Welcome to Las Vegas! My name is Victor H. Royer, but everyone just calls me Vegas Vic. I was named after that famous neon sign in Downtown Las Vegas, that cowboy with the hat on top of the Pioneer Club, always waving his hand and beckoning to his long love, Sassy Sally, on the other side of the street. I will be writing a few articles for AccessVegas.com, so I hope you enjoy them.
Lady M came back down again that evening. She continued to play for the next three days, and continued to lose. Not only did she lose the $12 million she had won the month before, but she lost another $27 million on top of that. She lost it into these machines, and into others, and on just about everything she played. It didn't phase her a bit, although she was a little peeved that she wasn't winning, and decided to attribute this to the fact that her machines had been turned off while she was gone and therefore had been sitting "cold." No matter. She was taken to the private jet, and flown to wherever she wanted. In fact, the jet was provided at her sole disposal for as long as she needed it. She came back the following month, and won back not just her $27 million loss, but another $6 million on top of that. And she was happy again, at least for the moment. My friend told me later that she lost an average of $14 million per year. And that made her a very good customer.
I was back again at my machines the following evening. Lady M was still at it at her three special machines. I had a very good run that first night, with my cups, trays, and wallets overflowing with tokens and cash. When I added it all together, it came to more than $20,000. Not bad for a $500 initial investment. And so I decided that it would be a good idea to try these same machines again. Perhaps not the very same one I had been playing, but some of the others. I had started playing $5 machines, which were a novelty at that time. They weren't uncommon, but most casinos didn't have many, and some of the other casinos didn't have them at all. These days $5 machines are almost as common as $1 and 25-cent machines. Caesars at that time had some of the first new IGT $10 and $25 machines, and so I decided it was my turn to try some of these. In addition, there was also a center carousel of $100 machines, which took two and three coins each.
I settled in front of a $10 two-coin machine and ordered my tokens and my drinks. Lady M was already there, pumping her machines full of coins. She was a rich woman. As far as I could learn her story, since most people there either didn't know it at all or didn't want to talk about it that much, she had been married to a very successful man and when he died he left her more millions than she knew what to do with. Since they had no children, and neither had any living relatives, there was nothing for her to do with all that money than to find new ways of spending it. Of course the casinos in Las Vegas, and elsewhere in the world, were more than interested in accommodating her. And it seemed that this kind of a lifestyle suited her and made her relatively happy, as happy perhaps as one can be who has all the money in the world but no one to share it with. It occurred to me that I should make friends with her, and perhaps she would adopt me. But right about that time she banged the machine and stormed off in a huff. She would not return to her station until the next day. So, I thought, here I would be for the rest of the evening, comfortable, happy, and able to play my machines with all the attention from the staff and employees, because I would again be the biggest fish in that pond. Oh, how wrong one can be at times!
Victor H. Royer is the Author of 22 books on casino gaming. His newest series of 13 books -- including the new release Powerful Profits from Tournament Poker -- are now available in all major book stores, or from The Gambler's Book Shop at 1-800-522-1777, or at Amazon.Com. Visit his Web site at: http://www.GamingAuthor.com
Holding an existing reservation? Use customer service contact information given on your email reciept for proper service. You may have booked through an advertiser or travel partner. *Hotel rates found on our site or through our online advertisers and travel partners may not be available on the phone (internet only rates).
About Us: Contact, Advertising, and Media Information
AccessVegas.com respects your privacy. Email addresses are not sold, rented, or used in any other way. Each free issue contains a working unsubscribe link.
. Visit his Web site at: 
