I'd "Sooner" be Playing Blackjack

I love being spontaneous.

Friday night we had a retirement party in the hangar for one of our VPs, Jim Wimberly, a man with an affinity for cigarettes, liquor and kissing his coworkers (like most of the SWA executives). Afterwards, we had planned to go to Pete's piano bar in Addison for a sing-along. But the plans changed.

Next thing I know, we're leaving Love Field, Pete's is a thing of the past, I've piled in Matt's SUV along with Emily, Rekka, and Donny, and we're on our way north to Oklahoma. Since I started at SWA, most of my spontaneous trips have been on a plane, but it was kinda fun to take off on a road trip.

So, an hour and a half after leaving Dallas, we cross the Red River and pull into the WinStar Casino. Since it's on an indian reservation, things are a little different than other casinos, but in many ways, it's the same. This was my first trip to an indian casino, so I really didn't know what to expect.

Ways the WinStar is different: 1) they only have blackjack, slots and video poker. No roulette, no craps. 2) no alcohol--but they do have a lovely "self-service" drink station with free soft drinks, tea, and coffee. 3) the slot machines are technically bingo games with the cards and the numbers played at random. I still don't really understand it, but oh well. 4) there is a 50-cent ante per hand to play black jack--so in other words, you bet $5.50 for the chance of winning $5. Not the best situation.

Ways the WinStar is the same: 1) smoke filled room 2) buffet available (we didn't try it, but it looked sick-o). 3) themed decorations (however, this one might belong in the above category since usually a casino picks one theme and sticks to it, but they had mardi gras, a circus, and a palace all in the same building.) 4) the personal "players club card" which, please note, we were able to fasten to our clothes thanks to the free gift from the gift shop--our blue cord thingy.

Long story short, we left Dallas at 8:15, arrived at the WinStar by 9:30, played for about two hours, and I was home, in bed by 1:00, and I was $38 richer thanks to our little adventure and my indian good luck charm at the blackjack table.