It was midafternoon at the Rain Rock Casino in this faded Gold Rush town, and Jody Criner had just won $47 on the Dancing Drums slot machine, a respectable return on her $5 investment.
“Cha-ching,” Criner said, her black leather jacket reflecting the neon blues, reds and purples flashing from the slots.
Criner is a Rain Rock regular, often making the 20-mile drive from Big Springs with her girlfriends. She once won $1,200, enough to pay her property taxes for the year, and she dreams of the day she’ll need a wheelbarrow to haul out her cash earnings.
“I don’t mind not winning if I have a blast,” she said.
