Money is an integral part of gambling at video poker. Some people can probably enjoy the game just as much when playing at home on a computer program, but most of us want money involved in the equation. The chance to win or lose is part of the excitement.
And everybody has a different attitude about money. We all know people who are extremely good savers and always have money in their checking account. We also know others who are always broke. Their credit cards are maxed out and their debts are bigger than their ability to repay them. Gambling for these two groups of people will be very different experiences.
Bonnie and I belong to the first group. When I was just starting out as a gambler in Las Vegas, I was extremely frugal. I would collect casino coupon books and redeem more than 200 match plays a week at no-longer-around places such as the Riviera and Stardust. Sometimes I’d ride the tram at Circus Circus in order to get free coupon books and I’d check the trash cans near the end of the tram rides to look for books that other riders, thinking them worthless, had thrown away. Bonnie still shops sales and is always looking for ways to economize.
An acquaintance of ours is totally different. Her financial life is a walking disaster area. She shouldn’t gamble but does. She normally plays for nickels and doesn’t do particularly well. She has borrowed from everybody who will lend her money until they won’t give any more.
This acquaintance was in a traffic accident and ultimately received an insurance settlement that was $40,000 more than her expenses. She immediately started playing video poker for dollars and in eight months was totally broke again.
Since she knows I have been successful at gambling, she asked for advice. What could I say? (I was willing to give her advice, but I was not willing to support her gambling habit which I felt was a bottomless pit.)
A discussion of looking for the generous pay schedules and then learning how to play the hands correctly is not of much use if you cannot hang onto money. Let’s say you are playing Jacks or Better. What difference does it make if you know whether to hold the QT or the AQ from A♥ Q♠ T♠ 5♥ 3♠ if any time you win you are either going to increase your stakes until you lose it or keep putting your winnings back into the machine until it is gone?
How do I help somebody learn to get control over his or her money? I don’t think I can. Any more than I can convince somebody to quit drinking or smoking or lose 100 pounds just because I think it is a good idea for them to do so. It doesn’t work just because I suggested it and they will be irritated that I was meddling enough to even try.
But I do know that you need to be able to manage your finances in order to have any chance for gambling success. And there are a lot of different ways to do this. You certainly do not have to do it like Bonnie and I do. But until you find some way to do it, any time spent trying to improve your gambling skills is probably a complete waste of energy.