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I have been watching the cards being redeemed in the Topps Million Card Giveaway trying to time the machine. I know it is a hopeless endeavor but early on the cards seemed to come out in groups by year. That is no longer the case for the vintage stuff as they are sprinkled very lightly now. Still, I tried to apply some of my dad’s slot machine skills to the task.

My dad always believed in having a Cherry Coke at the casino to get the mojo going. If things got slow he would order another to try to change his luck. He also had a particular way that he pushed the button on the slot machine, he rarely pulled the arm as that would grow tiresome after several hours of playing. He had other quirks like always betting the max on each spin and if he won and was waiting on a hand pay out he wouldn’t let his finger get cold waiting on the cash, he would play the machine next to or behind his.

For several years my dad was ahead of the casinos. He always had comped rooms, meals and show tickets waiting on him. He would say he needed money to buy a new washing machine or fix the car and he would head over to Shreveport and win what he needed for the bill. He got his picture taken a couple of times and made the wall of fame but eventually his luck ran out. It was a fun ride while it lasted and he and my mom got to see a lot of shows and eat a lot of steaks.

Anyway, like I said I had been watching the redemptions looking for a pattern but I didn’t really see an opportunity. I was getting anxious to just punch the two codes and roll the dice. The Topps Million Card Giveaway is like a slot machine. You have a chance to win big but only a small few will, the rest will just be left with a bunch of commons. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the promotion and it is one of the best things to come out of Topps lately. Well, except for Allen & Ginter, but as a promotion Topps Million is my favorite promo.

I didn’t have a Cherry Coke so I substituted a Diet Coke and Crown Royal. I typed the code in the box and then as I reached for my mouse to click the unlock button I curled my hand over the mouse and tapped the button just the way I had seen my dad push the max bet button thousands of times before. No alarms went off and there were no flashing lights, just a 1987 Topps Eddie Murray appeared on my screen. Crap! I don’t hate the 1987 set but I have at least two complete sets and thousands of them in boxes.

Next up in the Topps Slot Machine was the enigma that is Pete Rose. I now have another 1989 #505 Pete Rose. It seems kind of coincidental that I would get a player with a gambling problem when I was thinking about slot machines. Oh well, at least I don’t have to worry about having any of these cards shipped to me.

Now that I am out of redemption cards I need to go buy me some more packs so I can try my luck again.

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