When did you last win a car on vacation?
This is one of those stories they make movies out of, like the little farm boy who was given a sickly, undernourished 1-year-old horse that two years later wins the Kentucky Derby.
Try this one on for size: The lady’s name is Carol Bennett. She and her husband have come all the way from Arkansas on vacation to visit the Land of Enchantment. So last Friday she, along with her husband, decided to check out one of our casinos. They chose Sandia.
It was 6 in the evening when Carol Bennett came through the revolving doors of Sandia. She went directly to the player’s club counter, signed up for a player’s club card and then went on a hunt for a slot machine to play. A little after 7, Sandia’s computer randomly selected a patron’s club card in action — it was a “happening now” hot-seat drawing.
The name on the player’s club card that was drawn was quickly announced, and the patron was asked to go to the casino box office and claim the prize, a new 2012 Chevrolet Camaro.
You already know who the winner was, right? Carol Bennett from Arkansas, who later said, “This is the best vacation I’ve ever had.”
Another recent Sandia winner of a new car was Shirley Castillo of Bernalillo, who also won a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro on Sept. 9.
The every-Friday-night car giveaway is part of Sandia’s “$1,000,000” Mania” promotion. Besides the cars, the casino is giving away $250 in free slot play to three patrons every 30 minutes, Mondays through Thursdays, noon to 9 p.m. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, there are three noon-to-9 giveaways per half hour for $200 in cash.
All this chaos runs through Oct. 30.
HARD ROCK HOTEL-CASINO ALBUQUERQUE: Hard Rock has football fever big time. The Isleta casino is staging hot-seat drawings for cash and free play each Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 30. The drawings are held from noon to 10 p.m. on those days.
The prizes range from two $100 cash and free play awards each day to two $250 in cash each day to one $250 in free play each day. There’s one $500 free play and one $500 cash award each day and one $1,000 cash giveaway both days.
Prizes are hidden inside souvenir footballs. Winning players choose a football, except the 10 p.m. winner; he or she gets the last ball.
BUFFALO THUNDER RESORT & CASINO: Pojoaque Pueblo’s Buffalo Thunder is putting the finishing touches on a pair of its gaming attractions. First, on Oct. 5 the new Thunder Racebook will celebrate a grand, grand opening. Rail birds will find comfort in this 6,000-squarefoot playground that offers bets on horse and dog tracks from around the country. Players can catch races on any one of the 24 55-inch monitors that dot the room.
What’s a bookie “joint” without a bar, right? The Thunder Racebook will have a bar, and patrons can keep up on races scanning any of the eight 55-inch monitors along the back bar.
The book replaces the spot where the Blue Tower Nightclub sat on the casino’s ground floor near the Turquoise Bar & Grill, which will bring food to hungry long-shot and chalk bettors.
The Thunder’s Racebook replaces the long-serving Cities of Gold Sports Book, which will close and its space enter the world of commercial real estate.
On Oct. 1, promptly at 10 in the morning, the Thunder’s “new” poker room will officially open. It’s going to be plush, 1,000 square feet of plush. The room will hold eight poker tables, along with an area set aside for high limit/VIP and tournament play.
There are 15 color monitors gracing the walls of the room, assuring poker fans they may keep abreast of their favorite team’s actions.
As part of the poker-palace opening, the first 500 patrons coming through the doors will receive commemorative baseball caps.