You’re going to think I’ve got a gambling problem after you read this tale. I don’t. I’ve got a winning problem.
Ruth and I were out west for a couple of weeks. We left on November 20th and returned on December 4th. We flew in and out of Las Vegas, and stayed nine days in Palm Springs. We had a great time.
During our first stop in Vegas I played Pai Gow Poker. Without going into detail, it’s a slow moving game and a good way to pass some time in a relaxed setting. They had a new “bonus bet” available this time through. You could place a side bet of $5.00 for a chance to win a jackpot that at the time was over $2,350,000. I wasn’t going to take the “extra opportunity” but my dealer said, “It’s never been this high. Somebody’s going to win. If I were you, I’d take a shot.” So I did.
The nice thing about the game, and its side bets, is that you can win lesser amounts while looking for the perfect hand. In this case the perfect hand was a seven card straight flush. They use the joker as a type of wild card to fill straights and flushes in the game, and you could use the joker to complete the straight flush in the $2,350,00 bonus hand.
You have time to do a lot of talking while playing Pai Gow, so I asked the dealer a few questions about the jackpot and how it’s paid out. “They pay you at the table, and you take your chips to the cashier. They’ve got chips valued at $100,000 in the cage. They’ll bring those out to pay the winner. You gather them up, go to the cage, and they’ll process the payout however you like. I don’t know what they do about taxes.”
And then I asked, “What kind of tip would you expect on a win like that?” She never answered.
I’d heard of a win that a guy made several years ago where he won $1,000,000. After receiving his payout in cash, he dropped off a bundle worth $40,000 to his dealer. That was four percent of the win. I knew of another guy in Michigan who won a jackpot worth $186,000 and gave the dealer a tip of $100. That seems extremely chintzy to me.
I’d also read a story about a “whale” – that’s what they call BIG money players – who tips enough that each dealer in the place increases his tips by as much as $600.00 a night. Most casinos require their dealers to pool their tips so that everyone makes a similar amount each day. The dealers in this casino normally made $150 – $200 a night. When the “whale” was in town, the nightly tips would run about $750.00.
The story went on to say, “One night the whale took a liking to his cocktail waitress. She was a single mother trying to make a living for her two children. The whale offered to pay her a wage of $50,000 per year for five years, and pay off her mortgage, if she would stay home with her kids.” She took him up on the offer.
The first night I played I never got close to the big hand but I won several lesser hands and walked away a winner. I picked up about seven hundred dollars.
I returned a second night and took the same seat at the same table that I had the night before. The evening wasn’t as profitable, but I didn’t lose anything. Had I decided to take the same seat at the table to my left, I would have won the $2,350,000 jackpot because a guy about forty-five years old did. He hit a seven card straight flush in diamonds. Here’s a picture.
I didn’t stick around to see the payout. They said it would be at least an hour. I do know that he bet a total of $25.00 to win the money. He won an additional $10,000, or so, on another side bet.
He spent the twenty minutes that I did watch calling all his friends. I’m not doing that. If I ever hit it big, I’m not telling anyone. So if you don’t hear from me, I may have won.
I will set aside a college fund for Brady and Eva, travel first class, go on more cruises, and place a shoe box on one of my friend’s porches with $100,000 in cash (he knows who he is), but I still don’t know how much I would tip the dealer.