Bonus of the night: free Amazon Music livestream of Jack White from @ArmoryMn on Twitch
Checked out the changes at Columbia Golf Club today with the Millers
Solid sunset in the neighborhood
Trees down on the MRT
Finally got to check out the new patio @MuccisItalian – nice weather, great food and Nive Man hospitality
The neighborhood Punch
New landscaping flowers
Meet me in the middle of the night, let me hear you say everything’s alright. Sneak on out beneath the stars and run…
- Romeo’s Tune
Only 3 states had no sports betting bills introduced this year (TX, ID & UT); now legal in 36 states
Fun evening in Saint Paul ⚽️
Caution, 0.5 ahead
Just a perfect Minnesota summer evening for the MLS All-Star Game ⚽️
Kid two patio garden
The Minnehaha breakfast classic
Off to a strong start
If you know, you know
Mystic Lake florists 💯
RIP Olivia Newton-John, 1948-2022
I ❤️ our new park
Don’t know if Mike Judge writes all of the Beavis lines, but there is something special about that character
Tasty raptor feet
Twingo Blackout!
Mother Nature Watering Service
Amber Abode
Friday at Clifton Hollow
Big hitter, the Lama
Imperio Contra Ataca
Don’t know about this .5 business
Second random major ever
Very warm and windy lunch ride through “So St Paul” 🚴
Nickel Orchid Addendum
Headed up to Grand Casino Hinckley today to test a theory about Black Orchid – that the top Orchid Progressive has the same odds on a nickel bet as it does on any other bet (see my recent long-form post on the Orchid here). On our last stop at Hinckley, there was still one machine with an unusually large top progressive on a nickel bet: a little more than $10,000. Unfortunately, someone beat me to it and that machine reset down to $500 (same as the yellow progressive).
Grand Casino is one of the only properties I know of that has tried to educate guests on volatility. They used to place stickers on the machines with a 1, 2 or 3 so you could tell how the game played. I don’t think they use those any longer, but Black Orchid was always marked a three for high volatility. After my multi-hour session playing nickels, I have to say that playing only one line boosts the volatility through the roof. I think I might’ve had a stretch of 100 or more losing spins before winning anything. Probably not the experience most players are looking for in a slot machine.
Of course the flip side of that is that when you do win, it’s usually for higher multipliers. The closest I came to getting a normal progressive was four cats, which paid $20 (400x win). Also had four jacks once, but that only pays $2.50 (50x). Very few three of a kind wins, although I did get three black orchids once. One of my free spin sessions re-triggered multiple times, for a total of 60 spins (total win: $3.00). Based on play today, I’d say that the frequency of black orchid symbols is the same as other bet levels. All of the other progressives hit much more often with the 40, 80 and 99 cent bets, however.
One last note, nickel orchid is probably not driving the level of play that the marketing department wants from their promotions. The August flier I received offered $5 of free play for every 20 points earned during the day (valid up to three times). I’m only first tier with their players club (“Preferred”) and am not sure how much play is required per point (the Grand Rewards page doesn’t really say). I think I played nickels for almost three hours and earned around 12 points. I prefer to be a low roller in general, but will enjoy going back to “regular” orchid at Mystic Lake next week…
Happy Tastes Good in Hinckley
Hello, August
Dog days of summer
The amount of sunlight that strikes the earth’s surface in an hour and a half is enough to handle the entire world’s energy consumption for a full year…
- U.S. Department of Energy
She was not amused
Picture doesn’t do it justice
Not a major, but still fun
Shout out to the Cannon gardeners
Cheese fries and lemon cake
The Great Midwest RibFest @mysticlake remains one of my favorite summer outings – so good 🐷
The trend for the day?
Nook curds are the best curds
Reunion weekend golf
Happy Beyoncé Day
Cloudy down by the river ☁️
After reading some nuclear incident reports and watching a SANS/AWS security webinar, I think it’s time to go outside for a bit
More awesome nature designs
Are you a good bee or a bad bee?
Discovered some trails in Woodbury with no cars and no houses 🚴
Long drive to del Prado’s new Macanda, but sunset on that patio had serious Hawaii vibes
What a crazy finish at the 3M
My first Market Favorite of 2022 @StPaulMarket
Hello there, Major
The Dark Sky radar faked me out – completely soaked halfway through a 19 mile ride up and down the MRT
Reeeeeed Robin
Artistic Avenues
The hot chicken sandwich at noa
The best part of downtown is you
So interesting – Red Lake Nation College opening campus across from @usbankstadium
Nice lunch with Cheryl 🏈
Acorn City
Pizza as you like it…🍕
Worth the wait ⛳️
