I’m going to do something a little different this week—something that those who know me and how I always give accurate accounts of my experiences will enjoy, and something that even those who find solace in forums that lie about me, my play, and my life will find captivating. Yes, and that means YOU, because I know even the biggest of critics love to hate to love me, and you just can’t stay away since I’m in your head nearly every waking moment!

I just returned from a very relaxing trip that took me from Laughlin to Las Vegas to Reno – and then back home, over a span of 4 full days. That’s about 1600 miles on some of the most enjoyable open road in the land. It’s no wonder I make that trip at least 4 times a year. I had a specific set of reasons for going on this ride, but I also left it open for the freedom to do anything else I chose to. In other words, I was not out to play any professional sessions and did not take the bankroll to do so. But I did play more than I normally do on these "cash-in on the free-play and freebies" trips.

I left Phoenix around 11pm on Thursday night and arrived at the Edgewater at 2:15am. This part was funny, because I had $15 in free-play and I never would have popped in for it except for the fact that I also had $125 in free-play coming next door at the Aquarius. But I had $2000 in cash with me, so I put $785 into the machine to play 100 credits of Bonus Poker each on the $1, $2 & $5 levels – to win a $100 goal if possible.

Because I wasn’t on a true profit-taking trip and I hardly took the bankroll for it anyway, I planned on playing around with a combination of my RTT and ARTT strategies (for those who aren’t familiar with these, you can find them on my home page by clicking on the link to “More Free Strategies” in the upper left hand part of the page). So I lost my first hand on dollar BP, as I did on my hand on $2 BP. But I hit four Kings on my first hand of $5 BP and I cashed out and left with a $600 profit. Seems I did the right thing with that $15 of free-play. Another lesson is that if I were one of those feared "advantage players" that quad would have been on dollars and I'd have sat there and played it off until every cent was gone, and more. It does not take a braniac to figure out how to play intelligently in order to become a very consistent winner like I've been since 1997.

But things can change very fast and without warning in the game of video poker. I went next door and sat at a 5-level $1 thru $25 machine that provided me with over $60,000 in profit in 2008. This time I put $2275 into the machine (which made a total of $2400 after the free-play downloaded) because I chose to play another made-up combination of RTT & ARTT – this time on 4 levels between $1 & $10. But in just 25 minutes I lost every cent while getting just 2 full houses and no straights or flushes. The $2600 I walked in with quickly turned into just $325, and I was off to Las Vegas. So just how smart was this one? Well, seeing that I'm really not on any profit-mission this trip, in the words of another famous name I'll keep it that simple: "It was a good play today and I'll do it again, because it'll still be a good play tomorrow and it was the right thing to do."

I had a handful of reasons for stopping in LV. One was to meet up with a friend for breakfast at the new and absolutely stunning M Resort on the far South end of the Strip at St. Rose Parkway. Another was to check into Caesar’s for a free $300 shopping event in one of the Forum shops. Plus, I needed to get a whole lot of sleep before leaving at 4am for the relaxing drive up to Reno. One thing about the M: If you’ve been out to Red Rock Station, this place is on the next level up. Plus later in the year they’ll be opening up the most luxurious movie theater in town – a Galaxy operation. I’ll be going back next week so I’ll report more on the overall resort at that time. In the meantime, if you’re in LV or are headed that way soon, don’t miss it. (I did lose $50 trying out one of their new generation HD widescreen machines). Before the day ended I also checked into Sam's Town for $60 in cash - and I did not play.

After the exhilarating drive up to Reno I checked into Harrah’s for a free Swarovski crystal (Penguins - and it is a beauty), I had $150 in free-play at the Peppermill that came only with a 2-night check-in, and $100 at the Atlantis. I walked out of the Atlantis with $107, I took $75 from Peppermill, and I lost $400 at Harrah’s. So after tips and whatever food I had to buy along the way, I basically took home nothing after starting out with $2000. I had lost and I actually wasn’t all that upset. It’s been such a long time since I’ve come home in the red from a Nevada trip that in a twisted sort of way, I tried to savor it. It took me 11-1/2 hours to drive from Harrah’s Reno to my home with stops only for gas and a Subway, even though it was snowing when I woke up that Monday morning. Besides, the snow didn't last past Fernley and it was smooth sailing from there.

So I had a losing trip – that’s the way it goes sometimes. But let’s look at this series of events had I been one of those famous named gurus, who can’t ever talk about losing without either throwing in a big win shortly after that trip or one that happened just just recently – or without somehow magically making the flock think they won even though they really lost! They DO have to protect their video poker paraphernalia sales you know, and they need that generated revenue in order to keep on gambling the crazy way that they do.

So for that crows....let’s see: I got a total of $140 in free-play in Laughlin, $60 cash at Sam's Town, $10 in free-play at the M for signing up for a slot card, and $250 up in Reno. That’s $400 in VALUE, and whether I won or lost matters not. The $300 watch I picked up at the Forum Shops, when added in with the 2-nights I received has got to be worth at least $800. Then there’s the 1-night suite at Harrah’s in Reno that must be worth around $200. And oh, I looked up the Swarovski Dolphins on-line and it says $900, so there’s another $1100 in value right there! The two nights at Peppermill were probably not worth much more than a hundred bucks total.

But add all this “value” up and BINGO! I didn’t LOSE $2000 on this trip, NO WAY. I instead actually WON $760 in PHANTOM bucks! Wow!! That feels great! And if I were selling a bunch of video poker junk, my fans would all be going gaga over my continued success and no one could walk away from a purchase! All I’d have to do is announce how much I won (psst....but without the details) because you know what those details can do...Hey, I’m beginning to like this “Advantage Player” fantasy. They could probably turn a bad date into "married with children"!