The Border Inn Casino & Motel | Nevada Gaming, Slots & 24-Hour Dining

I was just killing time between work shifts, had about forty minutes to spare before heading back to the warehouse. Sat down at this machine near the back, wasn't really expecting anything, just needed to relax a bit. Then boom—the whole screen lit up and I'm staring at all these sevens. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely hit the button to call the attendant. I kept saying 'this can't be real' over and over. I'm using half of it to fix up my truck and the other half is going straight into savings for my kids' college fund.

My buddy dragged me out to the Border Inn after I'd been stuck inside all winter, really just needed to get out of the house and clear my head. We're playing blackjack and I'm hitting a crazy hot streak—like everything was going right, the dealer kept busting. I won four hands in a row and just kept riding it. When I cahsed out, I literally walked outside and called my wife right away because I knew she wouldn't believe me if I just showed up with that kind of money. We're paying off the medical bills from last year and taking the family on a proper vacation.

I've been playing poker seriously for about five years, and I drove out to the tournament thinking 'well, let's see what happens.' Made it past the first two rounds pretty clean, then got really lucky on a hand where I had pocket aces and someone overplayed their hand against me. Final table was intense—my heart was pounding the whole time, especially when I was heads up against this older guy who clearly knew what he was doing. I actually played pretty solid poker those last few hands stayed calm, and took it down. This money lets me finally quit my job and pursue poker full time, which is something I've dreamed about.

I was celebrating my retirement from teaching after thirty-two years, and my sister wanted to take me to the casino for fun. I put down a small bet on my birthday number—just for the novelty of it, you know—and I actually hit it. I screamed so loud the pit boss came over to make sure everything was okay. My sister started crying happy tears, which made me cry too. I'm using this to take a road trip I've always wanted to do, visiting all the national parks out west with my husband.

I was at the Border Inn with my coworkers doing our annual Christmas outing, and we each grab a machine to mess around on. I wasn't paying super close attention at first, just chatting with everyone, when suddenly the bonus round kicked in on Buffalo Gold. I must've gotten really lucky because the symbols kept lining up and the machine just kept paying out. By the time it stopped, I had this big jackpot showing and one of my coworkers yelled out. I'm paying down my car loan and getting new tires, then the rest is for my emergency fund—I've been living paycheck to paycheck for too long.

My dad and I were just there for a guys' weekend, playing some casual card games and having a few beers. We were at the Three Card Poker table and I hit a straight flush—honestly, I wasn't even sure it would pay that good until the dealer confirmed it. Dad started slapping me on the back and everyone at the table was congratulating me, which felt really nice. I'm using this to finally get my dental work done that I've been putting off, and the rest is going toward helping my mom with her rent for the next several months.