Hey, I’m in NJ, it’s Monday, work is slow, why not?!

I ran to my hotel, changed, threw a few warm ups, felt good. I headed out on I-80 to PA, drizzling as I got out of the car but not wet when I get in. I wanted to finally get a match play coupon from this place as timing has never been right, so I went to the machines close by, not the right ones. Went to the desk, they said only 2 match play machines on the far side of the house, fine; walk over there, right past the table with SL2 open…. nervous…. get to the machine, swipe, PRINTER ERROR….argh…. other machine, WINDOWS ERRORS….. ARGH. Fine, go to the table.

I stepped into SL2, but a hand was in play so I waited and caught my breath. another ‘gent’ walked up to buy in, I told him he could have SL1 as I was going to buy in from where I was. Of course, in the middle of the point cycle, he bought in for $107 (my thoughts exactly!). After the SO, I bought in, made sure I had a bet out so I could play and hit some 6/8s. This guy rolled a quick hand and I tried to settle into my spot better and nudged his elbow, said sorry. He picked up his "tray load" of chips and went straight out and made a comment about me needing a lot of room. I said not really, he got ticked and said WHAT, I said not really, no worries, we’re good (not how I would normally react but his buy in had prepped me).

I had hands of 5 for a small loss, a 12 with 1 point and 5 other hits brought me up but still short, then a 5 with 2 hits, still down, but Mr. 107 left the table. The gent at SR 2 had been shooting well and with a decent somewhat controlled throw, so I threw a $6 6/8, got a couple of hits, then got the dice, stepped on the mound, and wound up for a very nice 29, 2 pt (one of which I forgot odds – REMEMBER YOUR ODDS- gave crap to the base for missing that), 12 hit hand that brought me to over double my buy in. I figured I’d stay for another hand and see, walk if bad. Followed with a 13, 8 hit hand. I’d been hitting 4/10 decently, so I put a small spread out, had only a 5 hand with 3 straight hits on the four for a $10 place, then on a $20 buy, then on a $35 buy, covering my spread plus a few bucks, colored up and went to the cashier.

But we’re not done yet, I still had that blasted $5 Match Play coupon waiting! I stopped by the players desk, noted what had happened, so they called IT to meet me at the machine. I about walked (my wife is pissed I didn’t, but she’s not here!), but met the IT guy at the machine…. the printer was offline, but he did print a test, but mine wasn’t there. Argh. He said let’s go to the Casino Host, I said no, I’m done, then turned back and said what the heck, let’s go. No luck, casino host can only re-issue what they put in, not mailings. Argh, I’m done. But on the way out, the folks asked what happened, I said no luck, they called me over and phoned around. After another 5 minutes, the IT guy walks up with my coupon which had printed after he’d rebooted the machine.

Thought through head "Self, you should walk", but my outside voice said "So this is how you’re going to get your money back!"
Back to the table, point of 8 set just as I walked up. I set the coupon and a $5 bill on Come, nope, doesn’t work, no bet, throw is craps. OK, can I do a put on the line? Sure, (with how I’d been tipping, absolutely) and for a lousy $5, who cares? So I get a put on the line for the coupon and $5, next throw, WINNER 8!!!, "Thanks folks!", I took my very hard earned $15 and finally left, absolutely happy with the night!

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