The $5 Chip

If I’m driving back home on the New York State Thruway, and I’m feeling a bit weary, there are several locations where I can take a little driving break.  I might stop at Exit 32 and visit my alma mater, Hamilton College, for a while.  I might stop at Exit 48 and get some food at the TravelCenters of America truck stop in Akron-Corfu.  If I’m heading up from New York City, I can stop at the Sloatsburg travel plaza and get some snacks – and maybe a short nap in their enclosed parking structure.

Last Saturday, after dropping off my artwork at the New York State Fair, I made a “driving break” at Exit 33.

Yep.  Chuck pit-stopped at Turning Stone Casino.

Now with me, I always go into a casino with the mindset that I’m going to lose money.  Or, as I jokingly call it, I’m going to make a donation to the Oneida Indian Nation.  Fair enough.  But I need a driving break, and better that I lose $40 in the casino than get into a car accident and lose so much more.

I had about $20 in paper money on me, so I stopped at one of the ATM’s in the casino.  Punch in, punch in, and I figured I’d take out $100 – designate $40 for gambling purposes and $60 to get through the week until payday.

The ATM graciously spit out a $100 bill.  Not five $20 bills, mind you – a $100 bill.  The ATM was smart.  It knew that if it gave me a $100 instead of $20’s, that I would most likely use the $100 for gambling purposes.

GRR GRR SNARL GRR

Normally if I’m at Turning Stone, I’ll play one of the penny-slots or nickel-slots.  Instead, I went over to one of the money wheel tables.  I gave my $100 to the attendant, a ponytailed man named Ed.  He handed me $80 in $5 chips and $20 in white $1 chips.

“Do I cash out with you after I’m done?” I asked.

“No, brother,” Ed replied.  “You go up that staircase, take a right, then a left, and you cash out at the cage, brother.”

Ah, what the hell. May as well play for a few moments.

For this game, you place a chip on one of six areas on the table.  The attendant spins a vertical wheel, and whatever number comes up gets the payout on those chips.  I placed one $5 chip on the 10-to-1 area.  Let’s see what happens.

Wheel spins.

10-to-1 comes up.

Immediately Ed hands me two $25 chips.  “Looks like you won, brother.”

I place them aside.  Not spending those.  Instead, I pulled my $5 chip off the table, and spread some of my other chips on other demoninations.

No winners.

I positioned some more chips.

No winners.

I put the $5 chip back on the 10-to-1 marker.

10-to-1 comes up.

Ed hands me another two $25 chips.  I have now broken even.

Ah, what the hell.  I put the $5 chip on the 20-to-1 marker.  A couple of other people place their chips on the table.  Nobody else places their money on the 20-to-1 marker.  If nothing else, I’ll walk out with what I brought.

Ed spins the wheel.

And the 20-to-1 marker comes up.

Ed hands more FOUR MORE $25 chips.  I now have $200 plus the $5 chip.

“You’re on a roll, brother,” he said.

And at that moment, I had three options.  I could:

(A) take all my winnings, go over to the roulette wheel and put it all on 29.

(B) take all my winnings, go over to the craps table, and let it ride on a throw of the dice.

(C) take all my winnings, go over to the poker table, and play me some no-limit hold’em.

And in the end, I chose Option D.

I asked Ed, “Where’s that cage again?”

“Right up the stairs, take a right and then a left, brother,” he smiled.

Good.  I’m leaving while I have money in my pocket.

I cashed in the $200 in chips.  The cage worker handed me two crisp $100 bills.  Probably thought I wanted to gamble some more.

“Did you want to cash in that other chip?” he asked me.

I looked at my left hand.  I still had the red $5 chip, the one that helped me take cash on three separate spins of the wheel.

“Um…” I thought for a second.  “Do you have a Sharpie pen?”

The cage worker handed me a black Sharpie pen.  I then wrote on my $5 chip, “My Lucky Chip, 8/11/12.”  I handed the Sharpie pen back to the employee, put the chip – and my $200 – in my pocket, and left Turning Stone Casino.

And with that, I had a little extra money for the week.  First time I actually left Turning Stone with money and without disappointment.

That’s will power.

And it taught me something.  You can’t go into a casino and expect to walk out with money every time.  You can’t expect to go into a casino and walk out with money ANY time.  All you can expect to do is go into the casino, play some games with money that you’re NOT afraid to lose… and if, by some miracle of miracles, you win a few dollars here and there, you need to have enough will power and conviction to stop – walk away – and take the money.  It’s too easy to rationalize that you’re “playing with house money” and keep on gambling until you’ve lost your entire bankroll.  Only play within your limits and within your means – and if you do win, take home a souvenir if you can.

Like I did with this little gambling chip last Saturday.