our trip to the hard rock casino

Today we went to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino with my parents. We have lived here for almost a year and had never been. We've been keeping a list of places to see in south Florida and today we were able to cross off the casino.

It is a nice place (and also the place where Anna Nicole died) - when you first pull in you can't help but notice the lush tropical landscaping which is certainly maintained using some of the money that people "donate" to the casino in the form of lost bets. Once inside, the slot machines are right beyond the Ferrari in the lobby. It is very easy to become disoriented in the large casino. Steven and I split up from my parents for a bit and gambled on our own. Neither of us are big gamblers so we stayed with the slot machines and away from the game tables.

We withdrew $200 when we arrived and we each got $100 to gamble. My strategy is to bet the most on each bet. You can't make money if you don't spend money, right? Steven takes a more conservative approach, betting smaller amounts. I won $100 early on, but lost it plus my original $100 before we even ate lunch.

After lunch I watched Steven gamble his remaining $30. We visited the bar where we had a Bloody Mary and Steven gave me another $20 to wager. That didn't last long.

After that we met my up with my parents who were ready to leave, but told us that if we signed up for a Players Club card the casino would give us $20 in free plays. We signed up and took our $20 to lose before we left for the day.

My stepfather suggested that we play the slots on the way out of the casino, as he believes that the ones near the door pay better returns than the others. Steven put in his free $20 and so did I. My strategy was to spend as much per bet as possible, Steven's was to make his money last as long as possible. Check out below for our final results:

Steven
Original Amount: $-100
Additional:$-40
Winnings:0
Total: $-140

Mark
Original Amount: $-100
Additional:$-40
Lunch for us:$-30
Winnings:$381
Total: $211

Total won between both of us: $71!

And what is most amazing is that we were down over $200 before we signed up for the Player's Club cards and received the free plays. Who knew??

We won't be back soon, but it was nice to spend a few hours having fun and have it not cost us any money. And, we might win a Ferrari.