Kelly started her night shifts tonight. She leaves at 8:30 PM and gets back at 11 AM. So I thought to myself, "hey, I can go out with Clint this weekend." Nope. He went to bed early tonight because he's going to Flagstaff early tomorrow. And staying the night. I still wanted to do something instead of sitting in my apartment watching TV, so I went to the indian casino. It was fucking packed! Luckily, I found a vacant video poker machine, so I sat down and started playing. About a half hour in I hit four Aces. That was my lucky break for the night, so I cashed out ($104) and left. I started with $20, so my net profit was $84. Not bad for the second time in my life I've played in a casino.

I think video poker is one of the best ways to make money in a casino, if you play properly. It's one of the few games, besides blackjack, where you get to make choices that actually increase your odds. Here are my guidelines for walking away with profit from video poker:

1. Play the $1 machines. I get too nervous on the $2 and $5 machines, and winnings on the $.25 and $.50 machines seem too small. The $1 machines make your winnings seem worth the time invested.

2. Only $20 seed money. If you lose it all, you're done for the night.

3. If you hit a big jackpot, walk away immediately. You might be able to hit another, but the chances of that are slim in my opinion. Besides, a jackpot is a happy event to quit playing on. Better to wonder with a bunch of money than to know that you lost all that money.

4. If you don't hit a big jackpot, play until you double your money ($40). I think this is a good benchmark. Cash out, but if you're not ready to quit yet, use half of that as original seed money. Keep the other half of the money in your pocket.

5. Play conservatively. Big jackpots are tempting, but trying to make them will run you out of money really quickly. If you do this, you will increase your money gradually. For example, keep a pair of dueces, which isn't worth anything, but you might get another one, which is worth $3. Only take risks when you have a sure thing. For example, if you have a pair of aces and a pair of jacks, which is worth $1, get rid of the jacks and keep the pair of aces, which is also worth $1, because you might get the other two aces (like I did).