October 2008

Winning Double Takes
by John Grochowski

If you play slots or video poker, no doubt you’ve heard this before: every spin of the reels, every deal of the cards is an independent trial. The odds are no different after a big winner. You’re just as likely or unlikely to hit the jackpot on any spin, regardless of what has happened in the past.

Yes, that means back-to-back jackpots are possible. Likely? No. The odds are still strong against a really big win on any spin or hand. But back-to-back jackpots CAN happen, and given enough trials, anything that can happen eventually will.

I’ve asked players for their tales of back-to-back wins, or at least wins that are very close together. Back-to-backs are rare, of course, but extremely exciting when they happen. Heck, two big wins within any short time makes for extreme excitement. I know I was thrilled with the closest I’ve ever come, a five-hand span.

On a visit to a Chicago-area casino, I looked over the paytable for a video poker game called White Hot Aces so I could run it through the computer for potential column fodder, and I sat down to play a few hands. (It turned out to be the full-pay 9-5 version of the game, which returns 99.6% with expert play. The paytable didn’t last long.)

Dealt a pair of aces, I discarded the other three cards. Up popped the other two aces. On White Hot Aces, that’s a 1,200-coin jackpot, and since I was playing for dollars, it meant $1,200 and a form for the IRS. A friendly slot supervisor and security guard came to fill out a jackpot form, check my ID and reset the machine. I was given a receipt while they went to get my money, and I resumed playing. My first hand after the jackpot was a loser, then I got two pair for a five-coin return, then another loser. Then, deja vu, I was dealt a pair of aces, and as I hit the buttons to hold those two cards and discard the rest, I started thinking it would be nice to get a third ace, maybe even a full house to give myself a little playing room. I was thinking too small, for once again the draw brought the other two aces. It was another $1,200 jackpot. The security guard rushed back. “You didn’t do it again?” I did. “No, you didn’t,” she laughed. But I did. Twice within five hands, $1,200 jackpots. Not quite consecutive hands, but it’ll do in a pinch.

Others who have had their jackpots come even closer together know the thrills of beating the odds.

Linda: I was playing Double Double Bonus Poker and got a club royal, then played it off. The very next hand I got another club royal. My friend, Steve, kept telling everybody I had back-to-back royals; however, there was actually one hand in between. Another time I was told that a guy got so nervous when he was dealt four deuces on a Deuces Wild machine, that he held the ace and threw away the four deuces by mistake. He got a royal. I didn’t see this myself, but several people relayed the story that he did. In addition, a slot attendant verified that it was true. (In a way it’s even more of an anomaly than back-to-back, since it’s technically the same game.)

Jerome: My sons and I were playing video poker together on a big four-night trip. We all play individually, but sometimes we play together just to have some fun and to stretch the budget a little. What we do is pool our money to buy in, then one plays as long as the hands are winners. After a loss, the next player takes over.

We’d been doing that for a while on an 8-5 Bonus Poker machine, just about breaking even. It was No. 1 son’s turn to play, and he was dealt four aces. That was good for $100, and we had about a $90 profit at that point. No. 2 son said he’d take that as his cue to break off for a while, that he had a business call to make, so we gave him his $10 buy-in back along with $30 in winnings, and he went off. That took a few minutes, and No. 1 son and I decided to stay and just do a two-way split. He continued his turn, hit the button and up came ace, king, queen, jack and 10 of hearts. Not in that order, but there it was a royal flush on the deal. We split $1,000 between us. You should have seen the look on No. 2 son’s face when he heard what happened, but he was happy when we bought dinner that night. I don’t know if four aces on Bonus Poker is a big winner to you, but to have back-to-back, four aces and royal flush, both on the deal with no draw, that’s a back-to-back big win to me.

Robin: On my birthday, I was playing the $1 Wheel of Fortune. I was on a Red, White and Blue machine, and I hit the Red, White and Blue 7s for $1,600. While I was waiting for the payout, I put $20 in the machine and within two spins I hit the Red, White and Blue 7s again for another $1,600. I also had a day to remember one month later. I was playing a $1 Double Double Bonus Poker machine. I hit four aces with a kicker for $2,000 followed two hands later by a royal flush for $4,000. I couldn’t believe my luck. I decided to leave before noon. That evening I came back with a friend and played the same machine. Through various hands, but not another royal, I left with an additional $8,000 that night on the same machine I had won on in the morning.

Mary: In regards to back-to-back jackpots, my boyfriend won two jackpots within three spins on a Triple Diamond, two-coin low-boy $1. We asked the attendant if that happened very often, he said very rarely.

Pete: I’ve never had two jackpots in a row, but I did witness it in Las Vegas. While taking a break from video poker, I won a slot jackpot. While I was waiting for a hand-pay on the Red, White and Blue slot, I heard a lady yell out in back of me and saw she had the top jackpot on a Double Diamond. When they paid off and asked her to play the winner off, she hit it again. Never saw that before and haven’t since.

Jack: My wife was playing a Five Times Pay machine. She hit a 5 with a white 7 and another 5, that was $931. They paid her off, and on her next spin she got a 5, 5 and a red 7. That was $1,100. Two thousand dollars less than five minutes apart, on back-to-back spins.

Karen: I had settled into a dollar Wild Cherry progressive. I was doing okay. In about half an hour, I’d won a little, lost a little and was down about $50 when it happened. Wild Cherry, Wild Cherry, Wild Cherry. I couldn’t believe it. The most I’d ever won at once was $1,000, and here was a progressive worth $12,841. It took a while to get paid. They had to take my ID and write down my Social Security number. They asked if I wanted cash, a check or a combination. I took $2,000 in cash, and the rest in a check. Finally, after about 20 minutes, they reset the jackpot at $5,000 and asked me to play the winning combination off the reels. Guess what! Wild Cherry, Wild Cherry, Wild Cherry. I about fainted. I still almost faint when I think of it.

Dave: I was at Trump playing a quarter Bonus Poker Progressive. The meter was up to $1,480 when I was dealt a pair of Jacks, but also three to a royal. For some reason, I went for it and got the royal. The sad part was, I was driving on a ticket and didn’t have a photo ID, so all they would do was give me a receipt until I got my license back. The following Sunday, I went back to collect my winnings and brought along $200 to play with. (All major winnings always go into my wallet and not back into the machines.) Anyway, I hit another royal on a Double Bonus Machine. After they paid me, I turned around and played the Bonus Poker Deluxe machine right behind me and got another. I walked off the boat with $3,800.

Mike: Just had to share this with somebody. I found a Triple Play quarter game with Not So Ugly Deuces, so I put in $100. Well, to quote Gomer Pyle, “surprise, surprise, surprise.” I lived the Triple Play dream, it DEALT me a natural royal (clubs), so I won $3,000. Dumb luck, because that could happen even with a bad paytable? Yes, but I might not have lasted that long, especially on Deuces, without the best paytable, so I believe that my “pickiness” just paid off handsomely.

Diane: About nine or 10 months ago, I was playing at a quarter Triple Play game. I was dealt three deuces, and I held them and threw away the other two cards. On one line, I drew the fourth deuce. After the attendant paid me the $250, they asked me to play again to clear it off. I was dealt one deuce and threw away the other cards, and on one line, I caught the other three deuces. Back-to-back hands on the same machine, so it does happen.

Mark: I was in Vegas with the guys from my bowling team for Super Bowl weekend 2003. We flew in on Saturday, got to our hotel, and proceeded to wander down the Strip all the way to the Stratosphere. Back then, there was a bank of quarter 10-7 Double Bonus Poker pretty much in the middle of the casino. There were signs on the top of every machine in the bank advertising “100 percent pay video poker.” One of my teammates and I sat down next to each other and began playing. After 10 minutes or so, I caught a full house, and was only paid 45 coins. I looked at the paytable, sure enough, 9-7 a 99.1% game, not 10-7, 100.17%. I got up and checked every machine on the bank, and mine was the only short one, all the others were 10-7. Needless to say, I was a little upset, and probably should have moved to another machine, but, a short time later, I was dealt four to the royal in diamonds, and caught the king for the royal.

At this point, I had 135 credits left on the machine, and figured I’d just play it off and then leave. After about 10 minutes, I still had around 100 credits, when I was dealt a royal in hearts. I leapt from my seat in shock. My friends were in as much disbelief as I, but happy because they weren’t buying dinner that night. My teammates then gave me a lot of grief, mainly along the lines of “What nerve you have, griping about a machine that you just hit two royals on.”

Brian: Deb and I stopped in at a new casino to check it out. She decided to take a shot at a goofy looking video poker game we’d never seen before, wish I could remember what it was, but cannot. Just to keep her company, I stuck a twenty in the machine next to her and promptly picked off a $1,000 royal. After the hand-pay, we decided to meander to a different place. She grabbed a Deuces Wild machine that had coughed up four deuces to me earlier that day, so I took the one that she had been playing (and losing on) at that time. Third hand was the only dealt royal I’ve ever had. If looks could kill.

Babe: This isn’t consecutive hands, but it happened fast enough for me. I couldn’t believe it. Remember when they used to have set cruises (on riverboat casinos), and at the end of your cruise you had to get off? If you were playing enough, they’d give you a sticker so you could stay on for a second cruise. Well, I was playing quarter Double Bonus Poker, and I drew a royal flush. It wasn’t my first. I’d had two before that in Las Vegas, but every time is a thrill. By the time they paid me off, they were already stopping play and having people get off the boat, but they gave me a sticker so I could stay on. I tipped the change girl who brought me my money. I moved to a progressive machine, in another part of the boat, and I drew another royal. The same change girl came back to pay me. She looked at the screen, said, “Congratulations,” then did a double take. “Oh, it’s YOU,” she said. I think she was as excited as I was, and I was pretty excited. After she paid me, she asked me to play it off. Would you believe I was dealt four parts of another royal? The girl stayed and watched my draw, but I didn’t get anything that time. I was happy enough with my two.

Jay: I was entertaining a client who wanted to go to the boat. I like to fool around with quarter video poker and cheap slots, but he was a big player. He headed straight for the craps table, and he was betting hundreds of dollars. Me, I was betting a buck-twenty-five at quarter Double Bonus Poker. I didn’t hit a royal or anything big like that, but right before time to leave, I drew four aces. That was 800 quarters, or $200. On the next hand, I was dealt four 3s, and that was another hundred bucks.

We were really near the end of our time then, so I put $200 in my pocket and decided to take a $100 flyer on a dollar slot machine. I sat down at a Double Diamond machine right near the door. My first spin, the reels came up Double Diamond, Double Diamond, and I’m thinking that if that third reel is anything, I have a pretty nice payoff. Even three bars, which were worth 30 credits, would be doubled, and doubled again to $120. The something that came up was the third Double Diamond. I about passed out. That was $2,500. I came on the boat with about $150, and now I was leaving with around $2,800 total. That’s three consecutive big wins, $200, $100 and $2,500. At least to me they were big wins. You don’t find an extra hundred every day. My client said he lost a little, but his little was probably more than I won. He’s still my client, though, so he can’t have had too bad a time.

— John Grochowski is the author of The Casino Answer Book, The Slot Machine Answer Book, The Video Poker Answer Book and the Craps Answer Book, available through Bonus Books, Inc. at (800) 225-3775.