Longest Streak Without A Royal Flush?

Checking out RF total tells me Frankie plays a lot of VP. I was over royaled by 4 and still had fewer than Frankie. Sounds to me like Frankie grinds more than he'd like to admit.

I could pick on his style of play, but who cares how anyone else plays. It's their money and their choice. If he enjoys bouncing from machine to machine then that's how he should play.

OTOH, he shouldn't be critical of how others choose to play. I generally play on one machine although I will move around a little if I feel like it. I generally play (grind?) about 6 hours on the days I play but only do that once (occasionally twice) a week on average.

Finally I suspect Frankie would not like to compare bottom lines this year. Sure I lost over $3000 more than once, but the year was VERY profitable. Why would anyone complain about that?

Arci, I'm stupid! LOL Meant to say $72K/yr. Thanks for the catch.

The Gambler, I'm happy to tell you but it requires me to actually look at a return. I'm on the road for the balance of the week but will try to put this on my "to do" list when I return home this weekend and respond. I don't do my own return. I have a CPA who files for me as he does my biz return as well and it's a S corp so they're somewhat intertwined. I know that in 2007 or 2008 I had a significant number of W2-G's and my CPA was freaking out as his concern was that the typical IRS auditor wouldn't believe that you could lose close to the same amount of the win to only have a marginal win or even a loss. For this reason, I'd like to think that he's shown the W2-G winnings as income and the loss on Schedule A but I will reconfim this.

You are correct that I don't file as a professional. In addition, my primary residence is Florida where we don't have state income tax so there's no implication there.

Frankie, I never suggested this was for everyone. Yes, there is a rather big footnote to all of this and that's the requirement that you have a sufficient bankroll to start. While I enjoy playing for the sake of playing, I do get more joy out of it knowing that I have the theo advantage. I know that doesn't mean I'll win today, tomorrow or even next week. It does however give me the confidence to believe that over a number of months, I'll be on the right side of the ledger.

There are people who go to work at conventional jobs every day and hate it. Are they any better off than someone who goes to a casino to "work", determines the hours they'll choose to work, decide when they want a day off, and make more money than someone who has a conventional job? Don't shoot the messenger....gambling isn't my full time gig as I realize that for my financial and psychological bankroll that I'm not suited for this. I do consider it a means to have fun and supplement my income. How many people have hobbies that cost them thousands of dollars per year? If you're cut out for it, it can be a hobby that pays you.

Not trying to sell anyone on the concept of being a professional gambler as an occupation but rather to dispell the statements make by some on this thread that it's not possible. While you might not believe it, there are certainly people I know who are.

Dan

All I wanted to hear was some horror stories to put my streak in perspective! Lol. Thanks to all for some really great and interesting info.

realert, sorry for jacking your thread! LOL

This went terribly sideways when melbedewy took the string of posts indicating long droughts between RF's and made the jump that one can't make a living playing vp.

At least I hope you find it entertaining and are perhaps somewhat convinced that streaks, both good and bad, do happen in this game but if one chooses good games and plays correct strategy that over time their RF totals will approximate the statistical norm.

Sorry once again,

Dan

Yes...check out the royal flush thread...I got more royals this year then you did. (w/pictures to prove that none of them were just imaginary ones)

That doesn't necessarily mean that I play more video poker then you. That just means I was luckier then you. Especially considering the number of hands you played, and all of the money you lost chasing small yearly profits, compared to how much actual money I spent to win what I won this year.

You say you lost more then $3000 more then once....well I can safely say that I have NEVER lost more then 3000 in any session, ever in my life. I don't think I ever could do such a thing, nor be proud of the fact that I did it. If I lost 3K more then twice in my life on single gambling sessions, I'd be looking for the nearest bridge to jump off from.

Hell, I've only pissed away $500 once and that was money that I had won in another casino a few days before.

That is the MAJOR difference between you and I...congrats to you for having that kind of retard money to piss away in the poker slots.

I am just your regular, uneducated, working stiff that does manual work as a valet at a casino, yet still finds time to have FUN when gambling.

I keep a modest bankroll, I don't mind driving to a casino with only 40 bucks, and I hardly ever take more then 300 bucks with me for my longer sessions.

AP's will laugh at me for playing 7/5 BP or 9/5 DDB, but I got the pictures to prove that I hit royals on these machines, and I am not in it for the "long term" cause there is no long term. I win, I cash out, and I leave....or I play, I lose, and then I leave. Both cases I will end up leaving the casino happy, cause I was able to have fun playing.

I don't get pissed and start chasing lost money with more money. My pockets aren't deep.

Don't get me wrong either....just like you "supposedly" write that you are not here to change how people play, but merely to educate them....

I am doing the same thing...when folks like Melbedwey and MoneyLA question how folks can make a living based on playing a "game of chance" when there truly is no guarantee that you will ever win....you AP's immediatley start telling us of the many people making a living playing VP, yet you don't bother with the details that you'd have to bring a shit load of money with you first.

Kinda like the old saying "wanna be a millionaire....OK start off by getting a million dollars" LOL

Wanna be a 40K per year (pre tax with no benefits) poker player? OK go get yourself 700K as a starting bank roll....you may be stuck for 500K right off the bat, but if you keep playing you might get it all back with the remaining 200K and even come up 40K before the year is over...if that doesn't work...come back next year with another 700K and you're surely going to make it all back (maybe)

I know I am slightly exagerrating the numbers...but I am not too far from the reality of it...So don't go start nit picking these figures like they are fact....

Now here is what I really want to know....if you keep talking about good VP deals, around town, that will make your session "positive"...and how those deals are drying up all over town...why is it that you guys keep trying to convince people to play the AP way?

Wouldn't it be better to shut up, and let people play the way they feel, so they won't steal and take advantage of your 100+% deals and eventually make them all disappear?

Its kind of like discovering a gold mine in your back yard...you don't go on a message board and tell everyone about it, giving your address out in the process...keep that shit to yourself, or others will be picking at your mine while you're sleeeping dopey!!

When a casino gives 3X points, and you play with your card, does the machine know that you played and lost 100K bucks in the last session and immediatley pick up where you left off?

Does the fact that there are 3X points mean that the machines are going to produce some guaranteed winners that night, and they're not just going to suck you dry?

How is getting 3X points on any given day, and playing on a 9/6 DDB $1 3-play VP machine, and losing 10 grand on one session, profitable?? Is it just the simple fact that you think you're playing at an advantage, all that really matters in your mind?

I'd love to read the answers to those questions...but knowing Arc...he is going to make up something, that I didn't say, and argue a point that doesn't matter anyways...but then again...I could be surprised.

heh heh

--Rizzo

You're right about one thing, Frankie, your numbers are way off.But, you are also right that it does take a decent bankroll to play for higher stakes. However, that can be built up over time. I know many players that started off on nickels and quarters and eventually moved up higher levels of play. Yes, they are now pros and making a decent living.

I also know many retired individuals that have a good starting bankroll from many years of savings. That works as well. I fall into this category but as I have mentioned, winning 12/13 years has not depleted my savings one bit. I just bought a new car using winnings from this year alone.

As to your question about machines, they have no memory. Every hand is independent. I ran into an individual this past weekend who claims to have hit RFs on back-back hands. I'd heard rumors before but never met a person who had done it. My best is 5 minutes apart.

I would never play 9/6 DDB at any level without substantial CB. Even 1% (3X at SouthPoint) would not be sufficient. When I played at SouthPoint I played either SDB or NSUD. Both are around 99.7% and the 3x points makes them 100.6% games. I'm always looking for the biggest edge I can get.

I have played 10/6 DDB and only because there was good CB and BB (at Sam's Town). Of course, you can lose a lot on any given day, but you can also win a lot. I only focus on yearly results so losing $3K is no big deal. If that's all I brought to the casino then I go home. I have NEVER used an ATM in my life. Many times in my play I have lost almost $3K and came back to win. I've also had RFs and lost them before I left. And, of course, I had multiple RFs several times as well. All this "stuff" averages out over time and gets you close to the EV you choose to play. Moving machines, quiting after wins, going to a different casino, etc. will all work well sometimes and work against you other times. In the long run they make no difference.

As far as discussing VP winning strategies, that cat is long out of the bag. You will notice I don't give away any really good plays. I will mention some standard plays but they are already well known. So, I'm not giving away the farm.

You put it far more earthier than I did. I have been playing for 25 years and I don't think anyone can argue with me that casinos have become progressively smarter in limiting games and promotions. And it is just going to get tighter. Anyone thinking of becoming a VP "pro" in 2011 really needs an emergency mental health evaluation.
How do you become a "Million Dollar Video Poker" player?
2 ways:
1. Sell enough trinkets, software, strategy cards, etc. to suckers. Make sure you use a fake name.
2. Start off with $1.1 million. After you lose a hundred grand you will be a "Million Dollar Video Poker" player.



PS-even I have to wince at you playing 7-5 BP.
Whyyyyyyyyyyy?

Thanks Fred!

I am sure that with your W2 G amount that your paying more income tax than you should be paying. As I indicated earlier, I am attempting to get an IRS ruling allowing to report net winning per casino visit in a 24 hour time period rather than having to report W 2 G amounts + gambling winnings as other income and gambling losses on schedule A. Hopefully, I will get get a decision within the next 60 days and provide information to you.

The thing that amazes me is the impact it has on my SS medicare cost. The premiums are impacted by ones AGI.

The Gambler

I just want to compliment Frankie Rizzo. Nicely put. (but I wouldnt play 7-5 BP either. LOL)

But I will concede its not impossible to be a winning VP player. I just have to question the risk-reward ratio that is needed to be a "pro" player. I can only recall Bob Dancer telling me he played triple line, $25/coin deuces ($375 per push of the button) to have an income of $250,000 per year with half of that coming from cashback. To me that's a crazy risk to reward ratio.

Money, you play quite a bit at the $5 denom. I know a lot of people who would consider that "a crazy risk to reward ratio". It's all relative.