2/22/10: Queenstown, Australia
K: Hey, so I was thinking…
Z: Yeah?
K: I found these $5 match play coupons for the casino. What if we go and each use one for a round of roulette? If we both win, we can put ten dollars away and then we would still each have five dollars to do whatever we want with.
Z: Can I buy a preemptive-winnings ice cream cone?
K: Ok.
Z: Then sure, I guess.
K: Really?
I think Kevin thought I would put up more of a fight, but he totally overestimated me. I’m quite easily bribed with food.
We walked into town and bought my delicious ice cream cone (one scoop dark chocolate, one scoop cookies and cream) and sat by the lake to enjoy the view. We discussed our strategy. Should one of us bet on black and the other bet on red on the same spin and make a (practically) guaranteed five dollars? Or should one go first and the other go next? We even threw the phrase “expected value” into the conversation. My statistics professor would have been proud.
After we decided on a plan of action and I finished my ice cream cone, we headed over to Sky City Casino, where the bouncer asked for our ids. We showed him our passports, which we had purposely brought in case people thought we didn’t look like we are over 20 years of age. I was pretty proud that I had thought of this before we left, and I whispered to Kevin, “Good thing I thought to bring our passports. You wouldn’t have been able to get in without me.” He replied, “If you weren’t with me, they wouldn’t have asked for id.” Ouch.
We traded in our match play coupons for tokens and took a seat at the roulette table. I bet on black and won. Then Kevin bet on black and won. Which means we each had five dollars to do whatever we wanted with. My five dollars was already spent on the preemptive ice cream cone sitting in my tummy, but of course Kevin decided to use his last five dollars to place another bet. He put his five-dollar chip down on black. And lost. “What should we do now?” Kevin asked, as if we hadn’t already agreed beforehand that we would ONLY play two spins. “What do you mean ‘what should we do?’ We’re leaving!” I said, and pulled him away from the table. We cashed out and left Sky City, Kevin forlornly glancing back at the casino every few feet.
As we walked away from the casino, one preemptive-winnings ice cream cone fuller and $15 richer, Kevin mused allowed, “I love to gamble. Gamble, gamble, gamble.”
[Mom and Dad, don’t worry, he doesn’t really gamble that much. Only in Vegas. And Queenstown, if we have coupons.]
_____________________________________________
Picture of the Day: This mountain is real, I swear.
I love to gamble too. I put $5 in a slot machine in AC and played a penny a spin. It’s extremely unsatisfying because you can only win a penny but it makes you FEEL like you’re getting to gamble a lot because you spin so much. Let’s go there when you guys get back. There’s outlet shopping (!) and I know a particularly yummy place for dinner.
Yes, let’s go gambling together!! I’ll teach you how to play the nickel slots.
hahahaha