September, 2023

Back in 1999, Brad and I had been having good success in casinos for 15 years and word was getting around about it, especially after we appeared on “48 Hours.” Friends were hearing about all the comps we were getting on our frequent Vegas trips and bugging us to tell them our “secret.” The problem was that there wasn’t just a one-ingredient hush-hush recipe for success that I could give them in a couple of sentences.

So being a former English teacher, I decided to write a book, The Frugal Gambler, that would be an end-all explanation about how we were able to enjoy this wonderful life full of freebies and how other gamblers could do it too. Then, I could go back to just enjoying our busy casino life.

Silly me!

In my defense, in 1999, almost no one could have predicted how fast and how radical the changes would come in the casino world in the new century. But I soon saw it beginning to happen and with it the need for frequent updated information to help casino visitors continue to play smarter.

Thus, in April 2000, “Frugal Fridays” was born, a weekly column – we didn’t call them blogs back then – on the LVA website. After eight years, I grew tired of deadlines and sent Anthony a resignation email. He was sympathetic, but offered me a new option. LVA was starting a new feature; would I be interested in writing a blog whenever I felt like it? I took a few weeks to rest and think about it and then came back on board with “Frugal Vegas.”

Funny, I often still wrote almost every week even with no deadline pressure; I was constantly finding new situations and ideas that might be helpful to others. Even when Brad and I moved from Vegas and our casino adventures became limited, I would, albeit on an irregular schedule, think of something I wanted to share with my readers. (I have no reasonable explanation why I also felt I needed to write four more Frugal books during this time!)

However, now, many factors in my life are coming together and compelling me to make the hard decision to put two last words, The End, onto this 23-year LVA writing project.

Actually, I won’t miss the actual process of typing the words on the computer keyboard. What I will miss is the wonderful communication with the hundreds of friends Brad and I made here. No, we haven’t met all of you readers in person, although it has been a joy when so many of us have been able to chat at get-together events. And what I loved the most were the many many times we unexpectedly met in a casino, sometimes side by side at a bank of good video poker machines, and it was such a welcome break when someone recognized us and came up and introduced themselves. However, there are so many of you that, although we never met in person, have also become friends through internet contact: Q+A’s, gambling forums, blog comments, personal emails, and social media.

I will miss you all immensely. You have lifted my spirits so many times during these last few years while I’ve concentrated on being Brad’s caretaker.

There is one major way we can keep in touch. I have a public Jean Scott Facebook page, where I plan to be more active in the future: posting pictures, answering questions, reporting on casino news, and maybe even sharing a new nugget of smart-gambling information I have run across. Go to my page and request to be my friend! Please!

Also, as LasVegasAdvisor.com transitions to a paid-subscription model, Anthony tells me that my past blog posts will be available for everyone to see for free in the archives. This fits perfectly with my own plans. Long-time readers might want to peruse them for the memories. New gamblers, although many of the specifics are outdated, will find a surprising amount of basic smart-gambling concepts that will always be helpful.

In my previous post, I shared the news that I’m retiring from advantage play this year. Several friends commented that they thought this would be hard for me. They know that I’m highly competitive and love pitting my gambling skills against the casino edge. I will admit it was a big adjustment when Brad and I moved into a senior facility far from any casino. But it didn’t take long for me to become the resident game instigator here. I rounded up everyone who was bored and taught them Phase 10, Mexican Train dominoes, and Rummikub.

I hear your next question. No, there is no money involved in any of these games. But you may remember how I began my first Frugal book, describing how I played Uncle Wiggley and Chutes and Ladders with intensity at age four and later our family played Scrabble “for blood.” Back now to just gaming, not gambling, I’m realizing that the challenge of competition had always been my fundamental joy; winning money is just one way to keep score.

Recently, I’ve also gone back to a game I hadn’t played for 50 years, and one that just might provide me a challenge as much as video poker did – mah jongg. It’s addicting and I’m already hooked! It’s sometimes played for very small stakes, although right now I’m only playing in social settings. However, there is the opportunity to play on the tournament circuits. I thought I ‘d developed some good skills during this last year of frequent play, so I entered my first tournament a few weeks. However, I was shocked at the expertise of the competition and was immediately hit with the stark reality that walking the path to great success in this game would take years of practice and experience. But that idea didn’t sound discouraging to me at all; in fact, it lit up some of the competitive fires within me that I thought perhaps were slowly being extinguished. Time will tell!

I’ll do my final signoff here with the same words I’ve used when I autographed so many of your Frugal books down these last 23 years. It will never need updated: The more you study, the luckier you will be!