Livermore Casino Card Room | Premier Poker & Table Games in Livermore

I'd been coming to Livermore on Friday nights for about three years, usually just playing twenty or thirty bucks worth of slots before heading home. That night I was feeling pretty tired from work—I'm a warehouse supervisor—and I almost didn't go. Hit the machine around 9 PM, and suddenly the lights are going crazy. I just stared at the screen thinking it couldn't be real. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely call the attendant over. I kept saying 'no way, no way' over and over. The money's going straight to my kids' college fund, which my wife has been worried about for years.

I'd taken a Friday off work—I'm a electrician—and decided to spend the day at the card room instead of watching football at home. Started at a twenty-five dollar table around noon with two hundred bucks in my pocket. Got on a run where I couldn't lose, dealer kept busting, I was doubling down at the right times. By hour three I had nealry ninety grand sitting infront of me. I remember this older gentleman next to me saying 'you're in the zone, kid'—I was sweating through my shirt. I'm using half for a down payment on a house and half to finally take my family on a real vacation.

I've been playing poker seriously for about five years, driving up from the Bay Area most months for tournaments. The final table had some really tough players, and I was honestly just trying not to embarass myself. Made a big call on the river with top pair that turned out to be the turning point. When I won that hand, I felt this calm come over me—like everything clicked into place. The heads-up match lasted almost two hours, and when I won I actually got tears in my eyes because I'd been grinding and studying for so long. Most of it's going into my poker education fund, and the rest is finally paying off my student loans.

My boyfriend surprised me with a day at the casino for my thirtieth birthday. I'm not usually a big gambler—I was more excited about lunch and the day out—but we ended up at the roulette table. I put money on my lucky number, which is 14, partly as a joke. It hit. I literally jumped up and screamed so loud security came over thinking something was wrong. My boyfriend laughed and said 'I guess thirty is your year.' I'm using it to finally get my teeth fixed, which I've been putting off, and we're taking a nice trip to Hawaii.

I'd stopped by the card room after my shift—I work in construction and it was a cold day—just wanting to warm up and maybe win enough for a nice dinner. I like the Buffalo Gold machine, been playing it for a while because the bonus rounds are fun. Hit the bonus and got a big multiplier, something I'd never seen before. My coworker who was standing next to me started cheering louder than I was. It felt surreal, like watching it happen to someone else. I'm finally fixing up my truck, which desperately needed new brakes and a transmission, and putting the rest in my savings.

I was meeting a friend there but showed up early and decided to play a few hands of Three Card Poker while waiting. I had about two hundred dollars to play with and wasn't expecting anything special. Got a few good runs where I was hitting my pairs and straights, and before I new it I'd turned it into over thirty-eight thousand. When my friend arrived, I was still shaking. She asked if everything was okay and I could barely get the words out. That money is going toward my daughter's braces and I'm finally replacing my old car.