I know most of you who play the game have been grinding your teeth waiting for more information on this, and I really have no problem in educating as many players as possible on whatever I know about the subject. Just contact me and I'll see what I can do. However, we’re all different and our minds do not all work the same, so please don’t get frustrated if you have trouble following and/or detecting these patterns at the same level I'm able to do – and which are so very obvious to me.

I’d first like to acknowledge that there are a lot of math people out there who are disturbed by the fact that I would even mention this - let alone describe it. Why? Simply because they are stubbornly driven by their inability to let go of the totally insane belief that in no way, shape or form can video poker machines be programmed other than 100% random without patterns of any kind.

Apparently, they never came to grips with the concept that machines are on the floor to make money. And, if PEOPLE in any business can be manipulated “outside the box” in so very many ways for the purpose of making more and more profit, what do you think the human mind does when it comes to working the machines? Yes, only the hardest core/most neurotic of math geeks have trained their closed minds not to recognize that video poker machine patterns (not to be confused with the true live shuffle/deal/shuffle/deal version, for those who choose to confirm a lack of patterns when humans perform the same task) really do exist – which coincidentally defines the very logic they pride their by-the-book-only lives with.

I’ve recently been reading the various forums that talk about what I’ve been describing, and as usual, there’s more confusion and criticism than anything else. For instance, one blind disbeliever argues how ridiculous and counter-productive it would for game manufacturers to knowingly put out a product where anyone who tries could detect the game patterns and collect as much money as they choose.

Of course, such simplification is what encourages the critics to create negative points of views. And that’s also exactly WHY this type of individual would never be a candidate for success in this type of endeavor. Game manufacturers aren't as stupid as this critic thinks. They know that the typical player - and even the gifted ones - would never become pattern-spotters. It takes a very rare special type of player, and few of those exist. Thus far I’ve found only a very limited number who could be such candidates, as players either get frustrated with the wait for detection and/or they just don’t have the aptitude required to accomplish the task. Naturally, those who don’t want to believe patterns exist seem to somehow always find solace in projects requiring a much simpler mind.

Machines programmed by humans inherently contain patterns, and I have no doubt whatsoever those patterns are further enhanced by programmer ingenuity. If you’ve ever known programmers, you’d find that many of them look at their jobs as a challenge to the rest of us to try and guess how smart they are. How they program code is many times a game to them, as they often incorporate what they believe to be a personal stamp of their intelligence into their work. In video poker machines, it is up to us to realize this, recognize what’s going on, and then use that knowledge to our advantage. I’ve done just that.

The next question is why do it if players can see through it? Well, it took me since 1990 to spot such trends, and I’ve studied the game as much as anyone ever has. The typical player is never going to figure any of it out, even if they decided to take the time to do it. Others will become over-taxed, confused, and many will lose their bankroll trying. Only the truly motivated will ever get anywhere with it, and that assumes iron-clad determination and gobs of patience.

Another criticism seems to be centered around why I don't just move to Nevada and perform the pattern-detection feat on a daily basis. Anyone who would ask such a question has to be a very inexperienced (and/or unsuccessful) gambler. The first response revolves around risking the amount of money looking for them. This is simply a phenomenon I've discovered and have chosen to learn more about it/make a profit off of it, because I've already succeeded in attaining my 2008 win goal. It's not yet clear how aggressively I'll go after them in 2009, but I know I will at least begin the year playing my strategies first. This is not something I've developed as I have RTT/ARTT/& single-play strategy. It's just something that fell into my lap as I was studying more about machines' hot & cold cycles on lower denominational machines this year.

Patterns aren’t advertised, and searching for them can get expensive even when you find the right multi-game/multi-denominational machines. You have to be lucky to find a game where the patterns exists and can be detected, then you have to be willing to play the game at one of the higher denominations in order to benefit.

The next part has to do with gambler’s greed. Similar to why I immediately go home after hitting or surpassing my pre-set win goals, once a pattern is located and taken advantage of in a moderate to big way, it makes no sense to let greed take over and continue chasing what at times can be something difficult to catch. Goals are what make a winning gambler, and goals are what most gamblers live without. There is always tomorrow, the machines are not going anywhere, and there is always another beginning to a new session. But addicted players would not recognize any of that.

One thing about looking for patterns is that it can be a lot of fun. First, if you do it right you’re usually going to win, and at the same time you’re having the satisfaction of slapping the smile off some software engineer’s face. You’ll need a machine with at least 4 levels on it, and the game you choose to play MUST have the same pay table on the lowest denomination as on the highest you’ll go to. And bring a bankroll. No one makes money without seed money, and this procedure is no different. I haven’t a formula for proper bankroll as yet, but that will come in time.

The key is to follow through on your pre-set plan and never get discouraged. Expect to lose at times – sometimes big. I lost close to $9000 a week ago in a humbling failed attempt. But the wins will regularly be big, and they’ll far more than make up for any losses sustained in the process. Before that loss I was up over $35,000 doing this, and I haven’t been doing it for very long.

Sure, you can continue not to believe in the existence of patterns, but the funny part is how those who stand to benefit the most from this ability are the ones who criticize the loudest. People who play long-term strategy by definition sit long hours at a single machine on a single denomination. Now if they only knew how to use what the hands are trying to tell them instead of pretending they’re winning because of over-inflated slot club value, there would be some actual meaning to what they’re spending their time doing.