I wrote last week about my gambling aboard the cruise ship. I mentioned that over the two weeks, I was ahead $1,100. I want to address today how typical that result was.
In a casino, the more games you know the more opportunities you have. For me it is video poker and some slot machines. Other players include blackjack and/or poker, and other games as well, into the mix.
Continue reading Gambling Aboard the Norwegian Jade — Part II of IIThis post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.
Continue reading VIDEO POKER: HOW THE CASINO GETS THE EDGE OVER PLAYERSAC Says: How does the casino get its edge in video poker? Pretty much the same way it does in most other games: It pays winning hands at less than true odds. That fact is discussed here, along with a rundown of other methods of creating a casino edge, e.g., taking a rake or commission. The discussion of why casinos sometimes offer games with 100%+ theoretical returns is on the mark and begs the question, why don’t more do it?
As I have written the past two weeks, Bonnie and I recently cruised the Eastern Mediterranean aboard the NCL Jade. I usually avoid casinos on cruise ships, but this time I found plenty of playable opportunities.
Continue reading Gambling Aboard the Norwegian Jade — Part I of II
Author’s note: This blog describes, among other things, Bonnie’s and my visit to Jerusalem on Wednesday, September 20. About two weeks after we were there, Israel was attacked and rockets are now flying where Bonnie and I walked. While we are a safe 7,400 miles away from the fighting had the attacks begun just a few weeks earlier, we would have been in the middle of it — or depending on the exact timing of the attack, the cruise ship certainly wouldn’t have docked anywhere in Israel because of the danger.
Continue reading The Old Man and the C (ruise) — Part II of IIThis post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.
Continue reading IS PROFESSIONAL VIDEO POKER PLAY REALISTIC?AC Says: Is it possible to play video poker professionally today? Good subject, and the article’s writer presents an honest evaluation. The message is, you won’t be able to do it, especially at low stakes, if all you’re doing is playing the best schedules—the dollar-per-hour return simply isn’t high enough. And when you move up in stakes, you risk the fluctuations that can take you out of the game. As suggested, playing avocationally is very possible and can be worth doing. Essentially, it means having a hobby that makes money, The article touches on playing progressives to get an edge, but doesn’t identify one of the most potent profi-makers, which is playing video poker promotions. An excellent description of this can be found in Million Dollar Video Poker by Bob Dancer. Las Vegas Advisor members can stay up on promotions as they come and go in our “Changes as They Happen” blog
Two weeks ago, I told you about Bonnie and me spending time at Harrah’s Cherokee prior to a two-week European cruise. This is a continuation of that narrative. Those of you wanting a lot of video poker information from me, come back in two weeks.
Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) offers a lot of incentives to entice passengers. Those offers vary over time and the one I’m discussing now may or may not be in effect at any time in the future. One of the incentives is 70% off airfare for the second passenger. With this incentive, you pay full retail only for the first passenger, but have little or no choice of which airlines they book you on. Still, it was the cheapest way for us to get back and forth to Athens from Atlanta, which is the closest major airport to Cherokee.
Continue reading The Old Man and the C (ruise) — Part I of II
I was playing $5 NSU Deuces Wild at Harrah’s Cherokee on a recent Seven Stars trip. This casino is one of many that will not let you accumulate credits on your machine greater than $2,999.99. If I have $2,900 in credits immediately after the deal and I end up with a $100 quad or full house, the machine will “spit” out a $100 ticket and I’ll keep the $2,900 in accumulated credits.
Continue reading Spinach!Ever since my 76th birthday in February, my body has been falling apart orthopedically — hip, knee, and shoulder. Most of my body’s systems are fine, but my skeleton, not so much.
The MRI on my right hip showed a number of issues, including arthritis. My orthopedist has convinced me that I need a new hip. “It’s a surgery that most people recover from in a few days,” he told me. “Nothing to worry about.”
Continue reading The Old Man and the C (asino)Recently in Las Vegas, there was a local pub offering a nice promotion between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. several days a week. Not a great promo and not likely to be repeated, but I’m not interested in providing more details about it than I already have. Suffice it to say it was close enough to where I live and juicy enough that I arranged my sleep schedule so that I was there during the requisite hours most of the days it was offered.
Continue reading It’s a Matter of Priorities
In a recent blog post I wrote:
Another factor that is true for me that isn’t universally true for other players is that I have the ability to figure out and master strategies, and I enjoy doing so. Thinking about, writing about, studying, and playing video poker occupies a much larger part of my waking hours, even after about 30 years of doing this, than these things occupy in the lives of most other players.
Continue reading How Special Is It?