Jackpot Johnnie Mae goes to Lucky Lake Cafe – Willowick, OH

To put an end to the sheer boredom of this past week, Jackpot Johnnie and I discussed going to another internet cafe.  I sat down with my mother and told  her that I really don’t like to be at a casino all day.  I like to go for a few hours at the most and go home or whatever else that I would like to do for the day.  She agreed and we got in the car to go.

I put the directions in my Garmin and no matches were found.  Thinking that I did something wrong, I put in the address again.  Still no matches found.  My mother knew how to get to Lakeshore Boulevard so we started driving towards the Cafe.

I had read their ad in the Bingo Scene.  This place had free food, cash giveaways, and $10.00 extra with the purchase of $20.00 of phone time.  The phone time is the internet sweepstakes where you sign on and play internet slot machine type games.  They also have a website www.luckylakecafe.com.  I checked it out and was ready for the new adventure.

After driving down what seemed to be an endless Lakeshore Boulevard, We finally found Lucky Lake Cafe in a plaza.  We walked in and there were six stations with ten computer screens in a circle with privacy sections.  Each station has a cup holder and a wrist rest.  The carpet was a grey tone and the interior walls was a neon nightmare of racing stripes in black, orange, yellow, blue and green all around the room.  The room was much brighter than Surf City or Mega Play.  The refreshments and bathrooms were in the back and the cashier was in the front of the building.  We gave the cashier our money and set down to play.

We received an internet card to swipe at the machines to play the games.  Once I sat down, I reviewed the machines and what they had to offer.  There were only 12 sweepstakes games, none of which was bingo and there was no internet access.  Twenty-five points was the lowest amount that you could play.  I picked my game and got started.

When we arrived, it was around 3:20 p.m.  Forty minutes later, I was purchasing more internet time.  I wasn’t really lucky with the machines but Jackpot Johnnie was going strong.  I tried a different machine with no luck.  I was soon busted and waiting on her to finish playing.

Jackpot Johnnie floated me some cash.  I think it was just to get rid of me for a while so that she could continue to play.  I went to a different pod and actually was doing better.  By this time my mother came over and played a few games for me.  We were still there and time was going by.  It was now 7:00 p.m. and dinner was being served.

Just as I was beginning to get into my game, one of their employees, who has a loud voice, was interrupting my thought process.  As she was telling her customers across the way at another pod her experience in Desert Storm, her newborn looking white in the hospital and the story of a customer getting more money for her machine, only to return and find someone sitting at her station playing her money, my mother and I could not concentrate and play.  We both stopped and looked at her thinking that she would get the hint.  She didn’t and continued her conversation.  She eventually wrapped up and continued with her duties.

Since my concentration was now fully blown as well as my money, Jackpot Johnnie was on her roll and was not ready to leave.  It was now approaching 9:00 p.m. and I retired to the back area where there was a football game Ohio State vs. Minnesota.  They had a couple of black leather couches and I parked my tired self on one of them.  Just as I was getting relaxed, a gentlemen asked me what happened.  I told him I wasn’t watching the game.  He wanted to know what I was doing.  I told him “sleeping”.  I think he got the point.

I liked the fact that there was much more room to walk around.  I don’t like crowded internet spots where you have to scoot your chair in to let someone by.  I think certain staff members try too hard to be a good hostess and do not pay enough attention to details.  My mother and I had to have our cards rechecked a few times.  The first time, security assisted us.  He explained that the machines take a minute to reset and accept our new balance.  The second time, the money was put on the wrong cards.  We decided to play each others cards instead of trying to straighten this out.

Remember that Jackpot Johnnie and I had a talk that I didn’t want to spend the entire evening in a casino environment.  We were there long enough to be present for the 8:00, 9:00, and 10:00 cash drawing.  The cash drawing is based on the station number that you are logged in at.  The person whose station is called wins $25.00 and each person logged in at their pod wins $5.oo.  Although we were there long enough, we didn’t hit that prize.

So seven hours later after drinking several cokes, eating hotdogs, chips, candy, a hot dinner consisting of meatloaf, creamed potatoes, broccoli, and brownies later, we are now ready to leave.  So much for “the talk” about not staying all night.  I did finish my nap on the couch while mom enjoyed her time to play.

The great customer service piece of this experience that I fully appreciated was the fact that they offered for security to walk us to our car.  She said that they do it for all female customers and she presented it as if it wasn’t an option.  Before she got finished speaking, security was on the way to the door and walked us to our car.  Great service.