I want to thank everyone for all the great stories they shared with all of us on this board. It has been a lot of fun, and quite interesting as well.
It's now time to vote for the #1 story, the winner will will receive the $40 Caesars Winged Victory strike compliments of JackpotAuctions.com.
We have narrowed the list down to the TOP 5 stories, each has been assigned a number, (#1, #2, #3, #4, and #5)...please use the assigned number when you vote, you can only vote for ONE story...if you vote for more than one, only your FIRST vote will count. To allow everyone a fair chance to vote, the voting time will be 72 hours, that gives you until 4pm PST 8/06/02 to cast your vote. ALL votes must be placed on this board. Here are the TOP 5:

STORY #1:
written by: Ed Fox
Here is my saga: When I first started collecting, I had no idea what casinos had strike machines. My wife and I literally walked all over Las Vegas to look in each casino for a machine -- went to some really seedy dives that way. Many times we would walk 30 minutes or more (Hard Rock and the Stratosphere come to mind) and win a strike on the first pull! Some time later, I discovered Randy Mortimer's website (thank you, thank you, thank you!) and started narrowing down my search. I then decided to get one from each casino in Nevada, but only if I could get it myself.

For my 40th birthday, we decided to fly to Nevada and rent a convertible. Driving with the top down in July made us feel like microwave popcorn, so we drove late at night to Mesquite, the next day Primm, etc. We would visit the casinos with machines removed just to ask if any were at the cage.

So, at 2:30 a.m. we drag into Nevada Landing and look around for a moment. I go to the cage and ask, and nobody has seen one for forever... Slightly dejected we turn around to walk out when I see a woman talking to a lady pushing a change cart in the middle of a remarkably empty casino. The woman is trying to cash in a strike and is being told that "those things don't have any value anymore." I try not to act too stunned and offered $10 for it, which she very gratefully accepted. A very nice "Riverboat" in hand, we walked out of a dead quiet casino with goofy smiles on our faces.

A little later, I finally broke down and bought some to complete the one-per casino collection in Nevada, as I figured out I could stand in the Bourbon Street casino until Medicare age and never get that lucky again.

I've enjoyed everyone's stories, and hope to see a few more before this thread ends.

STORY #2
written by: Tommy Glaze
Ok, I swore I would take this story to my grave but here goes. I am sure most of you remember initail feeding frenzy that insued when the 4-Queens removed their Strike machines a couple of years ago. Being the conservative that I am I was going to stand clear of the mayhem and let the smoke clear. Well, enter one Friday night my 4 year old grandson was visiting and we were surfing e-bay for Strikes when a 4-Queens turns up with a low starting bid. We placed a token $40.00 bid on the Strike even though they were going for $100+ at the time. Hey,you never know.

The next morning I check e-bay knowing that I had probably lost the auction only to find that I had indeed won the Strike. BUT MY WINNING BID WAS $142.00. I rechecked my auction only to find that I had actually bid $4,000.00.

The moral of this story is three fold: never bid with a 4 year old in your lap, never bid with 4 VO's in your system, and watch those tricky decimal points.

Tommy

STORY #3
written by: Mike Roberts
As a slot player I would pass the strike machines and wonder why anyone in their right mind would play for a $10 souvenir coin when they could be playing a progressive for over a million dollars. The machines didn't even look like much fun--not much of a pay schedule and no bonus rounds. Then I saw the Luxor stikes on ebay. I had to have them. I collect Egyptian artifacts as well as Las Vegas memorabilia. I bought a few on ebay and then discovered the Strike Point. I asked some newbie questions and received a lot of very helpful advice. Wow! I discovered something new to collect and a lot of friendly people besides. This was all about a year ago. On my first trip to Las Vegas following my discovery I went first to the Luxor. I won a lot of strikes at well below a $10 average and was even able to trade a few with some people playing the other machines. I was now firmly hooked. After two additional trips to Las Vegas I now have over 400 strikes including duplicates. I also just sent in my Strikers renewal.

That's the background for my interest in collecting strikes. My favorite win just occurred during the convention. I was at the Plaza waiting my turn to play for the convention blue capsules. The person before me lined up three white sevens on the third line paying only one coin. He left in disgust and my first pull gave me two strikes--a convention blue and the Twin Towers blue. I couldn't have been happier if I had won a jackpot.

STORY #4
written by: Michael Moore
I was in Reno about 5 months ago and decided to try and win some of the blue 2 for 1 strikes at the airport. After having very little luck, I was down to 1 credit left. I played the 1 credit and wouldn't you know it, 3 blue 7's lined up on the third row. I sat there stunned, no bells, no whistles, no money, no strikes, no nothing! I didn't even have another quarter on me to play it off, so anybody who walked by was able to see what an idiot I was for only playing 1 quarter. This played through my head the entire drive home from Reno. It took me a week and several cocktails before I could get up the nerve to tell my wife about the episode. Sometimes late at night I am still haunted by those 3 blue 7's.

STORY #5
written by: Jerry Weisenbacher
Ok Dan, I'll break this ice. Here's my worst and best:

WORST BUY: Searched for many months for the LaCasino Cruiseline strike out of Mayport, FL. Finally found one a couple of months ago on eBay and aggressively bid. Boy did I bid and won the strike for well over $100. Felt proud as a new papa when that critter arrived. In Vegas this past June one of our members and I were reviewing his collection of some most uncommon pieces and I mentioned this purchase. Without fail, he asked me "isn't that the one with the 1-800 number on the obverse side. He then told me to call the 800 phone number listed on the strike and you could buy the piece for virtually face value. You live & learn.......
BEST BUY: What comes around goes around as they say. Last December during the tournament at O'Sheas I happened to be playing a strike machine. My machine jammed and when the attendant came over to clear the hopper made the comment upon seeing some strikes sitting in front of me, "Oh, do you collect those things?" When I responded that I did the attendant mentioned that they had a couple at home from years gone by and would I like to buy any of them. Seems one of the "dresser drawer" strikes was the Flamingo Rockettes, flawless no less! Scored that baby the next morning for a most reasonable price I might add. Actually the price I paid was so reasonable I had trouble sleeping, guilt I suspect. Thankfully it didn't last too long........
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OK, there are your 5 choices, please don't get mad if your story isn't in the TOP 5, it was very hard to narrow these stories down...they were all great, and a pleasure to read.
I am sure that we will be doing this again somewhere down the line.
Thanks again to everyone for posting and reading...and be sure to get your vote in before the dead-line!

Best Regards,
Dan at Jackpot!