Comments on: Do You Remember Your First Time?

By: Jeanette

Jeanette — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 14:44:23 +0000

My first one was in 1997 at the Golden Nuggett in Las Vegas. It was on a quarter Jacks or Better. I was so new to video poker that I wasn’t even sure what I had and what I had won. The guy sitting next to me had to tell me. Good thing I knew enough to be playing the maximum bet! It was a progressive so I won $1,248.00…just enough to be taxable!!!

By: Victor Shaw

Victor Shaw — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 06:11:38 +0000

I was playing poker full time and putting in many hours at the casino. I had not learned the strategy yet, but I was watching and learning from a couple players. I had started playing the VP tournament. An older broke poker player who was on social security had a one card draw to a royal on a dollar machine when he realized he did not want it. He came to the poker room and got me to negotiate a sale. I bought the draw at huge discount and hit the button and hit my first royal.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 16:02:58 +0000

In 1992 I had been playing with a regular deck of cards playing jacks or better and keeping my results in a notebook. I had a giant bank roll of $1,500. Thought I was ready for $1 VP. We stayed at the Rivera. Bought 2 racks of 100 and started playing. Within a couple of hours I had hit my first royal for $4000. Little did I know at the time I was way over my head. I guess luck has something to do with it.

By: jg

jg — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 20:01:24 +0000

Nickels at the Rio!! I was shocked!!!

By: Wayne

Wayne — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 12:16:43 +0000

Hit a royal in a tournament at Harrahs in Lake Charles, La. First place was $1200. We bought two burial niches at our church. Wife said don’t tell anyone. I’m telling everyone.

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 07:59:43 +0000

Love the memories, Jean. Mine, believe it or not (and probably got me hooked) was also around that same timeframe (late 1990 – 1992). My memory is aging, and I didn’t keep many records back then!

It was at a local ‘Indian’ casino in San Diego. I only had $60 on me to play with (and it was a very old Reno-type of machine, but probably one of the earliest proto-types to uses something like TITO technology, due to CA gaming laws at the time).

It was a pretty poor 6/5 JB game, 20-1 for quads, but the royal was progressive! I got lucky.

Soon after that, I also purchased that same book you mentioned by Lenny Frome (Video Poker, America’s National Game of Chance) – and thus began my journey into the ‘multitude’ of varieties of VP that soon would ‘flood’ the LV market throughout the 1990s and beyond!

My next ‘real’ Royal was on an old favorite of mine at Binion’s downtown. I was ‘showing’ a friend how to play .25c VP on one of their Aces/Faces Bonus Pkr (before I knew about FPDW). I had been fairly lucky with the bonus quads – but this session, and a long-standing record I haven’t beat yet – on my 6th hand, holding only King and Jack of Hearts, the 3-cd draw filled the Heart royal!

Thanks for sharing…and I hope many others do the same.

Martin

PS – Perhaps you’ll come up with another article on how you first came across ‘slot cards’ and ‘slot clubs’ and various ‘comps/freebies associated with them. Boy- long memories return as I am even now looking at my Las Vegas Advisor Guide to Slot Clubs book by Jeffery Compton!–circa 1995. 18+ yrs, my how times have changed! (along with casinos and ownerships, etc, etc).

By: Gerda Sisson

Gerda Sisson — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 03:43:23 +0000

Everybody remembers their first I’m sure . We were at the Tropicana in 1993 . My husband played his bucket of quarters through the machine , 5 at the time of course . This was way before TITO . Bucket almost empty there were only 3 quarters left and of course with those he hit the Royal . A year (or two) later , we were visiting Las Vegas , but had left for the weekend to drive to the Grand Canyon . Came back and tried to check back in to the Tropicana , but the check-in line was long . Decided to walk over to New York, New York giving the line at the Trop time to go down . Hit 4 to a Royal in spades . Needed the Jack and got it . That was our first $1000.- Royal . Had quite a few since then , they are all very special , some I remember , some I don’t , but one always remembers the first .

By: Gayl

Gayl — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 03:22:30 +0000

First SpinPoker pat dealt Royal. About a decade ago at Valley View Casino grand opening in San Diego. I just discovered NSUD and SpinPoker. Unfortunately only nickels and never had a repeat to this day. My partner says he remembers my very first royal back in the early 80’s downtown Vegas at the newly built Sundance. (Before it became the Fitz and D) Partner says I was too naive to recognize my royal win.

By: Brent Peterson

Brent Peterson — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 18:41:33 +0000

Wow! 785 Royals! What is the cumulative total of all those? Even at $1,000 each that’s $750,000! Holy cow! Probably more since you and Brad play at higher limits.

My first, and only, Royal was at the Gold Coast on 25- cent FPDW. I believe it was in 2001. Unfortunately, I haven’t played much in the last decade or so. However, I’m starting to get back into it more and more. Hope to hit #2 soon!

By: George & Sherry

George & Sherry — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 18:22:16 +0000

very nice win Jean & Brad, your Canadian/Henderson acquaintances