Also a funny story about the first time I ever went to a casino...
Back on New Years Day 2010 we were in Scottsdale for the Fiesta Bowl so one night we all decided to go to Casino Arizona at Talking Stick Resort... I had never been to one before but went anyway, so all the guys were playing blackjack as I was trying to grind out a profit playing 25 cent spins on electronic roulette and was so pissed that I lost $20 but hey I was a broke college student at the time $20 was a lot of money...
But thats nothing, Marcus Cannon one of our linemen who plays for the Patriots now took all his per diem meal money that we had gotten for food during our trip on the blackjack table and lost it all so for the rest of the bowl trip he was begging for food/money from others.
Only one person walked out of that casino a winner that night and that was our backup kicker who was up $100 playing $10 hands of blackjack.
Swore off casinos after and said I would never go again but 3 weeks later me and some buddies made the trip up I-35 to Winstar and I learned blackjack basic strategy and lost my $330 tax return. Going to the casino became a monthly thing for us and I have been a degen ever since.
But persistence did pay off one time... during our Rose Bowl trip we went to Commerce Casino in LA one night and we all got killed there... everyone was down I mean that place is terrible dollar antes on all the table games. We all left the casino and went outside but while waiting for the van that was supposed to pick us up and bring us back to our hotel, it was running late so our starting tight end goes back into the casino and sits down at the 3 card poker table, already down $300. He hits a royal flush on the 3rd or 4th hand he was dealt and royal flush paid 200-to-1 so he bet $10 and got the $2000 jackpot so we all celebrated and he paid for In-N-Out for all of us.
Here is a pic of the dealer and pit boss counting all the cards to make sure he didn't cheat: