Day 2

Unfortunately, didn’t get to do much yesterday on my day two. Woke up, and had to start getting ready for a wedding. All I accomplished was organizing my finances, and paying off some bills. The one thing I did get out of yesterday is the feeling of disappointment when I don’t get enough accomplished in one day. At least this tells me I’m motivated. :)

After the wedding, a couple of my ex-co-workers and I went to The Orleans to gamble a little bit. I’ve come to the conclusion I don’t like playing with other people at the craps tables LOL. For the time being, I have to warm up by “sevening out” a couple of times. That’s exactly what happened yesterday. I lost like $120 while warming up – the table being empty at this time. Then all of a sudden, the table got crowded! To be expected on a Saturday night. I was finally on a good 15 minute roll, making my money back. I sevened out, and all I wanted to do was get right back into it – I know I could’ve won a lot more if I got to hold the dice in the next couple of minutes. But I had to wait close to a half hour because of all the people. So I threw a bad set when the dice came around and left the table, I was still down $57. So I went to play Black Jack. Surprisingly, The Orleans has $5 tables with double deck (BTW – STAY AWAY FROM Single Deck at ANY CASINO!!!! They’re cheating by paying 6 to 5, and you’re basically just donating your money. If everybody stops playing single deck at 6 to 5, maybe it’ll go away). Anyways, I was just winning and losing. And this guy next to me had no idea what he was doing. I know it’s not supposed to matter, but every dumb decision he made cost me (and he) money. So I went to the $10, where there was only one person. At this point I lost another $50. Now I’m down a total of $107 – sucks. The guy left, and I started making some of my money back – until, take a guess – 3 people showed up, and surrounded my spot. I had to buy in for another $100. Now I’m down $200. Meanwhile my girlfriend wins $755 on Wheel of Fortune. I hate slots, but still find myself playing when I want to sit with my girlfriend. She enjoys slots more than table games – last night I finally saw why. LOL Still not convinced though. In my last job, I dealt with huge warehouse databases, with millions of rows of data, from some of the well-known casinos here in town. After seeing how much people lose, and how so few win – I’m never sinking real money into slots.
Finally, the cards turned to my favor, and using the Golden Touch Black Jack’s method I won all my money back plus $10. I had enough. I spent two hours gambling between craps and Black Jack and made $10. That’s a whopping $5/hr! Woohoo – NOT! Well there’ll be good days and bad days.

What’s funny is Friday night, I played poker with a bunch of my ex- co-workers, and I completely broke even that night, as well. Guess it’s “Even Steven” weekend for me. Not a gambling weekend by any means – which is OK, since my real gambling will be next Friday, when my friend Andrew, from Hawaii comes to Vegas with his dad. He’s one of the students from the GTC class, which me and the other 2 Vegas students, have kept in touch with. Last time he visited with his dad, I won over $700 in two days. I would’ve won more – but I just simply don’t know how to bet aggressively. But another $700 will come in handy right now.

So my plans today are:
Working on my Craps practice table:
- Get some of my wood cut for my practice table at Home Depot. I found some great plans while googling; check them out at http://www.crapsfest.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=5. It gives the exact blue prints of building your own 12’ craps table. Wish I would’ve found that earlier, before driving to the Gamblers General Store all those times. That place is fun, however – so maybe it wasn’t a waste.
- Buy the Vinyl, and foam for the armrest.
- Buy a router and bit from Home Depot so I can create my chip rail
- Come home and get as far as possible on finishing the table.

Studying/research/updating internet related profits:
- Betting strategies for craps – maximize profits on rolls longer than 15 minutes
- Google rankings – how to get higher placement
- Affiliate programs
- Update Heroic Aces to link to this website
- Set up some web analytics. Notice the AdFree stats on the bottom left area. It’s pretty cool, but when you get to the site it has pop-ups, and flashing advertisements all over the place. I’m leaving that on for now – just to see if anyone is visiting. But I’m going to research better alternatives.

Also, I plan to play Age of Mythology with friend Ginutis. We still love that game and pretty much play every weekend. I still believe it’s good practice for business because you have to keep your mind on a million things while trying to advance and overcome your opponents. Besides, it’s just a really fun game. :)

Till tomorrow!

DAY 1

OK, so yesterday was actually my day 1. I was running around catching up on some things that I didn't get to update my blog. But I’ll technically consider it today. So, Wednesday, Aug 9th, 2006 was officially my last day at work. I got my vacation pay, and my last check, and I'm good to go. Starting yesterday, I hit the ground running. Ran errands, then drove to the Gambler's General Store to measure out the 12' craps table they have there. Then I went home to write out the longest “To-Do List” of my life!
So here’s my first line of business - Craps. If you're new to Dice Control, then you're probably cracking up right now. That's fine; it's not the only means for money I'll be trying - so hang around. But for those interested, I'm building a mock up throwing station then a catch station to use for practice. I'm being very meticulous with the measurements because practicing on my current rig isn't creating the muscle memory I'm looking to achieve. Almost 7 out of 10 times, I seven out 1-3 times before I get on my 20-40 minute rolls at a real casino. It takes me that long to adjust to a table. I want to be able to get into those monster rolls right from the get-go. So that's why this new practice table is so important. It's going to 'feel' exactly like the real thing. And with 1000's of throws, I'm convinced my warm ups at the casino won't be long at all.

For those who don't know me, I've been doing pretty well at craps. I recently went to a seminar after seeing 'Breaking Vegas: The Dice Dominator". I have the NBC show Las Vegas as a season pass on my Tivo, and it decided I might like this show. It recorded a bunch of other episodes from this series, but this is the only one that interested me because it's something someone was doing legally and making a killing at the casinos. So, for once, Tivo nailed it LOL. I actually saw this episode last year. I wrote the names mentioned in the show and googled them. I found Golden Touch Craps in my search. To my surprise - the actual people on the show were teaching the classes! I was so into it, but it was very cost restrictive for me at the time. The Blackjack course they have was a bit more affordable, and I was already making a lot of money playing BJ, so I figured why not get some more tools, and if I win using their method, it'll help pay for the craps course. I've won here and there since then, but nothing too huge. I just don't have that great of a bankroll, so my winnings don't amount to much. I learned what my acceptable ROR (Risk of Ruin) was at the course - and it was an awakening. I was doing well at BJ, but I was betting way too much, and my swings were huge! But the moral of this BJ trip was that I met two students that had previously taken the GTC craps course. After class we all went to the casinos to play what we just learned at BJ (I won $100). I heard that Dominator and Frank were playing at the craps tables at the same casino. So a couple of students and me darted to the craps tables to catch the show. I really wanted to see them play in person. Unfortunately, they already left. But the two students I was with, saw an empty table, and wanted to throw a little. Now, keep in mind - I knew NOTHING about craps at this point (back in Feb 2006). It was always so intimidating to me. But I saw these two guys throw dice for 45 minutes combined - and I was awed. And to top it off - they had only been practicing for 6 months to that point! One of them made $1,000 right there, turned to the other and said "Screw BlackJack" LOL. I myself mirrored the other student and only made a couple hundred dollars - he was a bit more conservative. I didn't want to touch the dice - nuh uh; not after that.

So a couple of months ago, I got an email lowering the cost of the craps seminar in a 2 day promotion - so I jumped at it. I have to tell you, that Discovery Channel show did not lie. The Dominator is a dice-throwing god! And I saw Frank Scoblete call a hard 10 (just as Dom did on the show), and throw a hard 10!!! How was this possible! It was just amazing. And all the instructors were really good dice controllers as well as good teachers. On my very first throw ever, the instructor looked at me and said "ahh, you've been practicing - haven't you?" I just kind of laughed and told him that was the first time I seriously picked up the dice. The Dominator even said I was going to be a monster roller one day. Now if that isn't the best words to hear from the Dominator himself - I don't want would be.
They held a 'no-sevens' competition for the students. I was doing good until Dom said "I have money on you, don't let me down!". He was joking, but it was just enough to get my hands shaking weirdly. I sevened out at 7 throws (Ironic, huh?). How embarrassing. The winner threw 14 - double what I threw. But that's OK. My determination was set that day, and I've been practicing since. I've already made more money playing craps than what the course cost.
Ironically, here's a funny story. My very first time throwing craps at a real casino after taking the course was at the Las Vegas Hilton. I had only logged 700 throws at this point. As soon as I got into position, one of the dealers let out "Oh no... Not another Discovery Channel viewer". He went on to say "You may not know how to bet, but you did go to GTC, didn't you". HOLY CRAP!!! I figured I was found out or something. I thought I was going to be banned like a card counter or some other type of “cheater”. Man, was I naive, LOL. The boxman turns to him and asks what GTC was. They both asked me how much I paid, and proceeded to poke a lot of fun at my decision. The boxman even said "I've been in this business 40 years, you could've given me the money, and I would've told you it was a waste". Whatever. Even better they believe it to be a crock. I literally went on to throw for 25 minutes straight - only one time at the dice. I pretty much made them eat their words. :) But unfortunately, the same dealer told me I could've made back all the money that I spent on the seminar, if I would've just put $1 on the Fire Bet. It pays 1000 to 1 if you make all 6 distinct points. That and the fact that I had a job interview in 15 minutes probably ended that roll. Since then I've played the Fire Bet whenever it's available. Have won the “4 of 6” Fire Bet twice (would've been three times, if I didn't forget to bet it - again) which pays 25 to 1 at $5; for a total of $250. I've spent about $25 on other losing attempts, so I've made a $225 profit off that "sucker's bet". I feel pretty confident once I get to the recommended 6,000 throws - I'll be good enough to make the $5,000 Fire Bet.

So that's my first goal. Just shoot for the Fire Bet or simply just a consistent profit at craps. But of course, I'm not an idiot by any means. My goals are not linear. I have about 10 goals running in parallel, and I'm going to be working on them all a little every day or so. One is bound to hit. Too many of my friends have succeeded doing their own thing - and I feel I'm just as creative, intelligent, and motivated as they are. So now it's my turn. And I'm more than happy to keep the world posted on my successes or failures. It's a great motivator. I figure, it's something I have to live up to - and I MUST keep going in order to not make this blog a complete waste of time.

So wish me luck (which you need a lot of in Vegas) because my journey has begun.

Well, I haven't kept up much the last few days. This is probably due to the fact that I'm sure no one is reading my blog yet LOL.

I'm mainly still working every day, until August 9th - being my last day programming for somebody else (I hope). The very next day, I'm diving into all my plans - and I've got lots. For now, I'm reading books, practicing my dice throws and playing a little craps on the weekends. As a matter of fact, did OK last Sunday - won my second Fire Bet ever (only 4 of 6 points - but hey it's a beautiful thing)! Held the dice for over a half hour again. Definitely getting better and better, but I know I'll be doing worlds better when I reach the recommended 6,000 throws. Till then, I'll play little, practice more. At least I won on my birthday this past Monday - breaking a 4 year streak of losing money on my b'day.

So not much to say today. Again, will dive in within just a few short days. After that, I believe there will be many readers here - as I learn more about search engines.

C'ya's in a couple of days.

As my friend Mark always says "as long as you accomplish just one task, no matter how small, toward your goals - it was a good day". It makes a lot of sense. Since there are so many ways to make money, and I have a few ideas; I'll be giving an overall view of what my plans are over the next few posts.First, let me give you all a little background on myself. I'm a computer/database programmer for a Casino Software company here in Vegas. I've been programming since ZX-81 and Commodore 64 days (Yes, I'm showing my age). I always did it as just a hobby - making games, little databases, etc. About 10 years ago, I got really serious about beating the NY State Lottery (Which is where I'm originally from). I know - impossible. But there was no way anyone was going to tell me different. I was determined to at least make enough money off the lottery to not have to work a 9 to 5 job. Well, I did make some money, but never enough - and not consistently. And my bills were backed up - so my brother suggested I program computers as a career - since I showed such a high aptitude. The rest is history. I wrote plenty of applications for companies, as well as for myself. I even created a mini Excel application that was geared toward calculating when, and how much I would need to get out of debt. I was out of debt in no time, and I even convinced my dad to use it, and he paid half his mortgage off in just a few months.

I moved to Vegas the first time because of 9/11. Yes, THE 9/11. I was here on vacation and was going to be on a plane in a few hours back to NY, when I saw the towers on fire. My friend Tom and I were stuck here for a week before planes were allowed to fly again. Since NY was nuts, and Vegas was so much fun, and welcoming - I stayed. All I had was the remaining cash in my pocket, and my bags. I told Tom to go on ahead without me - Vegas was now my home. This was scary, since I had no place to stay and no job. And this was BEFORE I was debtless. Well, my friend left that Saturday morning, and I did land a telemarketing job. But I still had no place to sleep. Thank heaven for the Boardwalk Casino and Hotel. I showed them my license and airline ticket, and they let me stay for free for 2 days, and a deeply discounted extra 3 nights. In that time, I found an apartment - and my life began.
Unfortunately, 10,000 people lost their jobs a few weeks later, so computer jobs were out of the picture. I landed a job at Dominos delivering pizza. I know - laugh. But it's not a bad company to work for, and the people were nice. They actually promoted me (Thanks to my friend Rob P, the manager), once they knew I was a programmer. I helped upgrade all their POS systems here in Vegas. They liked my work so much; I even flew to live in Seattle for a month to do the systems there. (What a fun town!) But then it all ended - since there are only so many Dominos. I moved back to NY, where ironically, there were plenty of jobs. In a week I landed a job at QLIMG - a medical and Health corporation. It was good and made many new friends - including one of my best friends who turned me onto this whole blog thing. Thanks Ginutis! I'll be mentioning him a lot in my blog, since he’s a moneymaking guru and we'll be trying to make some extra money together. I’ll definitely tell of some of his interesting tales in upcoming posts.
So why did I move back to Vegas? Well, can anyone say "Snow sux!"? What took me 40 minutes to get to work, took me 6 hours during the worst snowstorm New York had seen in years! All I can think about was sunny Las Vegas. So, that's when I put my mind to getting out of debt, and saving up enough to get out here. But just as I was going to leave, my friend Tom, (yes, the same one), told me about a record executive that wanted to hear my music (I sing, write, and play guitar, bass, keyboard, etc. Basically, you’re average musician who fell back on computers). So was born http://www.heroicaces.com/. Check it out - maybe you'll like the music. :)
This project delayed me a couple of months, and many dollars. But I still left for Vegas in October of '04. I landed my current job, saved up 6 months worth of income - and after today I'm putting in my 2 weeks notice on Wednesday. (Long story, I'll let you know if you’re actually interested in that story). So in a couple of weeks, I'll be solely concentrating on making money 24/7. I might even start off writing an e-Book for getting out of debt, and modify my Excel application to a prettier computer program to assist (trust me - better than Excel). Or some cool ways to make money gambling at any casino - even online. How do you think I made so much of my money to get out of debt so quickly? :) I've spent so much stupid AND smart money on winning at gambling (as well as my own systems) - I was bound to get one or a few that worked. Maybe tomorrow I'll let you know of the public ones that I'm using right now. TRUST me they work. I'm not affiliated with them, or making any money from referring them. If I make any money, I'll let you know - that's the whole point of this blog. The systems/methods deal with craps, blackjack, and even roulette! But that's for another day.

So this was my "task" for today. I wanted to write a post, and introduce myself. I also added the google search bar onto the site. That along with AdSense will start making me a little bit of money. It's not much, but it's a start. Go ahead and check out any interesting links, or perform searches, and click on the results - you don't have to buy anything - you'll just be supporting my cause. :) And I'll be MORE than happy to click on any links you might have on your website. Like I said in a previous post - Let's make some money together!

If you don't have AdSense on your site - click on the above Google link (It says "Earn money by showing relevant ads with Google AdSense"), and go through their wizard. It SO easy, and will make you some extra cash with no investment but a little bit of your time! And you'd be helping me out, and helping yourself out at the same time! Talk about instant Kharma! LOL.

I’ll try to post everyday. So until next time – just do one thing that’ll make you happy tomorrow.

As you can tell, this blog is all about making money in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada. There are so many opportunities here, it's staggering. This is probably part of the reason why 5,000+ people move here every month.

This blog is simply designed to log my progress. It's for me to organize my thoughts, see where I've been, and strategize where I'm going.

My goal is to become financially independent, and this is my journey. Come along for the ride. If you like, take the wheel every now and then. If you have any cool ideas, let me know. Maybe we can all get there together!

Last weekend, over 114,000 Nascar fans were expected to attend the famous Las Vegas 400. As a result, Las Vegas may make millions of dollars from Nascar fans.
Estimates are that this weekend alone will generate about $76.01 million in revenue for Las Vegas. Las Vegas also hopes to make millions from these fans in the future.
Just this weekend alone, Las Vegas will collect millions of dollars from race fans - in terms of gambling dollars. According to Rob Powers, the Las Vegas Convention Visitors Authority spokesman, "Sports crowds in general have a good gaming profile. They like to gamble. They're also very brand-loyal. They support sponsors of events."
Along with having the habit of gambling, many of the fans also were likely to be drawn into gambling by the two newest hotels and casinos, Bellagio and Mandalay Bay. Both places were not open the last time Nascar had a race in Vegas. Many fans also came several days early in order to experience the Las Vegas excitement and many will stay several days after the race, bringing in more gambling dollars. All of these factors likely will make for a great weekend for many Las Vegas casinos.
Along with gambling, these race fans probably generated millions more for hotels and casinos in terms of hotel rooms, restaurants, and shows. Also, with the location of the racetrack on the outskirts of Las Vegas, many fans had to spend money for taxi rides, and bus rides to and from the racetrack. Finally, many fans bought expensive parking spaces in order to watch the race from their motorhomes.
Las Vegas also hopes that the race and the publicity for the city of Las Vegas will generate millions of dollars more revenue in the future. Many hotels believe that race fans will come to Vegas for additional weekends beyond the annual Nascar race weekend.
Also, this year's race was broadcast to millions of people on ABC television and the Visitors Authority hopes that the broadcast will heighten many millions of people's awareness of Las Vegas. The Visitors Authority hopes that the ads run during the race broadcast will make people aware about how exciting Las Vegas has become and that this will entice millions more people to come to Las Vegas who would not normally come.
Las Vegas casinos hope this will help them fill all of the hotel rooms in the future. With the opening of three new casinos, Bellagio, the Venetian, and Mandalay Bay, the casino resorts hope that this race will bring in the people needed to fill the extra hotel rooms.