Ask the Slot Expert: Perchance to dream of a big slot mistake

I recently wrote about a dream I had about winning big on a slot machine. I had another dream involving a slot machine a few days ago.

There were two identical machines, side by side. I was playing the machine on the left. Another man was playing the machine on the right.

We were doing fairly well. He told me that it took him a long time to figure out how the machine worked because it had so many bonus features. He asked me if I had figured out how you trigger a particular feature.

I agreed with him that the machine was difficult to understand. I said that it took a while, but I had finally figured out how that feature worked.

Then someone came to me and said it was time to film the commercial. We went to a few different sets in the casino complex, none of which I can picture now.

We eventually went to a set with a rear projection screen. The star of the commercial was on this set. I recognized the star, but couldn't remember his name. I kept thinking he was on Saturday Night Live and I eventually decided that it was Chris Redd.

As we were shooting this scene, he somehow walked up the rear projection screen.

When we wrapped on the shoot, I went back to the slot I had been playing. As I walked back to the machine, I realized that I hadn't cashed out before leaving the machine. I hoped that my neighbor had protected my credits. I got back to that machine as quickly as I could.

My neighbor was gone. No one was playing there. There were no credits on the machine I had been playing.

I wanted to get to the cage as quickly as possible to see if he had cashed out my credits turned in the ticket or if there anything they could do for me. I kept walking all around the casino, but for some reason I could never find the cage.

This went on for what seemed like a long time until I woke up with my heart pounding.

I think I know what triggered some of the events in the dream.

I played the inscrutable King Khufu machine again the day of the dream. Two Khufu machines were in a cluster of four. I played the "south" machine and another man played the "east" machine. He asked me how Khufu was paying and told me that he had hit the Major jackpot on it. He also asked me if I had figured out what the Egyptian totems circling the reel display did. We agreed that we sometimes didn't know how we triggered a bonus feature.

I'm not sure what evoked the commercial. Station Casinos is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and is running commercials featuring longtime employees. That may be the source.

I also recently thought about one of my IRL TV appearances. Twenty-some years ago, a production company was churning out gambling-related shows for cable channels. All of the writers at the time made appearances on their shows.

Frank Scoblete and I were in Las Vegas to tape segments for a show. I taped my segment at The Gambler's General Store. The production assistant/gofer/roadie/makeup artist put some gunk on my face.

I met up with Frank after the shoot. We played Blackjack at Treasure Island. After a while, I think he took pity on me and said, "You know. You still have that makeup on and you look funny in the casino lighting. Maybe you should wash it off."

Now, I don't know how Chris Redd made a guest appearance in my dream. I remember thinking in the dream that I knew the star from SNL and I just couldn't remember his name.

Maybe the star was really Jay Pharoah. That would make more sense. He was on SNL and the game show he hosts, The Quiz with Balls, is back on the air.

I'm sometimes amazed to find out that a scene in a movie was shot in a studio and not on location. Whether rear projection, chroma key, or LED Volume, the actors can't walk into or up the image.

New Year's Eve. High limit room. Playing multi-hand video poker. I had to go to the bathroom, so I got up and went to the bathroom.

On my way back to the machine, I realized that I didn't cash out and I had left my credits on it. I got back to the machine as quickly as I could.

No worries. Despite the day, there were very few people in the room and my credits were still there.

Finally, the couple playing video poker at the machine next to mine left their machine without cashing out. They had about $70 on it. After I waited a few minutes for them to come back, I cashed them out. If they came back, I would give them the ticket.

They never came back. I turned in the ticket at the cage.

The cashier gave me a look as if to ask, Why didn't you just keep it?

I said that it wasn't my money and it was enough money that I would go back to the machine to try to get it back.

I wonder if Dr. Freud would have different explanations for the events in my dream.

If you would like to see more non-smoking areas on slot floors in Las Vegas, please sign my petition on change.org.

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert™, at slotexpert@slotexpert.com.

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Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert™, at slotexpert@slotexpert.com. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't reply to every question.

Copyright © John Robison. Slot Expert and Ask the Slot Expert are trademarks of John Robison.