutes when things go bad. On the other hand, when things go right, I can make heaps of money just as quickly.
So down at the pub I started with $100 and lost it within about twenty minutes. It was just spare cash so I didn't mind. In fact I was so unworried that I casually hauled out another $100 note and fed it into the machine. Unfortunately, that too disappeared in about ten minutes!
Now I was getting a bit worried. I had already blown $200 and there was only one more $100 note in my wallet. Should I just accept my losses and keep the last $100 for other things or should I risk it in the machines? I had no bills to pay; the fridge was full; the rent was paid. Even if I lost this last $100 I wouldn't be in any trouble (although I'd feel like a real dick-head) and there was still another $60 floating around that I could use for incidentals like bread and milk. So yeah, let's risk another $100.
But this time there was no point in fart-arsing about with $1 per spin because I'd never make my money back at that level. I decided to bet $3 per spin. If things went bad I'd be in trouble, but if things went well I should be able to recoup all my losses fairly easily. Unfortunately things went bad and there were just a few dollars left showing on the screen - when bugger me! I got three "scatters" and won eight free games.
At $3 per spin I was pretty sure I would win back a fair bit of the money I'd already lost - but you can never be sure with free games and there was still a chance that I'd get back only thirty or forty dollars.
But luck was with me. Halfway through the free games feature I triggered it again! And this time I scored an extra fifteen free games. Even better, I started getting some big wins along the way and when the reels finally stopped spinning I had $357 on the clock. So off home I went. Fifty-seven dollars ahead on the day.
After dinner that night I was thinking that if I hadn't recouped my losses on the feature win, I would have been sitting at home with only $60 in my wallet, but now I actually had $357 + $60 = $417, so maybe I ought to push my luck a little further. I decided to head for the casino and give it another go.
I sent $100 through the pokies in next to no time and another $100 disappeared just as quickly. Now I was getting a bit pissed off and decided to change tactics. I decided to risk my last $200 at the roulette table. Ten minutes later it was all gone. Only $17 left in my wallet.
What to do next? Cut my losses and run, or give it one more go? I decided to give it one more go and went to the ATM where I withdrew $500 from my savings account before heading back to the roulette table. This time I got some early winners and soon I was $200 ahead. I cashed-in my chips and went outside for a cigarette while I contemplated what to do next. Actually I didn't do much contemplating because I now had $717 in my wallet and fully intended to keep on going until I was showing an overall profit.
This time I went back to the pokies and quickly lost $100. No problems. I pulled out another $100 and put it into the machine. But this time I decided to go for broke - six dollars per spin! And would you believe it; I was down to the last few dollars when I hit the free games feature. Fifteen free games with all prizes tripled. I sat back and watched my winnings pile up - $300, $500, $600, $800, $900, $1100 - and when the feature was finally over I had $1,295 on the clock and $517 still in my wallet.
I went back to the roulette table and lost a quick $200 before deciding to call it a night, and heading out the door with $1,612 in my wallet.
Next morning I went to the bank and deposited $1,400 into my savings account and still had $212 in my wallet. Total profit on the day: $752.
[For those who may be wondering: I have never lost money I couldn't afford to lose. I usually risk only $100 per session and usually stop playing when I'm $100 in front. My biggest one day loss is $1,000 (that's happened only twice) and my biggest one day win was $4,000. I have never borrowed money to place a bet and I have never risked the rent money on a wager. In fact I am such a conservative character I don't even have a credit card. I pay cash for everything and have never owed anything to anybody. The only bills I get are for the usual things like gas, electricity, and the telephone. Gambling is not a problem for me, it's a hobby.]
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