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I was just killing time before my flight back to Phoenix, figured I'd throw fifty bucks at a machine. I hadn't been to the casino in like five years, and my wife always said I was bad luck. But then the symbols lined up and I heard this crazy alarm going off. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely push the cash out button. I just kept saying 'no way, no way' over and over. We're paying off the truck and finally taking that trip to Colorado we've been talking about for forever.

I was having the worst week at work, so I decided to come down on a Tuesday evening just to relax and maybe break even for once. The dealer was really friendly and I started hitting on some decent hands. By the fourth hour I was up about thirty grand and I almost left, but something told me to keep going. Next thing I know the pit boss is shaking my hand and they're bringing me papers to sign. I called my mom right there and she started crying—I haven't felt that kind of rush in years.

I've been playing serious poker for about eight years and this was my third shot at a tournament here. I made the final table and honestly felt like an outsider sitting with these guys who'd clearly played way more hours than me. We got down to heads-up play and I had to call an all-in on pure guts—turned out my read was right. Walking away with that check felt like validation for every late night and every bad beat I've taken. I'm putting most of it away, but I did pay cash for my son's first year at college.

My sister and I were celebrating her birthday and we're both pretty conservative people, honestly. I was nervous even putting money down but she dared me to bet on my lucky number, which is 23. I kept hitting it over and over—I couldn't beleive what was happening. My sister was screaming and we had security and a floor manager come over. Now I'm the fun one in my family, which is strange. Most of it's going straight into savings but I did buy myself a really nice watch.

I came down with my brother-in-law who's way more of a gambler than I am. He was playing table games while I just wanted something low-key, so I sat at this Buffalo Gold machine. I was thinking about my daughter's orthodonture bills the whole time, which was probably why I almost didn't sit down there. Then the screen lit up and I didn't even know what was happening until the machine made that noise. It took about ten minutes for the reality to sink in that I could actually pay those bills and breathe again.

I learned Three Card Poker about six months ago and it became my game—you feel like you actually have some control, you know? I was playing pretty conservatively, just enjoying the flow of it, when I got dealt a straight flush. The guy next to me saw my hands shake and he knew befroe I even showed the dealer. Everyone at the table was cheering for me which was really cool. I cashed out and treated myself to a nice dinner that night, then the rest is going toward my kid's graduation trip next spring.