I should have taken it as an omen when my next selected machine — Back To The Future — froze up and crashed as soon as I inserted my voucher. Of course, I got my money back as an attendant had restored everything within minutes, but that machine wasn’t meant for me, I decided.

From then on, hopping from machine to machine netted loss after loss. Even Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania, which had been kind to me before, subtracted $7 in a blink.

While playing, I went for mostly nickel and quarter machines, and I played many lines at once. I don’t play the penny slots, which are extremely popular.

I believe people love the penny slots for two main reasons. The first is that they don’t feel like they’re losing much money at these machines, which would make sense if most of these players weren’t playing 30 cents at a time and sitting at the same machine for an hour.

The second reason involves that hour-long sit. Penny slots can take a long time to play. These machines make people feel like they’re doing something. Like they’re putting in some worthwhile time. Like they’re really trying.

Who wants to spend only 20 minutes at a casino? Very few people, and certainly not the penny slots players. But let me tell you, those penny slots are monetary death by pinprick.

With penny slots or any slots, I couldn’t tell what kind of a jackpot was good enough for most players. They would win money and continue to sit at the same machine, ensuring their winnings would evaporate.

I watched as one woman won $90 on one spin with her last remaining credits on the machine. Rather than cashing out her good fortune, she stayed seated. She was back down to about $40 by the time I walked away. What jackpot would have been good enough to make her stand up? $150? $500? $10,000?

As for myself, I ended up losing $13.50 before moving on to the next venue.

Casino Niagara

I was feeling a bit burned out on slot machines by the time I reached Casino Niagara. But I was in luck.

In addition to a vast array of slots and table games, Casino Niagara features a sportsbook and off-track betting in an area that is somewhat hidden away from the rest of the casino. I would have loved to bet on a few games, but night baseball was the only sport on the docket that day, so I confined myself to the ponies.

After a meal of some middling food at the casino’s Market Buffet, I returned to the simulcast screens, Daily Racing Form in hand. I would probably describe myself as an intermediate horseplayer, so I hope that the horses of Calder Race Course and Delaware Park could help win back my losses and then some.

I lost my first race when my exacta box (pick the first two horses correctly, in any order) missed by a few lengths. That’s when a well-dressed man took a seat next to me and started chatting up a nearby couple.