Life Lessons Learned at a Casino

 

I’m back again with another “life lessons learned in an unconventional way” post, and this time I received these gems while at a casino!  This whole experience almost didn’t happen, so I felt that I needed to spread the wealth of knowledge with y’all.

 

Don’t judge a book by its cover (more of a reiteration)– There are so many restaurants in New Orleans that we could’ve gone to, but decided to go to Harrah’s. I’ve had their buffet before and I remembered that it was pretty decent for the price so we headed there after the convention center on Saturday.  The casino had it advertised that you get a discount on the buffet with a Total Rewards card and I couldn’t find my old one so we went to customer service and got replacement ones.  Well it was then that we were informed that they were running another special that day; all we had to do was download the Harrah’s app and our buffet would be free.  They didn’t have to tell me twice!  Within minutes we were all set up with our cards and vouchers for our free meals and were on our way to a great buffet.  In fact, our meal at the casino was significantly better than the one we’d eaten the night before at a NOLA hotspot.  Like I said earlier, this is more of a reiteration.  It’s a lesson I learned as a child and it’s continued to ring true as an adult.  I did quite a bit of networking during Essence Fest and I have to say that a few of the people I spoke with were representing amazing companies and organizations and looked like me!  Loads of millennials who were there, dressed comfortably like me because that convention center will put your feet and Fitbit to work and making moves in their field!

 

High risk, high rewards – It might not seem like a lot to some, but since I don’t gamble often spending $20 on a slot machine was a lot to me.  I knew we didn’t have long before we had to head back to the hotel to get changed for the concert so I committed to gambling the full $20…and I lost $9 in a matter of 4 minutes.  That’s the risk that you take with gambling, especially when you’re better more than the minimum each spin.  But that risk can sometimes turn into a pretty big reward!  I went to a millennials business entrepreneurial workshop and that was one of the things that was reinforced by all three speakers.  You have to spend money to make it and sometimes high risks yield high rewards!

 

Listen to a seasoned pro – I would’ve probably lost more money had I not listened to Taye who suggested we try different machines.  I was so used to sticking the machines I recognized from other casinos, ones that I’d played on before and that was how I lost almost half of gambling allotment in less than five minutes!  Switching to a machine that was not only new to me, but new to the casino (and honestly one that I wouldn’t have considered because I don’t watch ‘The Walking Dead’) I was not only able to get my $9 back, but I made an additional $113 on top of that. And all within a matter of minutes.  This applies in other aspects of life; you don’t have to reinvent the wheel or be a team of one.  Find mentors who are doing what you want to do, or are doing something similar and let them help you out.  Often times they’ll offer you tips so that you don’t make the same mistakes they did.

 

Quit while you’re ahead – You guys should’ve seen my eyes when the total winnings on the slot machine kept rising.  I should’ve pulled out my phone and put my reaction on Snapchat, it was truly priceless.  I thought about betting more, but decided at that moment to quit while I was ahead.  I hit the cash out button and was so caught up doing my happy dance that I forgot about the margarita I’d ordered before I started playing.  Yeah, that’s how fast I won the money.  Sometimes it’s better to go out on top and that’s what I did that day.  Even later, when the other ladies were playing a table game and I could’ve easily doubled my winnings I didn’t risk it.  I was happy with the return I’d gotten on my investment.  Sometimes in life people can get a little greedy, I know y’all have seen situations like this on shows like ‘Wheel of Fortune’ when the puzzle can easily be solved but the contestant wants to spin again to see if they can get more money and lands on the ‘Bankrupt’ spot.  They were being greedy and they should’ve solved the puzzle.  Yes, it’s nice to want more but don’t be greedy and know when to get off the ride.

 

I know I can’t be the only one who learns random life lessons during unconventional moments, so comment below or tweet me and share some of your favorites along with where you were when you learned them.