[tabs]

On a trip to LV in the early 90's stayed at the Golden Nugget...just after Sony bought one of the big American media co's...there was an elderly Japanese gentleman playing Roulette in the High Roller section. He was covering the the table with stacks of chips. I asked the security guard what each chip was worth. The Guard said whatever he wanted them to be...later I learned that the Japanese gentleman had dropped $250K the night before.

Or late one night at the Mirage watched a guy pull out a stack of hundreds (10K) at the High Roller Black Jack section... which he promptly lost..Then he opened a Manila envelope which had 25K in hundreds..they gave him 25 chips....I thought that was going to go for sure...Wrong the guy got hot and in 20 minutes he was 60K ahead...He cashed out his 85K, tipped the Dealer a couple of K and left.

Personally I have lost under $100 in the Slot Machines since I moved here in 03..In Poker I am down about $1500.

IMO...playing Poker is the only form of Gambling I would do..it takes lots of time and patience..along with a learned skill set. If you play conservatively you can stretch out your $$$..I think that over the long run that you can play a Break Even game...I have tried for a very long time to make it profitable. If there is a secret to it, it sure has alluded me. Basically the House rake eats your stack of chips over the hours of play.

The best game to play is the 2/4 No Limit Holdem. The rake is minimal for the amounts bet...In that game you can be up or down 1500 real easy.