Editing Dancer

I feel the same way....Gambling is also anti-stress for me...an escape...entertainment. Although I have a lot of responsibility running a small business, I really enjoy that too. I'm sensing Gambling has stopped being 'fun' for Dancer. You know what they say when gambling stops being fun...

No, I am quite serious....and don't call me Shirley!

there may be a lot of reasons why VP is no longer "fun" for Dancer and other advantage players. First, paytables have been reduced at many properties. Second, comps and cash back programs have been reduced, or eliminated. I remember the "good old days" about four or five years ago when I would get $500 or so cash back at the end of a weekend at Caesars. Third, for the folks selling books and DVDs the Internet is now filled with free advice and free simulators and free games. Yep, perfectly understandable why it has become a grind and the easy money is gone.

I really wonder how book and DVD sales now compare to what they were five years ago.

Again, I have to recall that seminar I went to when Dancer said he earned $250,000 playing VP, with half of the money coming from cash back and comps. Can he get that now?

Now where have I heard that before? Oh I know. It's usually people saying "I'm sensing that basketball has stopped being fun for Kobe" or the like. Because some people feel so, so, so sorry for people who make very good livings playing sports or games.

I suspect gambling for Dancer is not as much fun as it once was. What job is? How many people who work for a living find as much enjoyment after doing the job for 20-30 years? However, if they have a good paying job you don't see them quitting.

People will read into these columns whatever they want to believe. That is human nature. Doesn't mean it has any semblance of reality but it does say something about the folks making the statements.

Whenever I hear people whine about their 'good paying' jobs...(and I hear it a lot) I think 'what a miserable life...to spend a third of it doing something you obviously hate'. Some people may think they have no other choices...but there are always choices...there are always priorities.

You've got to wonder about a professional gambler publicly complaining about the stress of gambling, how hard it is to maintain his personal life and how hard the search for another woman might be. Based on what he's written, I think he needs help...but of course that says something about me...I can read.

I'm with alanleroy on this one-- the only one projecting here is Dancer. I mean, what would your girlfriend/spouse's response be if you said something similar to what Dancer said about Shirley in a massively public column? I guess in this era of social media, hanging one's laundry out is standard, but then that explains why a big chunk of divorces have a social media aspect to them.

Does anyone else appreciate the irony in somebody who needs/prefers a pseudonym then turning around and dishing on his personal life in a blog?

I think my female friend was correct on at least one count -- the tangent about why one should play for high stakes and defending non-optimal EV, high-stakes playing is there because it justifies something. I take issue with the idea that professional gambling should preferably involve "challenges." Give me the table with the bad poker players; give me the 50-cent FPDW; give me really bad lines in sports that I can middle. If I want a challenge, I'll try bowling or menage-a-multiples. Gamblingwise, there's a reason you don't want to be the dimwit at the poker table.

Maybe Dancers life is following the same path as Arcimedes. Dragging his wife into all those smokey casino's all these years is finally catching up on her health. Maybe he is going to move to Minnesota and conquer the Indian casino's like Arci too.

I'm looking forward to the strategy cards that detail the ways that one can maximize one's chances at C&W bars.

Would you like that all day every day as your day job? Would you like living on the take from playing bad players at low stakes games? Or would you rather have work that challenges you a bit and adds some excitement to your life?