Stories from the lives of casino players

.....couldn't resist, dragged it from another private /////////////////////////// A short preface: I won't tell you my 12-year-long offline game story (and a couple dozen unusual stories related to playing slot machines), only if there are requests. But I will still tell you how I started my game and how I finished... Imagine for a second in your head a ten-year-old boy who goes to school, plays football, is terrified of fights, because he thinks that at the most crucial moment his hands will go numb, and he will not be able to hit his opponent + his upbringing will not allow him to hit anyone. That's what I was like at that time, a frightened, naive child who did not know all the realities of life at that time. This is partly what ruined me ... How I got acquainted with slot machines It all started one evening. Me (Alexander) and my best friend (Dima) came home from school as usual, changed clothes (his door is opposite mine on the 12th floor of a 12-story building), and went out to the elevator with a soccer ball. We waited and waited for the elevator, but realized that it was broken, since between the 6th and 7th floors we could hear the choice swearing of the elevator electrician, who was trying to explain in a civilized manner to the enraged people who were in the dark and ignorant that the elevator would not go any further, and they had to wait for the emergency vehicle, since he had lost the key to the elevator shaft in his free time. Naturally, we go out onto the landing, and on the balcony of the 12th floor our friend from the building Zheka almost knocks us off our feet. Because he was running, he ran into Dima, and the ball flew from his hands onto the street from the 12th floor to the 1st. And? As we watched it, we understood the trajectory of its flight, but we still hoped for a second that it would pass us by. But no, damn it, it didn't, the ball hit the car and even the windshield, leaving cracks in it half the size of a bag, and funeral music started playing for us at that moment in the form of an alarm. What would most 10-year-old boys do? Right! They would run to their apartments, and lie under the blanket, afraid to make a sound, and think about the evil uncle who was about to knock on their door. But Dima and I decided that we needed to leave the entrance without fear, find evidence in the form of the remains of the ball, and only then run home. No sooner said than done: the three of us go outside and start looking for the ball, and then Dimych says, "That's it, I found it!" and points his finger at a boy of about 6 years old sitting on a bench, who is holding our ball in his hands, and it is whole, not even deflated. Dimka says to the kid, "Come on, give me our ball!" the kid nods his head in response. Dimka: and for a candy? (and takes a piece of gum out of his pocket) the kid immediately hands him the ball, Dima takes it, and immediately gives the boy a slap on the back of the head. The deal is done! And then I notice a man coming out of the entrance, who is walking quickly to the car, and says something about a mouth... I grab Dima by the hand, tell him to hide the ball under his shirt, and we quickly run off in an unknown direction. After about 40 seconds of fast walking, me, pregnant Dima, and a despondent Evgeny are standing near the Cleopatra karaoke bar. Zheka says: "That's why I was in a hurry to see you (he points his finger at the entrance to Cleopatra), they installed slot machines here 2 days ago, you can win a lot of money without making any effort, and not constantly ask your parents for money. After listening to him, Dimka argued with him for a long time, but then said, Sanya, let's go see what this is, where they give money for free. Zhenya gave the Aunt with big breasts 5 hryvnia (1 dollar) and she exchanged it for 10 fifty-kopeck coins, the slots did not have a bill acceptor back then. Zhenya sat down on a stool for musicians and started to hammer on the button, from the side you could think that this boy had Down syndrome, who was injected with something stimulant. Zheka smiled, was in an excited state, shouted "come on, come on", and at that moment his mouth was dripping onto the floor and his legs were dripping drooling... A terrible picture. But then he jumped up from his chair with a cry of Hurray! and the sound of metal was heard - as if somewhere nearby a crazy blacksmith was trying to break the record for the speed of forging iron. It was small change falling. Zheka scooped out all the fifty-kopeck pieces and put them in his pockets. There was a lot of money, or rather 300 coins ($30). Zheka gave us 2 dollars each, for which I bought all sorts of sweets, and Dimka, without leaving Cleopatra, decided to play too and won another 7 dollars, in total with 8 dollars, he left the establishment. At that time, no one knew anything about slot machines, and even children were allowed to play. And there were no laws in Ukraine on the gambling business. After this incident, instead of playing football, Dima and Zhenya ran to the slot machines. I did not go with them, since I did not like all this. But one day a billiard room opened in the outbuilding of our house. And then, after 2 weeks, a huge number of machines were brought there, or rather 15. On the ground floor there was a bar and 10 machines, and underground there were 5 machines and 2 billiard tables. Dima invited me to play billiards at his expense, and when I lost 3/2 in games, he sat down at the first machine he came across, put in 10 hryvnia, and I began to watch. The machine was called Megajack, in 2000 it was just gaining popularity and Mariupol was the first city in Ukraine where the Bulgarians began to bring these multi-game slots with 12 games on the platform. Surely many of those present at one time managed to play games such as Champagne, Slot of Pool, Gold of the Aztecs, and others ... This is Megajack. So Dima played pyramids, and he got a bonus, he had already played this slot several times without me, and caught it, told me "San, come on, try it, I haven't been able to catch the diamond pyramid yet. I clicked once, gold, two silver, three, and then a diamond fell out, then I just randomly clicked on the cells and went through the entire bonus, pulling out a dragon's head from the top, Dima said that I was cool, and that we won almost 500 hryvnia ($ 100) after the admin paid the money Dimych gave me 200 hryvnia (for me this was simply unreal money, and this became the reason for my gambling addiction, and turned into my first independent game on this same machine) //////////////////////////////// My first game! It all started on a summer morning 2000... As usual, I was 10 minutes late for school. I didn't even think about taking my first step towards a long, painful, meaningless 12-year school. But fate decreed otherwise...! I closed the door of the apartment and knocked on Dima's door, who usually comes to school first after me. His mother opened the door and said that he was sick and couldn't go to school because he was sleeping. I, a little upset, went to school, but when leaving our house, as usual, I looked towards the bar, which mysteriously beckoned with bright LED signs "Gaming Machines". And then an inner voice said, *Sanya, don't you think it's unfair that Dimka is lying in bed, and you'll go to school and sit in boring lessons until lunchtime and listen to boring speeches from teachers. You have 170 hryvnia at home that you got for free, and sooner or later they'll run out, and you won't be able to afford to gorge yourself on ice cream and candy around the clock, buy gum with caps and bits, since your mother has no way to give you money (she hasn't been paid her salary for half a year)* And then I made up my mind! I immediately turned around and went home for money. In order not to lose everything, I took 70 hryvnia with me, since I understood the risk of leaving with nothing at that moment. And here it is, the club. I pull the handle of the front door, and find myself inside. The pungent smell of cigarette smoke is immediately felt, it is everywhere here, in every corner, apparently a lot of people smoke these incomprehensible pipes called cigarettes. I went up to the bar and asked to change 30 hryvnia for 60 coins worth 50 kopecks. After the change, I tried to choose a machine, but 2 out of 10 machines did not work because they froze after paying out winnings, 5 pieces did not suit me, because they were some kind of incomprehensible kings with bells and fruits, and the remaining 3 MegaJack machines were busy. And naturally I went downstairs, where there were two Cleopatra machines and 3 MegaJack machines. I sat down at the farthest one in the corner and started throwing in coins. I played for a very long time, about 3 hours, trying to figure out the games, poker, and bets in the machine, reading the rules, and what this or that combination and bonus game gives. I played at a small rate all the time, the balance fell and then rose, but was somewhere in the previous 600 credits (that is, it remained in place). And then I managed to go to "Banana 4x4". I made 15 spins, and lo and behold, 3 green dollars fell out, with a joker and some kind of multiplication, and 1200 credits appeared on the account. I immediately clicked on the payment, and small change poured out - my 30 hryvnia, I threw it into the pocket of a sports master in a niche of which there was a hole, and the change was evenly distributed along the bottom of the entire jacket. This was, as I thought, protection from gopniks. I loaded the remaining 30 into the neighboring megajack, and began to play ships. After 20 minutes of playing I heard laughter, and a crowd of local punks and street kids, 5 years older than me, came hopping down the steps. My mood dropped sharply, because now I had a support group of three healthy guys behind me, who, with any win in the +, shouted throughout the bar "MalyyZhgi!", and the other 4 guys played the Cleopatra slot. I don't remember what I won, but I clicked on the payout for almost 160 coins, and then hands started reaching out and started taking the falling change along with me. I managed to put about half of the amount in my pockets, the rest was distributed among the gang members. Upset, I got up from my chair and somehow touched the wire with the adapter for the machines. All the slots went out. I didn't lose my head and plugged them back in. The slots started rebooting, and only at that moment did I notice the angry faces of the gopniks who were looking at me as if I had cut out their entire family. One of them said, "God forbid that the 40 hryvnia loans disappear from the account, Maly, you'll have to pay from your own pocket!" I muttered something, but then their leader said to me, "Maly, what's your name?" Me "Sanya" He "Sanya, what did you just do with the machines? Repeat in the same sequence, only faster damn!" I went to the outlet, pulled the cord, turned it on again, and the machines started loading again. Then he told me to go to him. I made my way through the crowd to the guy sitting on a chair, and he pressed the button and said. "Sanya, you broke the machine, none of the buttons work, and Cleopatra's top window shows 9999 in the credits column." What are we going to do, Sanya? I started clicking on all the existing buttons on Cleopatra, and then I saw how part of the money was transferred to the main account using one of the buttons. I held down this button and all the credits were transferred to the payout window, after which first the bottom board started spinning, then the top one, and the jackpot fell out again, as they later explained to me. Their boss again said *so what, Sanya? It's just a bug, maybe it will pay out? Just press that button.* I pressed the payout button and the change started falling. Before everyone could figure out what was happening, I took turns with the main villain --- I started putting my hands under the falling change and shoving it wherever I could. After 2-3 minutes of madness and endless change pouring out, everyone else got all worked up, pushed the main guy and me out, and a real crush began. 6 people from their group and another grown man were squeezing each other for the right to reach for the trough and stuff their pockets with leprechaun gold (the machine was full to the brim, so it took a long time to pay out, there was a lot of change on the floor). As the smartest one, I collected it from the floor and continued shoving it into the hole. The trowel was already heavy, and I could barely keep my back straight. And then the administrator came running with a security guard, chased everyone away from the machine, and turned off the entire network. Her speech was as follows: *This machine has a malfunction. In order to leave the premises, you will need to go through face control at the exit (our security guard will search you), hand over all the change to the cashier, and only after that are you free to go. If someone is not satisfied with something, then you will talk to the police, this will be incriminated to you as an attempt to break into the device, and your parents will be called. * Everyone reluctantly agreed, and one by one began to approach the cash register, and hand over the change collected with blood and sweat. Plus, at the entrance, a security guard groped them with greedy greasy hands, and groped them so much that now, many years later, I begin to suspect that the guy was once part of a cohort of boy lovers experiencing tender feelings and strong excitement from this process. In general, a typical p... Everyone passed the check except me and the leader, we did not dare because there was a lot of money in our pockets. And yet I found a way out. I said something like this: "I'm not going to go through a search, because all the money in my pockets I won in MegaJack in Karablik, I have 30 hryvnia in my pockets that I exchanged with you, and 80 hryvnia that I won in MegaJack, you can check how much I paid from it. I didn't take a penny from Cleopatra because they wouldn't have let a child in there, there was a fight over money anyway. If something doesn't suit you, then I live in this house, and my dad works in the prosecutor's office, he'll quickly find a language with the local police." And it worked. The admin apologized to me, saying that we apologized for the inconvenience caused, and that I could go. The main gop said when I was already leaving that he was with me, and he also left the bar. When I found myself on the street the sun was shining brightly, I saw almost nothing blinded by its rays, but in my soul there was a joyful feeling of victory. The gopnik thanked me for my quick-wittedness, we shook hands, and he went to the rest of his gang, who stood aside and waited for him. And I went home, inspired by victory. Five minutes later, I had already opened the door of the apartment, and immediately began to dump change from my pockets, and tear a hole in my pocket to get the remaining pile of change. When I counted my profit, it turned out to be 547 hryvnia net, and 70 of my own. It was a success! More than $100 at that time. The finest hour had come... But unfortunately, this was only the beginning... /////////////////////////////////////////// How I stopped playing: A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then: I worked, grew up, went through the army, took out a bunch of loans, experienced my first love. But what hasn't changed is that I spent all my money on slot machines at the first opportunity, hoping to win back and get something incredibly big in the slots. At that time, according to my calculations, I was already in the minus of about 150 thousand green American bank notes. It was terribly depressing, but I came to terms with it, and there were fewer and fewer hopes of winning back even 50 thousand. At that time in the fall of September 2011, I moved from Mariupol to Kyiv, hoping to earn some money there to buy a gaming computer and pay off an $800 loan. I earned money by singing in the underpasses, at the exits of the Kyiv metro stations, and on weekends, when traffic was blocked on Khreshchatyk and Independence Square. And then another Saturday. I sing songs by the Scorpions group on the Maidan. A lot of people gathered around me, but not enough. To collect money, my asker Vova runs around and processes the standing listeners. I met him in the computer club "Cosmos", which was on Khreshchatyk, opposite the Bessarabsky market. We lived (ate, slept, washed, spent the night) in this club. And so I finished singing send me an angel, and a guy of about 30 comes up to me. And he says. *And why don't you, young man, with such data, sing in the X-factor*? I answer him that I can’t sing, I’ve never studied it anywhere, and that it’s too early for me to take part in projects of this kind. To which he replied: *Of course, you’re wrong. You won’t achieve success in your development on the street, and you have all the data for this, well, it’s up to you to decide, not me! Would you like a pie? Or rather, a French bun. Hot, just from the restaurant!* To which I answered him that no, thank you, I’m not hungry. And then he takes out his wallet, hands me and Vova a piece of paper each, and says *Thank you for your good mood, good luck to you* and leaves... At that moment I hear Vova’s voice *Sanya, imagine he gave me 500 euros, did he give you the same?* I look into my hand at this huge purple piece of paper, and I understand that this is money, and that it is 500 euros. My first thought is to exchange it for hryvnia and tin it up. We decided to tin the next day, Vova had never gambled, and decided to play for the company for 10 dollars, and I for all 500 euros. When exchanging, it came to 7,000 hryvnia. Tin day! An ordinary, unremarkable Sunday morning, except for the fact that I had 7,000 hryvnia in my pocket. At night, I chose a casino to go to. Or rather, there was no choice, since the gambling business in Ukraine had been banned since 2009, and it remained to tin in various closed-type eateries, with signs "Internet cafes", where all the slots were online from ordinary computer monitors. But there was an option of the "Premier Palace" casino, which at that time was still not closed and was functioning. We went there, fortunately not far. When passing through face control, we were told that to enter the casino you need to have 500 dollars in American bank currency, they will exchange them for chips that you will play with. That is, only I can get in if I exchange 7 thousand hryvnia back for dollars. So I went with Vova to the exchange office, exchanged hryvnia for dollars, sat Vova in the nearest cafe, and went to the hotel where the casino was located. Face control passed quickly, and already loaded the Megajack machine, which was few there $ 450. Spinned for half an hour on a dollar to see the return in aces 4 on 4, and then decided to play 10 decks, 10 bucks per spin. I remember that from the last 100 $ on almost all decks of aces with two jokers, on the account more than 10 thousand $. Then I played all the poker games, hit more than ten arrows on them. The balance was previously 25 thousand bucks. I decided to make a stop. I withdrew 25 thousand, and loaded 5 thousand of them into another megajack, where one credit is 1 dollar. 3 hours of play passed. Vova was waiting in the cafe, since I told him that I was for an hour, but I hoped that he would think of going to a computer club without me, or just walk around the city. He did not have a phone, because it was easily stolen. And so I went into my favorite slot Champagne Party. I put 21 lines, a dollar on each, played for 30-40 minutes, the balance is holding in place, small and medium matches are constantly falling. And I feel with my ass that I need to raise the bet. Which I did right away, raising the total bet to the maximum of $210. Having lost 5 grand in green in 5 minutes, I ran to exchange 20k for chips and loaded it into the same slot. The game continues, the balance melts, and fell to 11 thousand, and making another spin, I saw a combination of five $ fall on the monitor (this is x1000 of the total bet + 15 free spins "There is an excuse, bitch," I shouted at the entire casino, which attracted the attention of security, strangers, and one of the employees. They all stood behind me and watched as I spun 15 free spins, discussing my 220 thousand greenbacks in credits, and rejoicing for me. After wagering the free spins, there were 247 thousand dollars on the balance, and I clicked on cashout. Oddly enough, but the casino paid the entire amount within 2 days, taking a 10% tip. I gave 20 thousand to Vova, the rest of the money went to repairs, paying off all debts, loans, a gaming computer, and other nonsense. That's how my gambling addiction ended. life offline.

An interesting story with a happy ending. Usually many end up where they are left with nothing.

There is no advertising motive in this story. Considering that we are talking about land-based casinos that have gone into oblivion, it can be said that the author has no reason to deceive.