BREAKING MY OWN RULES

Some days just aren’t ordinary or routine – and on those days it is sometimes hard to be “perfect.” I had one of those days recently.

First, Brad’s and my schedule included going to five casinos, doing some major play at 3 of them and minor play and/or pickups at the other two. At ages 76 (me) and 83 (Brad) and a decrease in our energy level (both) I am trying to organize a more relaxed calendar of activities, especially for playing video poker. Usually this is working pretty well these days because there aren’t as many good plays as in the “good old days.” We do major plays together 2 or 3 times a week; Brad does free play pickup and minor plays several days while I am ensconced in my office working on updated versions of Frugal 1 and Frugal 2. But my main goal is not to schedule too much for one day.

However, that day casinos outdid themselves with good promotions and we found ourselves wanting to take advantage of 3 of the best. So we did although, as a rule, we don’t usually play that much in one day. Fortunately, there were no promotions the next 3 days – so we are able to rest up now.

Another rule we usually follow is not to eat at a casino buffet more than once a day. That day, due to time restrictions, we ate both lunch and dinner in a buffet, albeit in different casinos. We did try to eat healthy at both –and agreed that there would be no dessert for us in the second one! But we are going to eat simple meals at home for the next several days.

For 30+ years we have eschewed casino valet parking most of the time. We hate to wait for our car – and we always looked at the walk from the parking garage as healthy exercise. That day we valet parked – and we have decided to drop our no-valet rule. Sometimes one must make adjustments as your body ages – and long walks are no longer the best exercise option for us.  We now have primarily gone to swimming instead.

We still choose “advantage” plays for 99.9% of our casino action, but that day we strayed from our must-be-over-100% rule for a short fun recreational play while picking up a small amount of free play in one of our non-core casinos. We played a really bad schedule of nickel Ultimate X. Actually we love that game, but have decided that because it is not readily available with good pay schedules, we would not spend the time learning the complex strategies. But once in a while, we pretend to be just-plain-recreational-gamblers, hunting for the lowest denomination of Ultimate X we can find – even one- or two-cent Triple Play is fine. Sometimes we will partner up with a friend or two and pool our money, just enjoying the laughs as we guess at the right strategy moves, cheer for the big multipliers, and groan when they don’t produce even a small return.

One has to be careful in breaking or changing the rules in any part of life, but sometimes it might be a wise decision and just a matter of being flexible.  And sometimes it may just be a reasonable fun option.

This entry was posted in Casino Promotions, Health, It's Personal, Video Poker. Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to BREAKING MY OWN RULES

  1. benjamin brown says:

    I completely understand your thoughts. I worked at an amusement park for 8 years and had to work on the rides but every once in a while I decided to “play” and go on the rides myself knowing that I had to wait in line like everyone else..sometimes with friends and co-workers and we would laugh and scream just like everyone else.

  2. jeffrey feinman says:

    A follow up on Connie’s comments. A friend producing a TV segment on Valet parking
    set up 20 cars with “temptation”. That includes everything fro a roll of quarters to an expensive camera. In an amazing 14 of 20 cars something was missing when they returned,. When confronted the valets usually said something like “…with minimum wage what do you expect”
    In short, if you choose valet parking just make sure valuables are locked in the trunk and you only leave the ignition key. Otherwise it’s not only the casino setting the odds against you!

  3. Barry Glazer says:

    Interesting decisions. It is indeed OK to decide, once in a while, to just have fun, or to do things the easy or convenient way, when there might be downsides to that.

    I am perfectly capable of walking as far as necessary from my parking space to a casino, and I therefore usually park my own car and walk (although the warning posted about being an opportunity for being sought out by the criminal element certainly warrants consideration) — but, interestingly, I still will drive around a little looking for a “close” space, rather than just taking one far away, which would (1) give me a little more exercise, and (2) would likely be a space that is usually open, so that I could routinely select “my” parking space 🙂

  4. Connie Keenan says:

    Twice, while valet parking at Harrah’s Las Vegas, we’ve had our glove boxes riffled through. So, we are wary of valet parking. Just remember, not to leave anything valuable in your car, including valuable papers or information that has ones address.

  5. Steve Kallis says:

    Sounds like you had fun even if the machines you were playing were not good bets. The buffets can be healthy and a couple of days of home meals can correct any extra calories you might have eaten. Now the valet parking subject, something I feel very strongly about. When I became a senior citizen I realized that my ability to defend myself or my wife diminished greatly. Also exiting a casino, no matter what city you are in, still signals the criminal element that you probably have money. Why chance it when you can walk/exercise when you get home. Thanks for sharing!

  6. ken orgera says:

    Are you guys doing some resistance exercise in addition to the swimming? The studies show it really helps people in their later years. Good health

Comments are closed.