$66,234.59 + $15,000 =

I’m buying Ruth a new car!!!  AND I’m taking the family (Ruth, David, Lindsay, Brady, Eva, Elizabeth, Sutton, Michael and Kate) on a cruise!!!

When I first got married my dad had one common question for me.  “When are we going to Vegas?”  I suppose that he was jealous that I went without him when I eloped with Ruth.  In any case, Ruth had a standard reply, “He can go any time as long as you pay for his trip.”

A couple of years before David was born he found a deal for airfare and a room and paid my way to accompany him.  We stayed at was then “the garden rooms” of the Flamingo.  They were across the pool from the main hotel.  After we checked in we made our way to the casino floor and – cross my heart – within the first minute saw a guy hit a slot machine for $250,000.  My dad turned to me and said, “One of us is going to hit it big one day.”

Last Thursday was mine.

I played a card game called Mississippi Stud.  I don’t know the origin of the game, but I’ve played it off and on for about ten years.  The draw of the game is that you can add to your bet if you like your hand.  Adding to your bet means if you win – you win more.

When the Firekeepers Casino opened in Battle Creek the casino offered a “progressive jackpot”.  The jackpot is difficult to win so it builds over time.  One of the first progressive jackpots awarded reached $228,000.   I spoke to players who had been at the table when the jackpot was awarded.   They said that the guy who won, tipped the dealer one hundred dollars.  Cheapskate.

Mississippi Stud  is a game where a player can win, or lose, a lot of money in a short amount of time.  The players make bets, and the dealer covers those bets.  You don’t have to beat the other players. You’re playing against the house. You are just trying to make a hand. The progressive that I was playing for was $66,234.59 and it started with a $5.00 bet.

The rules are simple.

1. You make a bet called an “ante”.  I bet $5.00.

2. You get 2 cards. My first two cards were the Ace and King of diamonds.  These are called suited connectors.  Suited connectors provide the basis for a straight flush.  A straight flush (five cards of the same suit in a five card sequence)  pays 200 to 1.  A Royal Flush  (the  Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten of the same suit) pays 500 to 1.

3. The other players also get 2 cards.  You don’t care what the other players get as you are not playing against them.

4. The dealer also deals 3 community cards. All these cards are dealt face-down. The community cards are a part of each players hand.

5.  You get to look at your cards after all the hands have been dealt. My cards were the basis of a Royal Flush, but I needed the Queen, Jack and Ten of diamonds to complete the hand.

6.  Once you’ve looked at your cards, there’s a betting round. You can make a “3rd Street Bet”. You get to decide how much to bet—1, 2, or 3 times the amount of your ante. Also, if you don’t like your hand, you can fold.  Since I had the suited connectors, I bet an additional $5.00.

7.  After the betting action, the dealer turns over one of the community cards. If you didn’t fold, there’s another betting round, the “4th Street Bet”. You can again bet between 1 and 3 times the ante. You again have the option of folding.  The dealer turned over the Jack of diamonds giving me three of the required cards for a Royal Flush, so I bet another $5.00.

8. The dealer turns over another community card. If you’re still in the hand, you can place a “5th Street Bet” of between 1 and 3 times the ante. You again have the option to fold. The second card turned was the ten of diamonds.  I needed only the Queen of diamonds to complete the hand for the Royal Flush. I increased my final bet to $15.00 making the total bet $30.

9. The dealer turns over the final community card. Ruth and I have been talking about replacing her car.  And this past summer, when all the kids were in Michigan, we asked if we booked a cruise for everyone to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary in the fall of 2021, if they would join us. They all said “yes”.

We had been at Brady’s football game about two hours prior to the final turn of the card and had discussed the cruise with Lindsay and David.  We’re looking forward to it.

The new car and the cruise flashed in my head just prior to the turn of the final card. My dad’s comment, “One of us is going to hit big one day.” jumped in too.  The Queen of diamonds meant that I would win the $66,234.59 progressive jackpot and another $15,000 for the $30 ($5 + $5 + $5 + $15) that I had placed in play.  The total of $81,234.59 was more than enough for the car and the trip.   I just had to figure out how much to tip the dealer – I knew it would be more than $100.

10.  Your bets pay off according to the game’s pay table. It’s important to understand that you don’t have to beat another player’s hand to win. You also don’t have to beat a dealer hand. You get paid on the final value of your hand.  I have a friend that could tell me the odds of turning the Queen, Jack, and Ten of diamonds.   I expect that they are astronomical.

When I was teaching eight grade English in Plainwell, one of the poems we discussed was Ernest Thayer’s famous, “Casey at the Bat”.  Its final stanza reads:

Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.

When the dealer turned the final card, and showed the four of spades, I knew how Casey felt.