Casino Bucket List: One Player Shares His Goals

I have played casino games for nearly 30 years. I have 55 video poker royal flushes. Some were dealt, entirely redrawn, or sequential. I’ve had huge craps wins from both the Pass Line and Don’t Pass sides. 

When I entered my first World Series of Poker event, I cashed in 14th place out of 595 players in the 2005 $1000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event. I was a professional poker player for about 15 years. I had blackjack steaks that made the house refuse to deal me more hands. 

With all of these big casino moments, there are still several items missing from my bucket list.

Ultimate Texas Hold’em Royal Flush

I have played tens of thousands of Ultimate Texas Hold’em hands, both live and on video versions. While I have been at the table for several royal flushes, none were mine. The dealer caught one at my live table and once on a video version. A friend had one with a $25 bet. He did not have a bonus side bet. Another player caught a $17,000 bonus to go with his $5 bet. 

I have also never hit a royal flush at any Texas Hold’em variants. It would be fun to catch a big bad beat bonus, like losing quads or a straight flush, at Heads Up Hold’em.

Poker Room Bad Beat Jackpot 

I once played poker for a living and hit a small bad beat jackpot at an online poker room. However, after paying tens of thousands of dollars in bad beat jackpot drops, I have never had a hand qualify for it. I only receive a $125 table share once. 

A bad best jackpot typically hits when a player loses four of a kind or better. In Texas Hold’em, the winning and losing hands generally must use both hole cards. The bad beat qualifier may be as low as aces full and may change based on the size. In Omaha and stud games, the minimum qualifier may be four jacks. 

Paid for a Pai Gow Poker Jackpot

I play little pai gow poker these days. The game changed drastically since 2018. That is when it started moving to the face-up format with no commission. Today, only three Las Vegas casinos deal the old version that allows players to bank and charges a 5% commission on wins. 

The jackpot in this game is a seven-card straight flush. It pays with or without the joker when the player makes the progressive side bet. I was dealt this hand once at Red Rock Resort. However, I am a tight player and did not bet the $1 side bet because it was about 75% lower than the breakeven point. Another player at the table got a $5000 envy, but I got nothing. It would be nice to have another crack at that. Many pai gow poker progressive side bets are now $2 or $5.

Learn Pai Gow Tiles

The only casino game I have never learned is pai gow tiles. Pai gow poker is based on this. Tiles are used instead of cards. Players may bank and a 5% commission is charged on wins. Hopefully, one day I can figure it out. I have tried to use online software to help. However, it has not gotten me any closer. 

Invent a Casino Game

I sometimes spend hours trying to create a casino game, whether video poker or a table one. Some visions come from dreams. In the future, I hope to have a game I invented on a casino floor. The goal is to invent a game where players have a fair chance of winning while requiring some skill while being easy to learn. 

Own or Run a Casino

When I lived in South Dakota, a friend and I discussed buying one of the Deadwood casinos for sale. The existing casinos were mostly aimed at promotion chasers, like car drawings and hot seats. The games, especially video poker, were largely terrible. We thought about aiming at the grinders who want a good game and not the variance that comes with promotions. We considered educating gamblers about how improved video poker paytables were better than a 1000/1 chance of winning a car drawing held every few weeks. 

We decided against it. However, the dream still lives on. Alternatively, running a casino is another goal that would be easier to accomplish, especially if I stay in Las Vegas. Few casinos operate in a way that captures all the revenue potential while building brand loyalty and offering value. I have a plan to turn around ailing properties as well as help improve healthy ones. 

Making Our Casino Record Official

On October 5, 2023, my wife Kristina and I broke a record for the number of casinos visited in 24 hours. We played at 93 casinos during that period. However, it was unofficial as the Guinness Book of World Records only recognizes table game play. The standing official record is 74. The Las Vegas area no longer has that many casinos with table games, making that record unobtainable. 

We applied for a new official record with the Guinness Book of World Records to cover slots, as table games are no longer possible. We have not received a response. 

Another official record is the number visited in a lifetime, which stands at 358. I am within 100 of that number, with many states left to visit.

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