I’ve been meaning to write about this a while ago. When my dad was visiting, he really wanted to go to a casino when he found out we had them. He loves to go down to Atlantic City and play the slots every once in a while. They’ve got those rewards programs and he gets to stay for free anytime he goes. Pretty sweet if that’s your thing.

I do have a confession. I’ve always wanted to go to the Tulalip Casino since it was built. I would drive by it on the way to ski or to play ultimate and something about the waterfalls and architecture called to me. For the last few years, I’ve also been interested in poker, and I was curious about what it would be like to play in a casino.

So on my dad’s last day, we drove up to the casino for a couple of hours. We walked in and it really is beautiful in there. Living in WA, I’ve gotten pretty used to no smoking in public places, so it was a bit of a surprise to get a face full of smoke when we walked in. It wasn’t too bad, but it was definitely palpable. If you’ve never been to a casino, the sight can startle you. Between the slot zombies and oxygen tankers and the constant ringing and crappy video game sounds coming from every direction, you really need a fly eye to take it all in.

My dad gave me $100 to play with and so we picked some quarter machines and played for a little while. I was doing alright. Won enough to stay even. At one point, I was getting pretty hungry. I thought since I was up about $50, I’d stop and go have lunch. I tried to convince my dad, but he wanted to play a little more and made me go play some more. I picked a machine on the other side of the bank and within 5 plays, I had hit a jackpot of $120. W00t! I decided to stop and a couple minutes later, we went to lunch.

After a greasy lunch of reubens, I decided that since I was up $160, I thought I would try my hand at some limit hold ‘em in the poker room. I had nothing to lose. So I gave my dad back the $100 he gave me since he lost his before lunch and headed over the poker room. I’ve played lots of poker with friends and even online a bit, but nothing really prepared me for playing against people I didn’t know in a competitive situation. I got into a $2/$4 blind limit game and managed to play for a while. I won a couple of pots, one pretty sizable. I also lost a bunch, but in the end, I left the casino with about $60. Not too bad for never having played in the casino and actually I hadn’t played in a couple months at all.

There were a couple details that really stuck out the most for me. It seemed like everyone knew everyone in the poker room. The casino personnel and many of the players were on a first-name basis. Many of the players knew each other. The game moved VERY quickly. It really forced me to be on the ball the entire time. To my credit, I think I did a good job of thinking through the hands and only played very poorly on a couple of hands.

Previously, I’d only been to one casino in Atlantic City about 7 years ago and lost $100 in about 15 minutes at the blackjack table. (The smallest bet table was $15) I did much more better this time.

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