$1,492 Jackpot at Valley View Casino

Wow this month of July has given me some great rewards and surprises. Earlier this month I won a 7-day Mercedes E class car rental with Sixt and on Sunday, I hit my very first casino jackpot!  Yes, I have won decent payouts at the casinos before, but never over $1199, where I have to wait for a hand pay out from the casino attendant and fill out IRS forms.

I was awarded a free night’s stay at Valley View hotel in San Diego, and I also got 2 free Lobster Buffets.  We arrived around noon, and I was eyeing this lady playing the slot machine, Jungle Cats. That machine would no do anything wrong, and was triggering frequently.  Even though she was playing 40 cents a pull, she was still doing fairly well.  Eventually, I walked away from the Bier machine I was playing to try my luck elsewhere.  Later, I came back and the Jungle Cats machine was no longer occupied, so I tried my luck. I was winning pretty well, earning $100 here and there, totally about $500 in winnings.

At 2:30,  I had to walk away from the machine so I could check into the casino’s hotel.  Later, after dinner, Stephen wanted to gamble and after losing $100 at various machines, I came back to this machine that paid me well earlier that afternoon. 

I was making some decent wins, and even made a $350 cash out. I was about to walk away and decided to play one more $20. I had about $17 left, and made a 80 cent cent bet, and hit a bonus. The bonus hit an extra streak, which hit another bonus, and had me pick a purple box.  The box I picked lifted me to the Diamond progressive streak, and I had to pick 1 of 6 diamonds. One of the gems contained the $1345 progressive prize and I guessed correctly! 

Below is a shot of the progressive before I won the extra streak.  I had already won the Sapphire prize of $150, and earlier won the Emerald and Ruby.  So altogether, I won all 4 award prizes.

The slot machine was counting out my wins and then it finally stopped and a message appeared.

An attendant came to verify my name and ID, took my social security number and then came back to hand pay me my cash and gave me a tax form. I’ve never had a great jackpot, and it’s still surreal.