Two weeks in a row

So, for the first time since the late 1990's I was in Swift Current two weekends in a row. This last one was on a impulse as my hockey team was playing hockey at a tourney in Elrose and decided to head to Swift instead of staying in Rosetown (which was the original plan). Basically wanted to check out the casino. Didn't get to have a beer with Switzer but, we'll make up for that in March.

Of course, the main bar (Caddyshack) was like clockwork. Show up at 11;30 you can shoot a cannon through the place and only injure the coat check girl. By 12:15 the place is full and lined up. I still shake my head at how small this province is. My one buddy runs into his cousin from Saskatoon. Why is she in Swift, her good friend grew up in Swifty and on a whim they came down for the night to check the place out. Yep, I graduated high school with the friend. Oh yeah, ran into the girls the next morning at Smitty's on the way out of town. My bud James summed it up when he said "This is a really small town" when we left.

All and all there were 6 of us that made the trip to Swift, as gamblor got the best of us. The couple hours we spent at the casino showed how casinos make their money. I only play blackjack, and play quite conservatively. I play for fun only, and have never lost more than $20 in a sitting, or won more than $40. Basically an excuse to sit at a table, bullshit, and drink some beer.

Of the six of us, two won a decent amount of money. One hit the triple 7 at blackjack for a cool $500, and the other won $150 at poker. Myself and teammate #3 were each down about $20. Teammate #4 went down about $80. So as a group we did good? Well five of us anyway. Teammate #5 lost $550. So, the group as a whole broke even. Not bad (except for teammate #5 of course). The thing to note is that hitting the triple 7 is very narrow odds, hence the $1 bet = $500. So, even with a stroke of luck like that, the casino still breaks even in our group.

I've always said that gambling is a tax on the people who are bad at math. Never been proved wrong there.

Cheers.