Advice for Players – Page 13 – Las Vegas Advisor

Posted on January 26, 2021August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 15 Comments

Killing the Golden Goose

There are some excellent video poker opportunities to be found from time to time in Las Vegas. When these are found, good players rush in to take advantage of them. After a few days or weeks of getting pounded, casino slot directors decide that they are tired of this, so they remove the promotions, the machines, or sometimes, the offending players.

For a promotion to work, good and bad players need to play. If the casinos do not make money, the promotion will not last. When good players hog all of the machines, the casino cannot make money, and so the casino makes adjustments.

Posted on January 5, 2021August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 7 Comments

It All Adds Up

A friend, Jake Jacobs, posted in passing on a Facebook page recently that he’d been active in car rallyes in the Chicago area way back when. Some of them were time-speed-distance events where you were timed and crossing a checkpoint 30 seconds early was as bad as 30 seconds late — but both were better than 40 seconds either way.

The other type of rallye was called a gimmick rallye, where time was not a factor, although you had to finish by such-and-such a time because that’s when awards were passed out. You were scored on the basis of your answers to questions, such as, “What is the name of the first street you pass on the right?” or, “How many streetlights do you pass between xxx and yyy?” There was always some sort of trick in the rules leading many participants to get the wrong answer.

Posted on December 8, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 17 Comments

Response to a Blog Comment

For the past two weeks, I’ve been posting about using different software in order to learn to play. A comment on the first such post read (lightly edited):

“Just some of plays worth two cents or less if you make the wrong one are sometimes on the rare side and some are somewhat common. So, for me personally, I wouldn’t sweat making this mistake once an hour or so. I’d compare this article to a card counter learning every single playing index for blackjack. While there is an index for splitting 10’s vs 2 and then doubling if one of them receives an ace, is it really worth learning?”

Posted on October 27, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 2 Comments

Which One is Worth More?

I’ve written about this subject a few times in the past, but not recently. If you’ve seen it before, check to see if you remember the correct answer. If you haven’t seen it before, now is the time to test yourself. All of us need to review from time to time to keep our skills sharp.

Assume you’re playing any version of Deuces Wild, where W represents a deuce, and we’re comparing the following two hands: W 6♦ 7♦ 9♦ T♣ and W 6♦ 7♦ 9♦ 8♣.

Posted on September 29, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 6 Comments

When Do You Quit?

At www.gamblingwithanedge.com , in the comments section for a recent blog post of mine, a poker player said he had two stop limits–one for being ahead and on for being behind. (It’s possible he uses the same amount for each. He didn’t say.) He wanted to know if winning video poker players use this system as well.

In all gambling, money management is important. One of the key elements is being able to stay in the game. If you go broke, you’re out of the action.

Posted on September 22, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 5 Comments

A Sexy Correlation

Author’s note: I ran this originally in December 2009, while I was teaching classes at the Eastside Cannery.

After this was published, Andy and Sharon became good friends with Shirley and me, and later Bonnie and me. Recently Sharon, real name Phillis, died after dealing with a brain tumor for years. Reprinting this article is one way to say, “Rest in Peace, Phillis.”

Posted on August 25, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 15 Comments

You Can’t Do That!

I have played for more than ten years at Dotty’s, a chain of 15-machine (mostly) establishments located throughout Nevada.

While the promotions at Dotty’s vary periodically, one constant has been their Jackpot Bonus promotion where 10% of all W2gs receive a 10% bonus. That is, if you hit a $4,000 jackpot, 10% of the time you’ll receive an extra $400 in cash.

Posted on June 30, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 7 Comments

Are You Still Up to Snuff?

In Las Vegas, there was a 70-day break for the pandemic, assuming you played in the casinos on March 17 and returned on June 4. If you socially distanced before March 17, or didn’t rush back as soon as the casinos reopened, the break was longer.

Certain casino venues elsewhere in the country opened earlier or later than June 4, but for now, let’s assume we all had a 2¼ -month break, minimum. It’s close enough for today’s purposes.

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Bob Dancer — 8 Comments

Finding my Spot

When I was nine years old, I was an All-Star baseball player. It wasn’t part of the official Little League system. Our city parks in Gardena, a suburb of Los Angeles, had a minor league, from 8-10 years of age, a major league, from 10-12, and a pony league, from 12-14.

At the start of the summer, I was 10 years old. I could have played in the minor leagues or the major leagues. Most of my friends were a bit older and didn’t have that choice. So, I went along with them and signed up to play in the majors.

Posted on June 9, 2020August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 7 Comments

Kipling Said It Best

In the middle of his famous poem “If,” Rudyard Kipling poses the condition, “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same.” At the end of the poem filled with twenty or so other conditions, comes the conclusion, “you’ll be a Man, my son.”

Although addressed to his son, this applies equally to daughters. The phrase is etched over the players’ entrance at Wimbledon’s Centre Court. I read it recently in a book by Maria Konnikova which I will review next week. This phrase was a very small part of the book, but it speaks to me as a video poker player as surely as it does to tennis players.

Category: Advice for Players