Advice for Players – Page 9 – Las Vegas Advisor

Posted on June 21, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 15 Comments

It Might Not Scratch My Itch

I was walking through Sam’s Town here in Las Vegas on a Tuesday in June. The casino offers 10x points (worth 0.5%) for seniors on Tuesdays and I was scouting the place looking to see if anything might be of interest. Even after all these years, scouting is part of my routine.

I’ve been restricted from receiving mailers for more than a decade at all Boyd properties (including Sam’s Town), so anything I find has to be good enough by itself to be worthwhile, because there won’t be additional benefits coming down the road.

Posted on May 31, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 9 Comments

I Get By with a Little Help From My Friends

The last week in May, Bonnie and I will spend aboard a railroad traveling through the Canadian Rockies. We’re scheduled to travel east from Vancouver and fly home from Calgary eight days later. Although we will be back in Vegas before you read this, and I may well write about that trip, I’m writing this blog while still in Vegas.

Why that’s important is because more than one of the casinos I frequent had monthly “playups” in May of various sorts, where for so many points during the month, I get certain prizes. One that takes a lot of time is the South Point half-price Chevron or Walmart gift cards, requiring almost $167,000 in coin-in for Bonnie and me combined. And I only have three weeks to get in that play instead of four.

Posted on May 24, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 4 Comments

How Do I Prepare to Stay Awake?

I received the following question for Richard’s and my mailbag show on Gambling with an Edge. It’s too involved to answer on the air. I thought I’d give it a go here.

Can you describe the steps you take to prepare for a play that may require you play during a time of day (graveyard for example) that is not a normal time for you to be playing? How far in advance do you start to adjust your schedule, and what other steps do you take?

Posted on May 17, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 10 Comments

Card Pulling Revisited

I was asked to answer a Question of the Day sent to The Las Vegas Advisor. My answer was “too long” for a QOD, but appropriate for one of my blogs. Since LVA hosts my blog and they have plenty of QOD questions “in the hopper,” I was allowed to answer this question here.

Is card-pulling at video poker still an effective way of minimizing wins?

Posted on May 10, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 5 Comments

Figuring It Out

I received an email to be answered on the podcast. Here it is:

I have a strategy question about 8/5 ACE$ bonus. I’ve been told that you play it the same as you would 8/5 bonus with the following exception: when dealt a full house with 2 or 3 aces where ACE$ is possible, you only hold the aces. Is that true? When dealt 2 pair and one of the pair are aces in the right position do you go for the full house or just hold the aces?

Posted on May 3, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 5 Comments

What Would I Be Doing?

I’ve been a professional video poker player for 28 years and played backgammon and blackjack semi-professionally before that. Someone asked me what I’d be doing with my life if I weren’t a professional gambler?

My initial answer was, “I have no idea.” I haven’t had a serious backup plan for decades. I’m confident that I can make money doing what I’m doing, and if I have to give it up because of some medical condition (not in the foreseeable future — but that could always change tomorrow), I have enough put away that I won’t need to work.

Posted on April 19, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 15 Comments

Was It Worth It?

I’m now 75 years of age. I have mild COPD, which is a lung disorder partially caused and/or exacerbated by second hand smoke. I’ve been in casinos averaging more than 50 hours a week for the past 30 years. Before that, I played backgammon at a smoky club for more than 15 years.

A case could be made that had I chosen a different career, I might be healthier today. While I have been fairly successful, was what I gained worth what I lost insofar as health goes?

Posted on March 22, 2022August 29, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 13 Comments

A New Scam

Here was the email:

Hi Bob,

It may be hard to believe, but people regularly forget about deposits, property they owned or overlook funds that they should have inherited. This actually happens more often than you might think. In fact, there are billions of dollars in unclaimed assets in locations throughout the United States. We performed a simple search on your email address ([email protected]), and quickly discovered that you have unclaimed assets. Please take a closer look by following the link below and hopefully you can regain control of your missing valuable property that is rightfully yours.

Reclaim Your Money Now

Thank you!

Posted on March 8, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 6 Comments

Is It Worth It?

I was playing a very nice $5 progressive at Circa. It was on the 165-foot bar at the west end of their casino’s lower level. In addition to containing slots and blackjack, the machines have numerous video poker denominations from 25¢ to $5, and each denomination has numerous games all connected to the same progressives. The progressives on these machines are linked to similar machines at the Golden Gate (directly across Fremont Street) and the D (also on Fremont Street, but two blocks east).

When I started play on Valentine’s Day, the progressive was at $38,800 and the best game to play was 8/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe. I’d been tipped off by a friend. I know the 9/6 non-progressive version of this game very well, and practiced at this progressive level for a bit before I drove to the casino.

Posted on March 1, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 9 Comments

The Last Thing I Would Do

The Las Vegas Advisor solicits “Questions of the Day” and some of the ones related to video poker are passed along to me. I answer, on average, one or two of these a month.

On February 9, there was a QOD about hitting a jackpot while using someone else’s slot club card.

Category: Advice for Players