On Saturday night my wife Carmen and I enjoyed the Sutter Auburn Faith Casino Night fund-raiser. There was a who’s who of Auburn there and it raised a lot of money for a good cause, helping our local hospital.

Carmen won close to $1,000 playing roulette and I won the informal foosball tournament, so we felt lucky indeed.

Carmen said when it’s play money, she’s always a big winner. It’s when it’s real money you’re playing with that gambling gets a lot tougher.

We won thousands during a free play night at Thunder Valley Casino before it opened to the public. But that, too, was play money. Once Thunder Valley opened, we bet a little real money and never won a penny.

Go figure. But somebody must be winning.

Winchester Country Club is spectacular. CC Myers, the original developer, did a fine job creating the stunning country club development that has awesome views of the valley. The economy tanked, however, and now the market is struggling.

It’s kind of like the gambling for us. When it was play money, we rocked. But get into the real investment world and it’s always a gamble.

My family has always received fantastic personal treatment at Sutter Auburn Faith Hospi-tal. We feel lucky to have such great facility nearby.

Casino Night rocked.