UMUSIC Broadwater Hotel Casino | Broadwater's Premier Gaming Destination – 1000+ Slots, Table Games & Fine Dining

I was just killing time on a Tuesday afternoon, feeding twenties into the machine while my wife was at her doctor's appointment across the street. Hadn't won anything bigger than fifty bucks in years, so when that cherry-cherry-cherry lined up and the whole machine started going crazy, I honestly thought it was broken. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely hit the button to call the attendant. I kept saynig 'no way, no way' over and over. We're paying off the truck and putting the rest toward my daughter's college—she's the first in our family going to a four-year school.

I was having a rough month after getting laid off, so my buddy dragged me out for a night to get my mind off things. Figured I'd play blackjack since it's the only game I actually understand the rules for. Got a hot streak going around midnight—dealer kept busting, I kept hitting 19, 20. By the time I cashed out, the pit boss was watching me pretty closely. My first call was to my ex-wife about child support; I'm three months behind and it's been eating me up. This clears that right up and gets me breathing room while I look for work.

I've been playing in the weekly cash games here for about three years, so entering the tournament was kind of a natural step. Made it through the first two rounds with some decent hands, but honestly, the third round was all luck—I caught a flush on the river that probably should've gone to the guy across from me. When I went heads-up, I could feel everything clicking. I won the final hand on a bluff, and I just sat there in disbelief for like thirty seconds. My wife quit her night shift job the next week—we're going to buy a house in a better school district, finally.

I was celebrating my fiftieth birthday with my sister, and we decided to be stupid and bet on our birth dates. I played 18, she played 22, and we kept hitting on different spins—it was the most insane run of luck I've ever seen. When I finally cashed in my chips, I actually teared up a little because I was going through such a dark time with my divorce. My sister hugged me and said it was the universe telling me things would get better. I used half to pay off credit card debt and took a trip to see my grandkids in Arizona with the other half.

I came in for a weekend getaway—just needed a break from work and the stress of the holidays. The Buffalo Gold machine had always been good to me, so I sat down with a couple hundred bucks and some low expectations. Got into that groove where you're not really thinking, just playing, and suddenly the free spins bonus hit. Every spin seemed to land something, and it just kept going and going. I literally forgot people were walking past me because I was so focused. Used it to cover my property taxes that were due in January and treated myself to a new truck payment finally.

I was visiting from out of state and my cousin insisted on bringing me to the casino—said it would be fun, but I'm not really a gambling person. We played some Three Card Poker just to hang out, and I got really lucky with a couple of straights and a flush in about an hour. The dealers were rooting for me at that point, which was surreal. Cousin said I was a 'natural' but honestly I think I just got lucky. I'm using most of it to pay down my medical bills from last year, but I'm treating my mom to a nice dinner when I get back home too.