Gambling A Life Away

I got to cross off another thing on my growing list: I finally went into a casino… legally.

By legally, I mean that it was the first time I was allowed inside to play.

When I was 13, my family and I went on vacation to Las Vegas. We went to several hotels and I walked through dozens of casinos. There were slot machines and card game tables everywhere! I even watched my parents try their luck. But of course, no one under 21 could play. Here in Canada, 19 is the legal age to be inside a casino. Although I turned 19 almost two years ago, I have been never inside a casino in Canada. My mom told me that when I was 19, she would take me to Casino Rama in Niagara Falls (the biggest and most popular casino in Ontario) so I could gamble and so she could buy me a drink (since 19 is the legal drinking age as well). That never happened. My parents go to Casino Rama once a month since they always receive free tickets to see a show, but I’m either working or out with friends.

So on the way home from an afternoon at the sex shop, checking out cool fish (I am considering getting some pet fish), petting a parrot for the first time and getting angry at idiotic drivers, we made a quick stop at a local casino/slots. My friends dropped me off and I went inside to check it out. Because the place was called OLG Slots, all there was to expect were a bunch of slot machines. Nothing Vegas-exciting… sadly. But it was still a first for me!

I didn’t know there was a process to getting ID-ed at a casino. First the security guard looked at my ID for a good 5 seconds, looked back at me, then he scanned the ID, swiped it and quizzed me on my postal code before finally letting me in.

To put it in simplest terms, the place was nothing special. Rather quite depressing apart from the bright lights and the beautiful noise of pulling levers and coins dropping. It was an adult arcade—but the games sucked. The place was just a big room full of hundreds of slot machines and middle-aged people gambling their lives away in the middle of the afternoon. The room was tight and difficult to navigate through. I went around the whole room to check out all of the different slots they had. That was interesting, but nothing else was. I wanted to play, but I couldn’t just pop a quarter in like I thought I could. You needed to use bills or get credit. I didn’t want to use up my only $20 bill and I didn’t have time to get credit so I just left slightly disappointed.

At least I learned a few things like the ID process, the different slots to play, and the ticket system for winners.

My parents plan on going to Niagara Falls next month so I hope to tag along and go to Casino Rama for the first time. Maybe play a game of poker or blackjack. When I was 13, I played online poker (shocking, I know) and I even played a lot of poker with my cousins so I kind of miss it. A friend told me it’s not very exciting like you see in the movies. Maybe it’s just Canada. From what I remember from being in Las Vegas, it was exciting and thrilling. I turn 21 this year so hopefully I’ll get my chance to fly down there and gamble my life away for a day.