Topeka Capital-Journal, The: Know your limits

When I make mistakes, I try to make big ones. Not on the order of Chernobyl, mind you, but when it comes to writing, you should try to get your facts straight.

Anyway, I made a mistake in this spot last week when I wrote about a trip to Holton. I covered a trial there and made mention of the fact that I passed the Golden Eagle Casino on the way home to Topeka.

Well, the Golden Eagle Casino is north of Holton, about six miles west of Horton. If I was trying to get back to Topeka, I would have ended up in Omaha.

What I passed was Harrah's Prairie Band Casino. The only excuse I can give is that I had never been to either one of the casinos.

I am not a gambler. No, I take that back. I am not a good gambler. I try to fill inside straights and believe that two pairs will beat three of a kind, toss the dice trying to make a four, bet on a nag that should be retired giving kids a ride. The lottery numbers never come in. I probably would have bet on Germany during the last couple of world wars.

The only real gambling I do is on an annual pheasant hunting trip to Gaylord, just south of Smith Center. We play into the midnight hour, a quarter to open, a buck is the highest bid.

Andy Wilson is our host when we are there. Coincidentally, Andy was in town last week, his first visit to the Topeka area. I asked what he would like to do while he was here.

"You've got some casinos around here, I've heard," he said. "I'd like to go to one. I haven't been to a casino since Las Vegas back in the 1980s."

I told him about the Golden Eagle mistake and said I wouldn't mind visiting Harrah's, just for the experience.

So, last Tuesday, we showed up at Harrah's at about 11 a.m. The parking lot wasn't exactly full, but it was far from empty.

There was a greeter at the door, and he smiled. It was a professional kind of smile.

"I want to check out the blackjack tables," Andy informed me. "You know, try to find one that's friendly." He bought $50 worth of chips and walked up to one of the tables. He put a $5 chip down and tried his luck.

"This is a $25 table only," the dealer informed him.

"Oh, sorry," he said. Then he put $25 of chips down. He drew a king and a jack --- 20. The dealer flipped over her cards and had an ace and a jack --- 21, blackjack. Andy had lost $25 in less than 10 seconds.

He went to look for a friendlier table. I decided that I would lose $10 (that's the kind of mind-set it takes to be a bad gambler) and went to cash a check. I couldn't without a Harrah's card, I was told.

You can get a Harrah's card on the basis of your driver's license, and it doesn't take any money. Plus, you get on Harrah's mailing list. If you lose enough money you also get a free lunch, or something like that.

I hit a few slot machines (there are plenty to choose from) and came out a little above even. Pleased with this success, I wandered over to the roulette table.

Like the craps table, you have options with roulette. You can pick any of 36 numbers, pick red or black, pick odd or even. The ball goes onto the wheel and spins around and nobody knows where it is going to land.

I certainly didn't. After two go-arounds, I'd lost $10.

I was still ahead $2 from the slot machines, though, and hope springs eternal. Hope doesn't match up against the 25-cent slot machine.

It took me a good 20 minutes to go through $2 worth of quarters but, by golly, I did it.

Andy showed up just as I was through. "You ready to go?" he asked. "I'm $20 ahead. Got lucky on the last hand."

You can buy lunch, I said. He did, and it came out to about $10 apiece.

Life is a crap shoot. Maybe I'll try that the next time I'm up there.

Jim Ramberg can be reached by e-mail at

jramberg@cjonline.com.