Lately, with so many people writing to me about how they just can’t seem to win a thing with ANY type of strategy, it got me wondering if there really is anything to what they’ve been saying about the machines. When one loses, of course the machines must have been tightened some or it just wouldn’t have happened!

So rather than just say what none of them want to hear about how it has to be that they’re down on their luck all at once because no way could the machines be anything but “random”, I chose to take a Memorial Day weekend trip to Las Vegas and play one or two of my strategies at a number of casinos around town to make a personal determination about everyone’s concerns.

Nothing’s ever gospel when it comes to making comments about what one believes to be the truth regarding the video poker machines, but at least I might offer an educated/experienced opinion to those who do have an issue or two. Reading articles and Internet forum mathematical ramble means nothing to these folks. They want to hear from someone who puts in direct contact with the machines. I was happy to oblige.

The strategy of mine that most players I talk to seem to prefer is Advanced Romp-Thru-Town (ARTT) – which happens to be my personal favorite as well. So I set off with a goal of playing mostly 25c/50c/$1/$2 ARTT (with a $100 minimum profit for each session) at numerous casinos, and I took along a very modest $2500 to do that with.

At my first stop in Laughlin on my overnight trip, I hit a dealt straight flush on my 2nd hand of $2 Bonus Poker (BP) so I started off with $485 in profit after just a few moments of play. I popped into the Hard Rock Casino - which is very difficult to access these days - to play a session at the center bar, and after being dealt four 2’s on $2 Double Double Bonus Poker (DDB) I left with a $200 profit. So far so good – for me AND the machines.

After that I took the short drive over to Planet Hollywood, where I lost money even though I won 2 out of 3 sessions. I won 3 sessions at Sam’s Town for $600, and in the evening at Boulder Station I hit the first of what was to be an unusual run of four Aces for $1600 and a $975 win. I was with a friend for that one, and as is common among those who do watch me play, he seemed to have thought there was no way out for me until that one big hand hit.

I hadn’t completed my weekend “survey” of video poker machines yet, but based on what I saw I couldn’t conclude that there was anything at all “different” about them – as so many people kept telling me. But I’ve had a career year in 2008 so far that oddly could still be in gangbusters mode, so onward I went with my little experiment.

The next day I stopped by a local favorite – Tuscany, where I played a session and won $150. Out at Monte Lago I won another for $110. Another popular casino that players say they’re having trouble winning at is Red Rock Station, where I met another local friend and played a few sessions with. The problem is, he went 5-2 but lost about $1000 while I won a hundred bucks on mine.

So we went back to Sam’s Town, and once again I scooped up a $350 profit in one session while he lost 2 big ones at $2000 each. Ouch! At this point he started to have me believing that somehow my play this year - and maybe throughout the past 10 years actually – was being guided by some intangible force. But I think I know better...I think. After a while, the machines can seem to be playing games with US.

In the evening I ran out to the Summerlin Room at the Rampart Casino inside the Marriott, to meet up with a friend I met through a very critical (of me) Internet forum. I played 3 sessions up through $2 while he watched. I lost the first, but in the second I hit four Aces on Triple Bonus Poker Plus for a $2000 profit, and on a very brief version of my 5-play game I received a $3260 W2G for being dealt 3 fours and converting on 3 of them in $2 DDB – one with the kicker.

Back at Planet Hollywood the trend continued. I was dealt four Aces on 25c BP in one session, while in the next I was dealt four more Aces on $2 DDB, and I drew the kicker for a $4000 winner. At this point I thought I’d do something I never do, just to see if I’m really that on-fire or if it’s just at the vp machines. I’m not and it is, as I lost $1600 playing Black Jack.

My play in Las Vegas ended the following day while waiting for a player to arrive in town from overseas at Caesar’s. Once again, both sessions concluded by hitting four Aces – another one with the kicker – and an even heftier $4800 profit.

At this point I was thinking why anyone in their right mind should believe any of this, but then again my game is built around going for four Aces, and several of my hits here were by making the non-math play of holding a lone Ace over the more “optimal” long-term play holds. Again, the casinos don’t expect this play, nor do they want players to just get up and leave after hitting winners. I’ve changed all that.

I wasn’t done playing yet, but my good luck was. On my way home I stopped in Laughlin to meet up with a player from Alaska I met several years ago and who stays in touch. Playing with her I lost $1200 at the Edgewater, and on my own I lost another couple of sessions at Harrah’s before I turned in for the night.

I finished up 18-6 with a profit of just under $10,400, and I hit ZERO royals. I continually say I don’t need them to win big, but with play that was much less denomination-wise than what I normally play, +$10,400 without royals is very uncommon. But at the same time I determined that there’s nothing different about the machines, which was my main goal in the first place. Glad I got a little off track!