VictoryLand Casino in Shorter, Alabama
Imagine this…
It is the beginning of a New Year, 2010. You are in your local casino gaming hall, or actual casino – if your county or state permits. You are playing the so entertaining slot machines that tend to eat your hard earned cash, (unless you strategize and spend hours running from machine to machine to make a buck). All of a sudden, you hit the Jackpot!!! Yay!!! The machine brings up a message that ‘You’ve Won a Car!’ How exciting!!!
Many of us drop a dollar or two, or even visit our local casinos frequently in order to scan our Player’s Club cards with some hope that our number will come up and we would be the proud owners of this month’s featured vehicle, that is up for grabs to a lucky one our of millions.
So today is your day, the machine really liked how you’ve fed it dollar bills and chose you as the lucky winner. Here comes management. They hand you over paperwork and keys to your new Saab Convertible and show you the way where the car is parked waiting for its new owner.
You’re charged with excitement and your adrenaline is rushing faster than the speed of light. This is a once (or twice if you’re that lucky) in a lifetime occurrence. Most people don’t even live to experience such an exhilarating event. You are jumping up and down, screaming bloody murder, hugging everyone and running to your car.
You arrived at the vehicle, hardly running into it out of excitement, embrace it, unlock it, and sit behind the wheel. Of course, this all happens after you’ve had the chance to find enough calmness to sign the casino’s proper paperwork in order for them to release the rights of the car. So you’re turning the key and starting the engine, all the start-up lights flashing at you, you are still in ecstasy and disbelieve that your turn has finally come.
Eventually, you calm down enough to be able to drive home safely. As you head home, you realize the odometer display indicating 30,547 miles. You push on the reset button of the tripmeter to try to reset it, thinking it’s probably some factory glitch of some sort, but nothing happens. Suddenly it hits you, you just won a car that has 30,000 miles on it. Maybe the casino drove it around to get all the fluids going? Perhaps it was used by the casino staff and management didn’t realize? Now you’re boggled with many questions running fast through the logical part of your brain. ”So what…” you tell yourself, “I just won a car!”
When you get home, you share the news with your close ones. You also have a chance to review your paperwork. At this point you also realize that the car is a 2007 model, making it a three year old vehicle. Well, at least it was at no charge, besides the taxes you’re obligated to pay, which Uncle Sam requires, of course, for all gambling winnings over $500.
You decide you’re going to take the car to your local dealer and see if you can cash your winnings. Who needs a convertible during the winter any way. Cash can go much farther than any vehicle would. You decide you can use the cash to pay off old bills and buy yourself and your loved ones some nifty gifts. The dealership decides to make you an offer. You’ve done your homework and have an idea what such car might be worth. When the offer is delivered in writing, a manager also informs you that an accident and damage is reported on the vehicle history report, which would obviously affect the current value. You take the offer and decide to go home and think about your next decision. After all, now the cash worth is far less than you expected, and it might be worth more to actually keep the car.
Many of us have been to casinos, myself included. I have visited Las Vegas on a number of occasions. I have traveled to Biloxi and New Orleans. I have been to multiple casinos in a number of countries in Europe. I also resided in Broward County, Florida, where casinos have been running strong for a few years now. I have seen many vehicles put up for grabs to a lucky few, and all of them have always been a current model year. I had to come to Alabama to hear a story such as the one above. Where a casino is so cheap, they entice people with used cars, to play in their game rooms.
This is a true story. The exact details of how it all played out are made up. However, the fact remains. A casino (or a gambling game hall) named VictoryLand in Shorter, Alabama, actually had a three year old, used, wrecked and repaired Saab up as a Jackpot winning. I don’t know about you, but this seems as a big let down. A place that takes in millions of dollars from people in an area where they don’t have much to begin with, chose to give away a used prize. To some it may not be a big deal. To me, however, I would be ashamed to represent an organization as such.
Other Used Cars on Display at VictoryLand
Yet Another Used Car on Display at VictoryLand
Only in Alabama!
Part of the Alabama Life series.
Good stuff here. I would definitely recommend this one.
Hello, good post. I look forward to your next article. Thank you, Rebecca
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