I have often advocated a well-rounded trip to Las Vegas or anywhere else in Nevada for those so used to sitting at their favorite video poker machines for 10 or more hours a day. There’s so much more to do and see - but I won’t get into the obvious here. And there’s a far greater reason for doing any of it.

I know lots of players who visit Las Vegas just 3 or 4 times a year or so end up spending the majority of their hours pounding away at the machines. That’s fine if you’re there to pile up the points or if you don’t mind losing. But if you’re there to make money, you’ve got a lot to learn.

I’m an expert at variety in activity whenever I’m in town and when I have to stay well past reaching my win goal for one reason or another - usually, for meeting up with players. And it’s really easy for me because I’m motivated to get ahead of the casinos and STAY ahead of the casinos, and I’m motivated to do it right. But there are also times where I combine a Las Vegas trip with a mini-vacation elsewhere. For instance, it’s a yearly ritual for my wife & I to drive up to the Oregon Coast – with stops in Nevada going both ways. The highlight of the trip is the solitude the beach at Cape Kiwanda where we always stay – and NOT the short stopovers at the Nevada casinos for a night's sleep.

And why not. There are so many people who’ve become so involved with playing video poker that they’ve lost sight of the fact that there is still a normal world out there to enjoy. I know of many, many players who cannot stay away from the machines for even a short period of time, so normal vacations just don’t exist anymore. They either don’t go, or they make the casino visit the main part of their trip. I call that pathetic.

Since I retired from Corporate America in 1999, I try to stay out of the airplanes that I basically lived in for entirely too long a time. There’s too much hassle, too much aggravating time involved, and far too little respect for the flying customer these days. As such, I drive to everywhere but our trips to Hawaii – whether it’s to LA, SF, or to anywhere in any corner of this country or Canada. I know many need to fly to keep up with their business, but I don’t.

I just recently returned from back-to-back mini vacations, and they were as different as night and day. On Sunday morning my daughter and her family drove to the Hyatt in Garden Grove, Calif. because her husband had business meetings over there all week. So my wife and I left for the same destination overnight Sunday. Our job was to help Marissa with the kids at Disneyland and on the beaches as Paul went to work each day. It was Jackson & Isabella’s first trip to Southern California, so it was more fun than I can describe. Yes it was lots of work, but this is what it’s REALLY all about.

Cindy and I left for our return trip a day ahead of the rest. Once home we repacked, slept, then went to Las Vegas where I was invited in for a full RFB comp at Wynn. For those of you not familiar with RFB, what it means is anything and everything you want in the form of food, drinks, shows or limos is completely covered by the casino. And for those of you not familiar with Wynn, let’s just say there is no more luxurious a resort hotel in the world. It is, in short, the best location on earth to have anything and everything you want, without charge.

How’d I get this? Well, several months ago I wrote of how my greed got the best of me after winning around $20,000 - mostly at South Point and Sam’s Town. I strutted into Wynn to play a session of my single-play strategy that I rarely lose on, and, of course, my confidence level was sky high. I got beat by about $18,500 even though I collected tens of thousands in W2G forms, after playing right on up to the $100 machines. That’s how an RFB offer materializes.

This time my visit wasn’t going to include such high level play, but rather a relaxing, pampered variety of enjoyments. I expected much of the $1000 I took would be used for restaurant and bar tips, and half of it was. We ate at five of the gourmet dining establishments there, drank wines that I’ve always only wondered about, and I had shots of very rare scotch that cost $650 a pop (which, BTW, wasn’t nearly the most expensive available).

We walked next door to see Jersey Boys at Palazzo, and having grown up in that era, I still can’t find enough words to describe how fabulous a show that was. The $60 we lost playing quarters waiting for the doors to open wasn’t even noticed. The oohs and the aahs on the way out of the showroom were.

Now to the video poker at Wynn. The very first time I sat down to play it was at the B Bar. All their machines there are 4-level, $1 to $10. On $2 BP I hit four Aces and was ahead about $700, so I asked for a Bud Light. The bartender brought me over one and said “that would be six bucks”. I partially looked up and said I was playing, but he came right back and said that the B Bar doesn’t comp drinks to players, per Steve Wynn. Huh? $10 limit video poker and no comped drinks?

That’s when I ordered my first $650 scotch, then a second, and all I had to do was sign them to the room. And for a tip I left a note saying “Tell your boss to comp cheap beer to slot players, and next time you’ll get a real tip”. My next stop was the sports book bar, and I ran into the same foolish thing. This time I took it to management and said I won’t be playing the high limit machines in the B Bar (as I’ve done in the past – and they did check my record) or anywhere else inside Wynn until they reverse that stupid decision to not comp players.

When a nickel player on the floor can drink comp drinks all night long, but a $10 player in the bar has to pay, there’s something drastically wrong. The managers humbly agreed with me but said it was Steve Wynn’s orders. Is he in THAT much of a financial pickle with this over-the-top resort and the even more decadent Encore opening in Jan. 2009, that he has to be that cheap to his best players? Someone needs to tell that guy how to operate a casino.

After that, I limited my play to the $2 machines on the floor. In maybe 2 hours total play I did get four Aces with the kicker for a $4000 W2G, and I left Wynn after a marvelous stay about $1400 ahead. It was the best of all worlds: Eat at very expensive restaurants and drink very expensive booze; Stay in one of the best suites anywhere; See the best show either of us have ever seen; AND beat them out of over a thousand dollars to boot! Most of all, however, I hope my message gets to Steve Wynn. Dumb decisions do get noticed and responded to.

Here’s where it gets funny….but real. Now that I’m home, I miss nothing about Wynn, but I do want to go back to the beach and Disneyland with Isabella and Jack. That’s something that I really do miss. What’s most important about that is during my misled optimal-play years, I’d want to do nothing other than sit at the machines and gamble. So many people on the forums who hate what I stand for in video poker, do so simply because they are unable to break away from the incredible hold the machines have on them - and I can. But because I’ve figured out the casinos and how to beat them on a consistent basis these days, I have the opportunity to both DO the real things in life – and MISS them when I’m home. Do I miss the casinos at the same time? HA!