Just tried playing again. For me... the balance feels wayyyyyyy better. It felt great in fact. I still had to scheme to find health, and the leperchaun still beat me. Which is fine, I wasn't expecting to beat him first try, especially since my reels were all clogged up with tourist photos. But I was able to do what I was expecting from the game, punch casino weirdos, play some mini games, check out the different reels, etc... The reels stopping only taking one press is great. Now I feel like I can time the first one to try and edge things towards what I want, without having that grinding tedious feeling of trying (and failing) to time the reels constantly.
Good job.