Midnight at the Casino
$5,000 Welcome Bonus
When I pulled into the parking lot of the new Bristol Casino just after 11 p.m. Friday night, it looked the same as when I left shortly before the doors officially opened for customers at 12:30 p.m. — packed out.
I knew the casino would likely be busy its first night open, but I had hoped my late night visit would give me a chance to experience the casino during a less crowded time and play a few hands of blackjack. It was clear all of Bristol had come to play. As the kids say — the place was lit.
Casinos are one of those magical places where time doesn’t seem to matter. The lights and sounds are the same at 2 a.m. as they are at 2 p.m. or 7 p.m. Although most of Bristol was sound asleep after the casino’s historic opening day, the casino itself was showing what it has to bring to the Twin City. Entertainment — any time of the day or night.
One of my favorite things to do is to play blackjack and I wasn’t going to let the opening day of the casino go by without playing a few hands.
I don’t do the slots or roulette or any of the pure luck games because I don’t feel like I have any control over the outcomes of those machines. Blackjack allows me to make decisions, right or wrong, and I enjoy that, even though I’m not particularly any good at it. Whenever I play at a live table I always get a lecture from someone about how I’m not playing by “the book.” I’ve not read the book of blackjack, obviously. I’ll wait for the movie.
So the fact that the new Bristol Casino is open means I’m in big trouble. I have never lived in a place where I could drive 10 minutes and walk in a door anytime day or night and play a few hands of blackjack. So this will be interesting.
I’m having to think about things like, How often I’m going to play? What’s my limit of funds per week? And I’m also having to establish hard rules with myself about when I leave the game both when I’m losing, and when I’m winning. Having only played real blackjack when traveling, I have never really had to establish those boundaries before.
Now, with a 24-hour casino right down the road, I’m sure many of us are having to make those same determinations.
Even in my limited casino experience, I have had a difficult time walking away when I was losing. Being a fairly competitive person, I’m not real good with failure. My optimism keeps me always thinking that next hand will be the one that will turn the game around. One time many years ago in Charles Town, West Virginia, that hand never came, and I learned a painful lesson about gambling that sticks with me to this day.
Now, I never use an ATM inside a casino. I just pretend they don’t exist. I only bring in money I can afford to not walk out with, and I only bring in the items in my wallet I might need, such as my driver’s license. I leave the credit cards at home.
Friday night into early Saturday morning at the Bristol Casino was a blast.
After finding the blackjack tables with live dealers filled, I settled in at an electronic version of the game. It was fun. I immediately lost about 75% of my bank that I brought to play, but was able to rally. I walked away without enough winnings to buy a half tank of gas. That’s much more money than it used to be.
Having a casino in town is a fantastic addition to Bristol and will bring us many wonderful things we would never have seen without this development. But make sure you take care of yourself and your family. Establish hard rules with yourself, a spouse or friend and stick to them. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. They can point you in the right direction.
Let’s all take our personal responsibility seriously so we are all winners at the new Bristol Casino.
