Yes, I want to talk about aging and being 84, I feel well qualified to discuss the topic. Of course, getting old is such a broad subject that it could and has filled many entire books. In this post, I want to talk about old age and gambling, specifically seniors who play video poker.
If you’re a regular reader of the content on this website, you might note, “In his last column, Bob Dancer wrote on this same subject.”
I said that same thing to myself when I saw his post in the middle of writing mine. No, Bob and I don’t discuss what we’re planning to write about, but I’ve been amazed how many times we’ve ended up mining the same veins.
Perhaps that’s not surprising. Over the course of our long careers, we’ve often played the same games and the same promotions in the same casinos. We’ve also come across the same casino news that affect playing conditions. And as active players, we experience many of the same emotions and psychological factors. However, our similar-subject articles aren’t competing; hopefully, they’re both helpful by presenting a subject from different angles.
The impetus for this post comes directly from my experiences in the last few weeks. I’ve been planning an upcoming trip to Reno, where I’ll be working to extend my CZR Diamond Elite tier status for another year. Since I’ll be playing NSUD, I wanted to refresh my memory on that strategy. I hadn’t played the game for more than a year, since a trip to Harrah’s Cherokee last March, but having played it so much in my life, I believed a few sessions with my software tutorial would quickly get me to max accuracy.
Wrong. When I hit the computer, boy, did I have a rude awakening. The error notification feature had to work overtime! True, many were minor errors that even on a $5 game would be only a 5- or 10-cent theoretical loss. But some were major and costly. On one hand, I clicked on a 4-card straight flush instead of a dealt dirty royal; that was a more than $180 loss!
This story isn’t quite as bad as it sounds. Whenever I brush up on a strategy, the best way to find my weaknesses is to put the program on “Perfect,” then play as fast as I can. Also, I practice late in the evening when I’m tired. My errors reveal what plays I need to review on my strategy chart, then be extra aware of at the casino.
After frequent sessions the last few weeks, I’m getting back to the accuracy levels I want. However, I do feel that this is a harder job than it was even a few years ago. My mental processes are definitely slowing down. Then again, I’m of my own dictum about video poker: “Speed kills.” This note of caution has always been good for me to remember, but as I get older, it’s much more important to slow down, both for my memory and energy.
I’m hoping to meet up with some fellow Frugalites on my trip to Reno next week (March 17-20). I’ll be staying at the Silver Legacy. Drop me an email if you’ll be there and want to chat and we can arrange to meet. [email protected]
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One last possible happy gambling note. I say “possible,” but I’m not holding my breath; it has failed so many times before, including just last year. But Nevada Representative Dina Titus is again proposing legislation to raise the tax reporting for machine play (requiring a W-2G) to $5,000 and indexed to inflation, so that the amount would keep up in the future. The current $1,200 was made a policy in 1977, only 46 years ago! Of course, this adjustment is long overdue, but the IRS knows that any reduction in the paperwork will give many more players an excuse not to report gambling income.
What software are you using? I might want it…thanks for your Frugal Gambling books, it forever changed the way we gamble. My husband was a sales director of the Washington state lottery, that was our living, we were not permitted to play lottery tickets or gambling much would have looked bad, so we are late to a game we like anyway.
After years of working in retirement communities, the saying “Aging is not for sissies!” rings truer than ever! At 74 (and retired for 8 years) I feel it more and more. I try to stay fit mentally and physically but it’s harder each year. Keep on keepin’ on!
I turned 65 last summer, and while that may be young to you, I have to respect (as Clint Eastwood famously said in Magnum Force, “A man’s got to know his limitations.”
I’m a sports gambler, and wherein at one time I could sit in the Stardust in my 20’s and watch eight football games simultaneously while keeping tabs on downs, distance, and general stats without graphic aids, now I find that watching five games is now my max, and I’m more comfortable with four. Wherein once I could scan box scores in the back of the LA Times for 20 minutes and have somebody quiz me on them immediately thereafter, and be accurate, now I need hours, and I’m still not as good.
I used to do most of my own math, but now if I’m faced with a probability issue, I hand it off to friends who taught college probability and put my trust in them.
I’d say that the key to aging profitably in gambling is to not get sucked into the illusion of what one could once do with x amount of prep, but to figure out what one can now do, and if it takes more physical and mental conditioning to pull it off as seniors, then we either must commit to that training or admit that we’ve aged into being gambling civilians.
Age well and prosper!
In 2017 the pari-mutuel industry got the IRS to change how reportable winnings are calculated. It resulted in a 90% reduction in W-2Gs.
It’s about time the casinos got the same treatment from the IRS.
Jean, you’ll forever be my queen! I’m 20 years behind you, and I greatly admire that you’re “still in the game” (and continuing to excel, to boot)!
Time and time again your narratives teach us that it doesn’t take esoteric knowledge to succeed in the casino; just a commitment to exercise common sense and learn basic strategy. This article is no exception to that.
Can’t tell you how much I wish, in hindsight, that my Reno/Tahoe trip timing was next week instead of last week! Would love to meet up; it’s been some time. (Of course, now that we’re both GA’ites … at least for 2 more mo. before our move to MA, maybe Bev and I can reach out and make plans to run down your way for lunch!)
Not that I would want to scratch our actual plans a week from this coming Sunday … we’re cruising on the NCL Prima. Looking forward to what sounds like an exceptional ship!
Hi, Jean. I love your honesty, but do want to mention at 58yo, I think I have an eclectic group of things I take an interest in (sounds like I’m scattered-brain, but I’m not) and often when I put something down and pick them back up, it takes some time to get to the point where I reach a higher level. I’m glad, though, someone’s like me and likes to get in touch with how you feel. Thanks for the lesson (I play mainly slots and know the ‘manic’ feeling of excitement) of ‘speed kills’
I think the IRS would welcome this move, because it would reduce the paperwork–and they’re stuck in a permanent state of 80% staffing, thanks to Republican opposition to properly funding them. People want their tax refunds yesterday but don’t want to enable the IRS to do its job.
As far as age affecting VP prowess is concerned–my fairly recent problem has to do with eyesight/scanning the screen. I’ve caught myself–and worse, NOT caught myself–ignoring one card and playing as if it wasn’t there. Nothing makes you feel more stupid than being dealt AJxxx and just holding the Jack, or worse, being dealt 888xx and throwing one of the 8’s away!
So I agree with you–we gotta slow down. And given that if we’re playing, say, a 100.5% game, each hand we play should earn us 1/200th of a bet on average, a so-called “small” error could negate twenty or thirty hands! It doesn’t take many such mistakes to turn what should be a profitable session into an exercise in futility.