As Christmas was fast approaching, my boss at work decided to take myself (I am a service engineer) and the rest of his team out to dinner. There was around thirty of us in total and as we started to enjoy our meal, it wasn’t long before the drinks started flowing. I really don’t know how much I had to drink, all I can say is I had a good time…hic…

Inevitably and all too soon, it was time to go home. Or was it? No of course not. The night was still young at 1.am in the morning and everyone was in high spirits or just plain drunk. Many of my colleagues decided to go clubbing, but a colleague and I with whom I was sharing a cab, decided to get back to our home town and visit the local Casino. I hadn’t been in a Casino in the UK for many years, so I was definitely up for it.

The cab journey took around fourty minutes, which gave me time enough to what some would say “sober up” but in reality I was at least able to get my head together. On arival at the Casino I had to register, not having been there before. The last time I was in a Casino in the UK you couldn’t play for at least 24 hours after registering but since the gaming laws have been relaxed I was able to play straight away.

The Casino was quite small, 2 black jack tables, 3 roullette and 2 or 3 empty card tables and of course numerous slots. There were probaly around 20 to 30 people actively trying to beat the odds at one game or another. My first impressions were that of disappointment, I guess I expected the place to be “buzzing” with activity but in the UK at I guess at around 2.00 - 2.30 am probaly not surprising.  Anyway, I decided to hold off playing for a while whilst I became acclimatised to the place and I just watched my colleague who was an obvious frequent visitor as all the croupiers knew him by name.

My colleague started out by playing Roulette changing around £20 into chips for the privelage. I in the meantime, was observing both him and others around on the slots. It wasn’t long before my colleague had lost his £20 and was changing more money into chips, but then he moved onto black jack. I on the other hand did not feel comfortable with the tables and so continued to watch him as well as keeping an eye on one particular slot on which another punter was feeding without any return.

It wasn’t long before the guy on the slot I had been watching got up and walked away empty handed. As I had been keeping an eye on that particular slot, I knew he had fed quite a bit into it. I checked the loose change in my pocket and found £6.00. You guessed it, I started playing on the slot in question. I didn’t know this machine at all being new here, so only played a minimum bet. Within just a few minutes, I had won £50. I cashed out from the machine and started watching my colleague again who by now was according to him, breaking even.  This news made me feel a lot more comfortable as I didn’t like the idea of me winning and him losing.

I still wasn’t comfortable with the tables, so moved on to another slot I had been watching and again, won and cashed out. At this point I noticed my colleague drawing money from a cash machine using his credit card. He had lost quite a bit and was now chasing his losses. I was tempted to drag him out, but instead just commented offering advice which needless to say, given that he was still influenced by alchohol, was declined.

I returned to the first slot I had been on and won again and so again cashing out. Heavily laden with coins I decided to change them for notes and call it a day. I was well up on my £6.00 which gave me a return of £140. I was happy but at the same time concerned for my colleague.

I continued to watch as my colleague chased his losses and eventually quit. It was time to get a cab home which incidentally I had to pay for as he had no money left. On my way home, I wondered if I had had more to drink, would I have raided the cash machine?

So the moral of this story, is don’t gamble when intoxicated and don’t chase losses. Quit while you are ahead as the longer you play your good luck is sure to run out. By observing others when playing slots, you can sometimes, but not always win.

Graham Maddison
Copyright © Graham Maddison-2008