Saturday, July 26, 2008 | 2:01 a.m.
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Once a week we would get dressed, drive to a hotel-casino and have dinner. Afterward, we each put $40 into 25-cent machines, played five coins each hand, and less than five minutes later we were heading out of the casino to go home. Dinner cost more than $140 plus a 25 percent tip (we’re in the restaurant business and are good tippers), valet parking tip was another $5, and slot play was $80. For much more than $200 we’ve been out for less than two hours.
We used to go out and spend a few hours just on the machines and had lots of fun losing our money. The machines used to pay out and kept us playing and putting more money in. We really did have fun losing $100 or more after dinner! Not anymore. Now we go to local restaurants and enjoy a nice dinner, then either see a movie or head home.
Do the hotels want local business? Of course they do, but they don’t want to take care of the locals. Too many hotels and not enough locals willing to play nonpaying machines.
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