Some of the questions that are coming in are obviously from players fairly new to casino gambling or at least new to video poker. And I am glad for this newbie interest as many of us old-timers are slowly fading away. However, some of their questions require answers that are too long to cover in a blog. Casinos have so many different policies and there are so many exceptions to the rules that explanations need to be lengthy and full of details. Actually, these types of questions were the reason for me writing 5 books over the years!
Take the subject of tipping. Someone asked me to discuss tipping as you move up in stakes. I wrote a whole 15-page chapter on the subject in my book More Frugal Gambling plus 4 more pages in the chapter about hosts, called “Rewarding Your Host.”
And questions about our experiences with hosts? It took me two long chapters in the aforementioned book to discuss the ins and outs of that extremely complex subject. In that same book is a chapter if you are puzzled about casino couponing or bankroll management.
If you need a beginner’s guide to playing video poker, you could pick up Frugal Video Poker; and if you need help in looking for good VP games, The Frugal Video Poker Scouting Guide will definitely be helpful. Someone asked about our recordkeeping and I would point out that I included examples in my very first book, The Frugal Gambler, the kind of records I used right up until we retired in 2019.
Yes, most of my books were written back when casino conditions were good for advantage players so you would have to ignore the information that is outdated. However, many details in these books can help you do better in your play today. Then in my latest book, The Frugal Gambler Casino Guide, I changed the emphasis because of today’s changing casino conditions. New players – and even some old ones – may need to have a more realistic goal – not to “make money” but to stretch their bankroll so they can enjoy more entertainment time in a casino. There is a new category of gamblers chipping away at the ranks of the advantage player; I call it the skilled recreational player.
The point I want to make is that although the casino scene has radically changed in the last 35 years, the math of gambling has never changed and many casino gambling basics are still valid. And many techniques we used in our early days can be modified to make you more successful in the present day – or at least when Corona no longer rules.
This discussion leads me into a question that I have often been asked: “Did you and Brad ever play when you didn’t have an edge over the casino?”
I have already discussed, back in Chapter 12, one instance when we played slots with wild abandon. It was going to be our last casino visit before our retirement.
But there were other times of non-advantage play, although not frequent. I was a devout worshipper of Plus EV. I have mentioned before that I always had a healthy fear of going broke, and I knew one couldn’t outsmart the math. So, during out first years of playing video poker, we stuck 99.99% of the time with over 100% plays, the higher the EV the better. I also knew that one could also go broke, even playing over 100%, by overplaying one’s bankroll, so we very slowly and cautiously increased our denomination level. Only when we had accumulated a very large bankroll was I comfortable with doing some “recreational play.” This was usually done when relatives came to town and wanted to play slots. A favorite choice when daughter Angela and her hubby Steve came to Vegas to visit was the four of us sitting at the “community fishing machines,” noisily competing to catch the biggest fish.
Once the new video slot machines came in, occasionally Brad and I would agree that we had already “made our fortune” and we would pick some slot machine that looked exciting. It would be fun if we were with a friend with whom we could pool our small “investment.” It was also fun when we occasionally got some free play that could be used only on slots, not VP.
A few times, back when I was writing my early books that included chapters on slots, I would need to play slots at least a little; I called that my “research play.” And occasionally we were in a casino to collect free play and there was no playable VP. I always said that I preferred slots to bad VP paytables. Another time to choose slots was for some “cover” when I had heard that this casino was no-mailing customers who only played VP. This was a delicate dance to be sure your negative slot play didn’t erase your total advantage on VP.
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A few more questions to address. Next week I will be bringing this series to a close – finally!
Ditto with everyone. But to not be too selfish about taking up your well-earned retirement time, even a quick, short paragraph every now and then would be wonderful. We can feel like we’re all still in touch with you and maybe you’ll feel the same way about us. Thanks for putting a little pleasure into our lives.
I also look forward to your blogs because they r so interesting when u feel like writing something please do we so look forward to your stories about your interesting life
Love the way you write…I feel like I’ve known you for years!
Would be great if you could continue, at least now & then, with your casino stories & video poker tips!
Wishing you all the best
I have to agree with the previous comments. I will miss your writing style and the wealth of information you share. I know it is sometimes repetitive for you as well as us but it is always interesting and welcome nevertheless. If you have had enough Jean I do understand but as “Mo” implied if you ever feel so led please share anything that does not feel like “Work” to you. Thanks once more for all the books and years of great articles to read. Blessings to You and All your Family Jean, Terry Haile.
Jean, you should pick one casino experience that was great & interesting that many/most of us didn’t experience, and describe it. For example, let me do the old Frontier. Not only did it have a bank of full-pay Deuces Wild that was a progressive, but it had other video poker perks (so long as you were playing 5 coins) that no longer exist. The colorful monthly flyer had bonus coupons of $30 or $50 or whatever for getting specific hands, like a certain 4-of-a-kind or a certain full house. One month had a $500 bonus for getting 2-4-6-8-10 of Diamonds. (I got that hand a dozen years later at the Pioneer in Laughlin, but of course didn’t get any bonus.) But maybe best of all was Social Security Video Poker. Every time your 5 cards were the same as the 1st 5 digits of your SSN, in any order, you would get a $25 bonus. You could get one of these every hour! And if your digit was a 0, not only would a 10 count, but any face card would too! That could mean 2 per hour! The “bean counters” back then hadn’t realized what a great deal this was for the players. Now that they do, we’ll never see anything like that again.
We are always willing to have you give us any other thoughts on gaming, I am sure that you must look at these blogs as a lot of work, so if you would like to do something both as a reminiscent entry, many of us do enjoy hearing about the old days in Vegas. I know that we could just google about an old casino but we really do enjoy your descriptions and cute stories… Some casinos may no longer be there but a blog here or there will keep us hopeful that we will someday return to Vegas…. Honestly a few VLOGS are scaring the heck out of us, showing all unsafe escapades of the VLOGGER so a nice descriptive blog will help …. Thanks to you and Brad…
MO
Stay well and safe
Noooooo!!! Keep the series going for 20 more. Please! Pretty Please?!?
I will be so sad when this series ends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!