Hammond Marina shares its property with a Horseshoe Casino. It’s the only place within walking distance to get food other than an iHop that’s about 20 minutes away, so Greg and I went several times during our stay in Hammond.

We didn’t gamble, though.

Until tonight.

Craps

My dad taught me how to play craps when I was 12 years old. There’s really not that much to it. You roll some dice. If you get 7 or 11 on your first throw, you win. If you roll anything else on your first roll, you have to roll that number again without rolling a 7 first. If you roll a 2 (“snake eyes”), you lose.

Simple, right?

Nope.

I don’t remember my dad telling me about 3 or 12. You will lose if you roll these on your first toss. And he taught me nothing about betting (probably for the best, given my age).

But, craps looks like a fun game when you see people playing it in the movies, so I wanted to give it a try.

Well, I did and I won on my first three tosses. Then I lost. I tried one more time when it was my turn again and lost again. I like it, but it’s not as much fun when you can’t see what you’ve rolled and you can’t hear the dealer call out the number. So, I gathered up my chips and went to try Blackjack.

Strategy

At this point, I was only $3 down. When I used to go to the casino in Orillia, I would take $60 to give to the slot machines and would play until it was gone. I love slots if I can pull the arm. I don’t find it as much fun to just press the button to spin the reels.

Greg has a different strategy. His mindset is that he goes in with a certain amount of money and when he has doubled it, he leaves. I like that strategy.

Blackjack

We went to the Blackjack tables and watched for a while.

I know how to play Blackjack and know a little bit about the betting but I was always too intimidated to play because I am so inexperienced. Just recently, though, I read a book where one of the characters played Blackjack. She had known nothing when she first started and then just asked the dealers or other players what she should do next. She learned and eventually became a reasonably good player.

Even though this was fiction, I decided to give it a try. I would ask if I should hit or hold, or if I should double down. Either the dealer or another player would answer. Greg was also there to give me advice. I had an absolute blast.

Greg and I both played. He started with a little more money than I did but we both actually did double our money. Woo hoo! Finally a bit of good luck. We only went in with a couple of hundred dollars each, so it’s not like we won enough money to pay for boat repairs. It’s so hard to walk away when you’re winning. But, we stuck to the strategy.

Slots

I indulged myself and played a few rounds of slots. I lost $20. It didn’t take long. If you want to win big, you have to play the maximum bet. Most machines are $1 with the maximum being $3. There are penny slots, but the games are indecipherable and the maximum bet is 880 pennies! That’s crazy!