I’ve Heard This One Before

In my classes, I often get out-of-town students. Whether I am teaching Quick Quads, Ultimate X, Deuces Wild, or whatever, there are often students who decided long ago that they are going to take at least one Bob Dancer class — and this is the week they’re in Vegas.

Often, they come with a video poker success story. When you’ve only hit a few royal flushes in your life, each one comes with a precious memory. “I held ace – king- ten of spades and drew two cards. Guess what came in?” 

Well, duh, I can deduce that if the seven and eight of hearts showed up, they wouldn’t be telling me this story. They obviously hit a royal flush and want to tell me about it.

I’ve learned from sad experience that if I say, “I guess you drew the queen and jack of spades,” these people are disappointed! They don’t want me to guess. They want to tell me!

So, I phrase it as “Did you get the royal?” Even though I know the answer, if I phrase it that way, they get to tell me triumphantly, “Yes! I got the queen and jack of spades. It was so exciting!”

Someday, I suppose someone will say. “Nope. Didn’t get the royal that time.” It hasn’t happened yet, but this blog might spur somebody to take that route.

I have also learned not to ask someone what game they were playing if this is the first time we’ve spoken. The answer is usually, “Oh, it was a game you wouldn’t like for sure. But I got the royal, so that makes it okay.” Scolding them for playing bad games doesn’t do anybody any good. I’d prefer it if they left with a good memory from attending the class, not me yelling that them.

If I have the same question from a class regular, or somebody I respect as a winning player, I will definitely ask what game they were playing and why were they playing that game that day. I might learn some play I didn’t know about, or, more frequently, the player might realize that there were better choices to be made.

Since that player is a regular, they come to me to get gambling instruction. And I give it to them. An out-of-towner is coming to a maybe once-in-a-lifetime event. They want some instruction, but not too much of it. 

There are out-of-town regulars, of course. Players who have come five or more times at widely spread out intervals — depending on when they’re in Vegas at the time of my seminars. I treat them as any other regular class participant. 

One thing I have learned is, with wide fluctuation, Vegas locals are more knowledgeable about gambling than out-of-towners are. 

It’s not that Vegas locals are smarter than average. Actually, the opposite may be true. There are not that many jobs in Las Vegas for really smart people (like several universities, research facilities, high tech manufacturing, major financial institutions, etc.) compared to other comparably sized cities. Jobs like these attract smart, well-educated applicants — which increases the average IQ of the area. This is simply not the case in Las Vegas.

Vegas residents may be older-than-average. It’s somewhat of a retirement destination. Simply put, mental acuity in senior citizens is not as sharp as it is for younger people. (Part of this deduction is from personal experience! At age 72, I’m just not as sharp as I was twenty years ago.)

The reason Vegas residents are more knowledgeable about gambling than most out-of-towners is that their minds are on gambling more of the time. Including 15-machine bars, there are hundreds of places to gamble in Las Vegas. You can easily find somebody else who likes whatever game you play and discuss various strategies. If you’re thinking about it, you are likely to be making better decisions. 

Many out-of-towners live in places where they have to travel more than an hour to visit a casino. There is NOBODY to talk to. (Which might be why they tell their royal flush story to me!)

Before you jump on me for my local-versus-non-local stereotypes, please note that I said “with wide fluctuation.” There are a lot of exceptions. But on average, I believe the stereotype I presented is valid.