I rarely get lucky. I’m not talking about “getting lucky,” you sicko. I’m saying I’m not the luckiest guy in the world. I wouldn’t say I’m particularly unlucky, but put it this way: I’m not a big lottery player. I remember three distinct occasions when I or my family did not get lucky. First was when I was a teenager, a local radio station played a birthday game every morning in which they announced a date and if you were the first person to call with that birthday, you won money. The morning they had a big $10,000 prize, my dad’s birthday was called, but he was out of town and not by a phone. The second was when my family went to Disneyworld in the 1980’s. We all got a ticket when we went through the turnstile that entitled us to a prize. The grand prize was a new car. Our line was moving slowly, so we jumped to a different line. Of course, the people that took our spot in our old line won the car. And third, my dad once got four out of six lottery numbers right and was one off on the other two. That $6 million would’ve looked good in the trunk of the car we didn’t win.
But Susan Cutrone of Ulster Park, New York is a very lucky woman. On Saturday night, Ms. Cutrone won $1 million at Resorts World Catskills Casino Resort in Monticello, New York, the top prize in the summer-long “Million Winning Moments” promotion.
Play a lot, have a chance
The promo began on June 1st and ran right up to this past weekend. Casino patrons who used their Players Club card while playing on any electronic gaming machine like slots or video poker or on any table game earned one “virtual entry” for every loyalty tier point earned.
On Saturday night, the casino selected five people from all of those entries. The five finalists were put on stage during a glitzy ceremony and each selected an unmarked, red box. All at the same time, they opened their boxes and it was Susan Cutrone that found the $1 million placard inside of hers. The other four people won $10,000 in Free Play.
“We came up to Resorts World Catskills a lot during the promotion because we love it here. It is our favorite casino resort, but I never thought it would actually be me who won the million dollars,” Cutrone said afterward. “Now it is really my favorite resort! I promise I am going to do good with it. Part fun and part contributing to autism awareness. I feel like I am dreaming.”
I, too, would consider a casino to be my favorite if I won $1 million there.
“Free play” is still something
While Cutrone’s big win was the highlight of the weekend at Resorts World Catskills, the promotion wasn’t quite over at that point. During the 11 o’clock hour, another twenty people were randomly chosen to receive $1,000 in free slot play.
On Sunday, another 105 patrons were selected to spin a special prize wheel that gave them a chance to win $1 million. Nobody got that lucky, but those 105 people won a total of $364,000.