Deadwood South Dakota

We spent four fun filled days in Deadwood South Dakota. June 9-12 was the annual Deadwood Gambler's Run for our HOG chapter and this was the 11th year. It was the 3rd year for Gary and I.

Thursday morning arrived, got the bike packed up and ready to go. We were on our way to McDonald's to meet our neighbors who also go on the trip for coffee. We met the rest of the group in Hardin. As we were headed to the gas station it started to rain and boy did the rain come down hard. Got to the gas station which is right next to McDonald's. It always rains when we travel to Deadwood. We got our rain gear on and waited for the Billings group to arrive as they made a gas stop in Hardin. By this time the rain is just pouring down.

This year the route was taking Hwy 212 to Deadwood. We didn't get out of rain until we got to Broadus, which was another gas stop. Ate lunch in Alzada at the saloon there. At least is was warm inside and we could attempt to dry off for a bit. Went through Belle Fourche, I hadn't been there since I was a kid. I remember my sister donating some money to the museum in Belle Fourche, but don't remember where it would be or the name of the museum. It would be nice to stop in and see if that money is still there.

We arrived in Deadwood around 2:30 pm. Got checked in to our room. There were gift bags from the Harley dealership for us. This year we got a bottle coozy and a shot glass, some poker chips with the dealership name on it and some pens. Then we signed up for the slot tournament. This is always fun. Neither one of us won. Afterwards we went to eat with our friends. We ate at the Midnight Star restaurant which is owned by Kevin Costner. After dinner we made our way back to our hotel/casino and gambled a bit. Everyone got promo money on their player cards and it only works in the machines. Gary was playing 3 card poker so I got to play with his promo money too. We both had $45 on our cards, so pleny of money for me to play on.

This year I struck it rich. I had only put in $10 of Gary's promo money in a penny machine and I hit the jackpot. I won $1148 on a penny machine. I was playing a progressive machine and was lucky enough to hit the jackpot. I cashed out right away. The casino was not very crowded on a Thursday night, so nobody to share my good news with. I took my ticket to Gary and at first he thought I only won $100. I told him to look at it again. He said "Holy S***". I took my ticket and collected my winnings. I decided to quit gambling while I was ahead.

On Friday morning we rode to the dealerships in Sturgis and Rapid City. I bought Gary a new windshield for the bike and we spent alot of money. I kept thinking that it was a good thing I won because we normally would not have spent as much money as we did. We left Hardin with one bag and came home with three. After eating dinner with our friends we made our way downtown again. We decided to walk as it was nice, stopped in some casinos and some bar, drank alot and had a great time. I bought a couple rounds of drinks for everyone. There were 8 of us all together.

Smoking is no longer allowed in the casinos at Deadwood which made it very nice. However, there is one bar where smoking is allowed and we found it. It's a basement bar but it had a live band that played blues music. We had a good time in there, but came out smelling awful. By this time it was getting very late. Since none of us were in any condition to take the long walk back to the hotel, we took the trolley.

Saturday we just spent the day in Deadwood, on a whim we decided to take the trolly all over town, just to see what else is going on in Deadwood. There is a new huge casino that is owned by Big and Rich that will be opening in July. There is a theater that will seat 25,000 for concerts and such. Big and Rich along with Gretchen Wilson will be performing on opening night and tickets are already sold out.

The group gathers together on the last night for some raffle prizes. The big prizes are the 50/50 raffle (which you end up getting all of it) and the leather jacket. Gary and I didn't win the big prizes again this year, but we did end up winning some smaller ones. One of our friends won the leather jacket. Once you win a leather jacket, you don't get to win one again. On this night we eat a steak dinner. This year we ate at the Mineral Palace and it was all good.

Gambled for a little bit one last time, then called it an early night. Had to repack our bags and get ready to leave in the morning. For the whole weekend I won $1200 and Gary won around $140 playing cards. I still have some of my money left and saving that for our trip to Las Vegas in October.

This year our group did pretty well playing the machines. Quite a few came out ahead, but I was the biggest winner. Will probably never do that again.

I am usually happy winning my small amounts on the penny machines and I get estatic when I win $100. Let me tell you I was in shock when I won the $1100. That is alot of numbers on the penny machine and when you cash out, I got alot of coins flipping around and lights flashing "Big Winner" on the machine.

All in all we had a great time, weather straightened out on Saturday and Sunday and now we can't wait until next year.