Blue Lake Casino & Hotel | 700+ Slots, Tables & Fine Dining

I was just killing time on my lunch break, honestly. Been working the same warehouse job for eight years and decided to stop by Blue Lake on the way home instead of heading straight to my apartment. I was down about two hundred bucks when I hit the progressive on the Buffalo machine—watched those symbols line up and just froze. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely hit the collect button. I called my wife right there and she thought I was joking. We're paying off the truck and she's finally getting that kitchen renovation she's been wanting, but mostly I'm just relieved.

Started the night down three grand from a bad weekend, so I was trying to be smarter about it. Sat at the blackjack table around midnight with just five hundred left, told myself I'd play conservative and cut my losses. The dealer was cold I couldn't get a push if I tried, and somehow the cards just kept breaking right for me. After about two hours I was up almost ninety grand—my buddy who came with me kept saying 'cash out, cash out' but I stayed disciplined and walked away before the luck changed. Still can't beleive it happened, but I'm investing most of it and taking my family to Hawaii.

I've been playing cash games at Blue Lake for years but never had the bankroll for their big tournament until I saved up and qualified through the satellites. Made it to day two and honestly felt outmatched at the final table—I was the youngest player there and probably the least experienced. But I caught fire when it mattered, got lucky a few times, and just played solid poker. When I won the last hand heads-up I just sat there in shock for like thirty seconds before it hit me. I paid off my student loans, got a down payment on a condo, and I'm using the rest to actually pursue poker seriously now instead of bartending.

My mom had just passed two weeks before and I was honestly in a dark place. A friend dragged me out to Blue Lake to get me out of the house, said I needed to get my mind off things. I wasn't even planning to gamble but I put fifty bucks on red for my mom's favorite color—just felt like something she would've wanted me to do. The ball landed on red 23 and the payout was enough to cover her funeral expenses that I'd been stressing about and then some. I broke down at the table, probably looked crazy to people around me, but it felt like something was telling me it would be okay.

I was visiting from out of state, staying with my sister for the holidays, and we decided to check out Blue Lake just for fun. Neither of us are big gamblers but there's something about those Buffalo games that keeps you locked in. I played for maybe an hour, was actually up a little bit, then got a wild streak with the free spins feature. The machine kept hitting bonus rounds and the multipliers just stacked up. When it finally stopped I couldn't read the number at first because I didn't have my glasses—had to ask my sister what it said. Used it to pay off some crdeit cards and put the rest toward a down payment when I moved back home.

I come to Blue Lake maybe once a month with my coworkers, always play the same tables, and I'd gotten pretty comfortable with Three Card Poker. That night everyone else cashed out early but I decided to stay for one more hour. The cards were running hot and I was playing tight, folding the marginal hands and getting paid off on my good ones. My last big hand was a straight flush that beat someone's trip aces—I was shaking a little, to be honest. Ended up taking home a decent chunk and used some of it to finally take my wife on a real vacation instead of staying home all summer.