Casino gaming never ceases to amaze me. Perhaps that’s the main reason why I’m still involved after all these years of studying it, going through 6 miserable years of losing to it, and then – after waking up to what was really going on in the video poker world over a decade ago – beating it to the tune of nearly a million dollars.

In 1999 when I quit Corporate America and a very lucrative job to become a full-time video poker professional, I had one goal in mind: To beat the machines - not by losing to them and then making believe I won by adding in all my slot club benefits as the gurus and math people have always sneakily done - but by actually withdrawing cash from them almost on an at-will basis. And that meant that I had to have a play strategy based on common sense AND the math and not just some mathematical fantasy alone, and that this new strategy had to be structured with consistency as its main ingredient. My results have proven that this goal has indeed been met, and in some ways, surpassed.

Of course, that does not sit well with many who have through every fault of their own, become casino pawns in every way. Imagine finding yourself becoming giddy over opening a piece of mail offering you, one of their “favorite” & “loyal” players, 4X points for 5 hours of play next Thursday! Imagine getting an anxiety attack over seeing $200 worth of free-play coupons arrive unexpectedly from that casino you lost $2300 to last month! And imagine the wonder of being invited in for a casino’s slot tournament that “only their best players” get invited to!

Certainly, the gurus and math geeks have very little other life than being roped into casino promotions, and nearly every move they make has something to do in some way to their gambling habit. And if you confront any of them with this you’ll almost always get “You’re crazy—I only gamble when I have the edge” or “I gamble 4 hours a day on the side—golf’s my real passion” or “it’s a hobby to me, really, and I do it on my terms only”. Yet each and every one of them cannot hide the fact that denial remains the next biggest problem they have to being a gambling addict.

In fact, if you tour the Internet video poker forums some of the main themes you will run across time after time, is everyone either trying to make light of losing, people patting each other on the backs in a show of support or sympathy, several self-anointed Einsteins making believe they have all the casino answers, the constant complaining about slot club benefit revisions and/or pay table reductions, or as in the case of one particular board with maybe a dozen participants – envy over my success accompanied by the predictable whining, misinformation and lying about the facts I lay out here on my site that losing players just do not want to see or believe. The part I most enjoy is watching as they can't help giving away their "secret" of how often they do visit this site.

Seeing these things has become, as you may suspect, at times hilarious but always entertaining. If I were not a major factor in what it is that agitates them about how they approach the game, and if I were not constantly inside their heads whether they're playing the game or just talking about it – it might lead some to believe just how much they really ARE listening to me. In support of this it has been very interesting the past few months, as more and more of the so-called “advantage players” that I talk about, have been asking for meetings and/or training sessions with me. That usually starts them off on the right track, because while the “other guy” charges $250/hour for nothing more than what's in any optimal-play type book or on any standard video poker site, I sit with the players for as long as they like and I never charge a dime. And the advantage player theory about me requiring they use my slot card during their play lessons has never happened and never will. But one or two will continue to say that because it makes them feel good.

My first trip in January did have two training sessions and they both went well. But they were not the main reason I went to Nevada, which was really for collecting as much free play and cash and gifts as I could in 3 day’s time. My first stop was at the Aquarius in Laughlin to play my $125 in free-play through JUST ONCE that only a disciplined player knows how to do. I chose to play 25 hands of dollar Bonus Poker, and because of a Straight Flush I walked with a $340 profit.

Next door at the Edgewater I had $50 in free-play, which I turned into $45 cash. I then went to Las Vegas to check into Sam’s Town, which had $60 cash waiting for me as well as a free dinner. I stayed at Palazzo, which I checked into for a token $50 in free-play (turned into $30 cash) but mostly for the free luxurious room. The next day I checked into Paris for a free leather jacket and into the Palms, which had a pair of $500 VISA Gift Cards waiting for me. I did not play at either place because I had no free-play.

I actually left in the middle of my second night, because driving overnight between Las Vegas and Phoenix is like driving in another world compared to doing that trip when everyone else does. Yes, just another benefit of being a successful professional gambler who has no need to work multiple jobs like the other gurus and geeks that clutter the Internet with their nonsense.

As you can see, it was a good 2-day take for doing next to nothing, and all the food was of course free too. In fact, next month and in March I already have 3 trips each month scheduled for the exact same type of haul, and I’ll continue doing this until the casinos wind down the desperation deals to get gamblers in their doors.

Naturally, the difference between advantage players responding to offers and promotions versus what I do, is that they have no choice but to sit in the chairs at the machines and play on and on until either their bankrolls are gone, they fall asleep, or their spouses angrily come in after them. What I do is simple: I do it the way I like and when I like. It is no secret that those who play into the casino’s hands by doing exactly as they want and expect you to do will usually lose; those doing the opposite of what casinos expect you to do will soon figure out the secret to consistent winning at the casinos – as I have.