For years I have talked about balance in one’s life, particularly for regular casino gamblers, which we were for many years before we recently retired.  I always reminded people that there is a danger if your gambling negatively affects the other parts of your life or makes you self-centered and uncaring for those around you.  I wrote how Brad and I down through the years, until we had to deal with failing health concerns, were active in volunteer activities.  And maybe some of you got tired of hearing me talk about our children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  But our family was always our first priority – and we wrapped family activities into our casino activities constantly.

So now, I was wondering what I should write in this blog.  Some would say that with the seriousness of this pandemic people shouldn’t be thinking about gambling at all, that they should be concerned about serious medical subjects.  But I go back to my belief in balance in life.  You are heeding the advice to stay at home, but that does not mean you need to just sit around worrying.  That is not good for your mental health.  The TV is sending out tons of information about how to keep yourself and your family occupied.

Each person has special interests that can keep them from dwelling on the negative.  For some of you, reading about gambling subjects can be your way of coping with this crisis.  So that is why I will try to keep writing this blog.

We need to keep the faith that life will eventually go back to “normal,” although it may be a “new normal.”  If you were a VP player and casino visits were an important part of your life before, then I see no problem with you doing things that will help you be a smarter gambler when they re-open – whenever in the near or distant future that will be.

We have no idea what casinos will be like for the VP player when they re-open.  Some of the extreme tactics they used during the last recession seemed to hang on, like downgrading VP paytables and cutting comps.  That may happen again – but on the other hand, they may need to make some positive changes to get players back.

I predict that they will need to run more and stronger promotions.  With that in mind, now might be a good time to expand your skills.  Learn a new VP game.  Maybe you said you were sticking to Jacks or Better because that was the only game for which you knew the strategy.  Get a software training program and learn NSUD (Not-So-Ugly-Deuces) which was probably the most common “good game” when the casinos closed.

Here are some of the other ideas you might consider:  You may get out those gambling books you have in your personal library – some you never read or some you may decide to re-read to refresh your memory.  You may want to order some new titles.  Here on this website many of them are available at a discounted price.  If you are a newbie VP player, you might want to go back and read some of my blogs of the last couple of years since I have been covering the changing VP scene.

There is another resource I want to suggest, for all skill levels and all games – “Casino City Times.”  They have a ton of information on their site, much from old files, but there is also up-to-date writing, by many of the experts in the gambling field.  I especially recommend the writings of John Robison, who covers both slots and VP as he relates many of his own gambling experiences.   A very good up-to-the-minute article, covering some of the same things I am discussing in this blog for gamblers to do, is by Gary Trask.

Social distancing doesn’t mean social isolation.  We can still reach out to each other virtually if not physically.  Feel free to use the “Comments” below to share:  your fears, your hopes, your desire to stay connected.

Q:  How do you know when a royal progressive on a VP machine is high enough to make it a good play?

A:  Most people can’t judge progressives accurately on the fly unless they are very experienced in this area.  The average player will have a tendency to guess it is a good play when the progressive is not nearly high enough.  The best way to get accurate information is to take down the paytable and the royal jackpot amount and put it into a software program that will give you the exact EV (expected value, in percentage form) and you can decide if it is high enough to fit your personal standard of a “good play.”

However, if you are in the casino without access to a computer, this is the situation where it is handy to have my Frugal Video Poker Scouting Guide.  This handy little booklet has charts for most of the base games you might find in a casino with a royal progressive, and it gives the “break-even” point for each of them.  That is, it tells you what the royal jackpot has to be, on both quarter and dollar machines, to be a 100% EV game.  Then you can use this very general shortcut for a round-number estimation:  Figure that for every extra 1000 coins there is about .5% increase in EV.  So, for example, if the jackpot on a dollar machine is $1500 above the break-even point, the EV is 101.5%.

There is so much more to playing progressives – strategy changes, meter-rise, volatility, bankroll drain – so if you wish to be more informed I suggest you do some study of the subject.  A good place to start is the book Frugal Video Poker, where I devote a whole chapter to VP progressive games.

Q:  Are all casinos cutting benefits like free play and comps these days?

A:   Some are, but I find you can’t make blanket statements of doom and gloom. It seems like as soon as my favorite casino cuts benefits and/or downgrades paytables another casino where I haven’t ever played or where I haven’t played recently will send me a generous we-miss-you offer and we find we can play there instead of at the old haunt.

Remember what I said long ago – never marry a casino, just have affairs.  I find I am very “promiscuous” these days, in and out of the arms of suitors right and left!  Yes, I am a gold-digger – you can “buy” my affection!

Q:  Do you agree that food prices in Las Vegas are getting unreasonable high and it’s hard to find a budget meal?

A:  Yes, I do.  And if Brad and I ever run out of comps, I might have to start cooking again, after an almost thirty-year vacation from a stove!

It is especially strong in the advanced tool choices, many of which are not currently available on any other program.   This program does much more than just alert you to an error and show the correct hold. Here are some of the features:

• *  Teaches correct play according to your preferred chart
  * Shows both the immediate and long term cost of an error (my favorite feature!)
  *  Strategy charts are presented in your favorite format
  * Strategy charts are provided for most popular games
  * Generate a new, highly accurate strategy chart
  * Edit a strategy chart or enter your own
  * Calculate the precise payback with your strategy chart
  * Most penalty considerations can be handled
  * A strategy chart can be printed page size or card size
  * Strategy data can be exported for import into a spreadsheet
  * Calculate the break-even royal meter for a progressive
  * Generate a strategy for minimum cost of a royal

This program is available for all popular computer platforms, a welcome piece of news for Mac aficionados:

• * Windows 2000 and later, including Vista 64 and Windows 7
  * Any PPC Macintosh with OS X 10.2 or later
  * Any Intel Macintosh with OS X 10.4 or later
  * Most 32-bit Linux systems (tested on Ubuntu 9.04 thru 10.10)

For more details, a free demo download, and pricing, go to www.OptimumVideoPoker.com.

Thousands of people down through the years have bought the FVP software and are still happily using it as their only or primary go-to VP software resource although other programs have come out since it was launched.    Many use it with the same-named book (Frugal Video Poker), which includes “lessons” in the back that help you get more out of the program.  These lessons especially help the beginner to learn the basic functions.  And many experienced players use the lessons for advanced functions, i.e., how to edit quads to figure out the value of some promotions or how to determine the added value of slot club benefits like free play and comps.

However, many of you are getting new computers, with Windows 7, and finding you can’t install the program from the original FVP disc.  Therefore, you are asking if there will be an upgrade for FVP.  Unfortunately there will be no update since Jim Wolf, the original developer,  is no longer connected with that program. 

However, here is some information I have gathered from more computer-savvy Internet friends, giving some ways you may be able to solve this problem and continue to use the software on your new computer.  Many have copied the complete set of FVP files from their old computer to their new computer running Windows 7 Ultimate 64- bit, and the program runs fine. 

(It’s not the Windows 7 that makes FVP unable to install from the CD; it’s whether or not the computer has a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system. It will install on the 32-bit; it will not install on the 64-bit.) 

Another fix some have used is to download a free piece of software called VirtualBox and install 32-bit Windows XP in it.  This lets you run 32-bit software written for XP on your new 64-bit computer. 

If you have Windows 7 Professional, you can use the “Windows XP Virtual Machine” feature, which works perfectly with FVP.  This is a free download from Microsoft for those who have Windows 7 Ultimate or Professional. This is effectively a 32-bit version of Windows XP and anything that ran under Windows XP should run via this.

Some have asked whether the FVP software is still for sale.  I personally am no longer in the area of direct sales, but FVP can be downloaded for free at Jim Wolf’s Web site (although not in Windows 7). 

The FVP CD is still available for sale on the Internet, and you must have the CD  in order to view the 11-minute video in which I explain the basics of smart video poker play.  This was filmed at the Palms and in and around our condo – with the surprise finale showing Brad and me relaxing in the Jacuzzi!   You can buy the  FVP CD in a package with the FVP book at http://tinyurl.com/3achgyv or http://tinyurl.com/nanapiercy (Click on Casino and Gambling).  This last Web site also includes in the book/software package an autographed photo of Brad and me – but sorry – not in the Jacuzzi!

For those that want/need a new program I recommend Bob Dancer’s VP for Winners.   Although I still use FVP most of the time because I am used to it, I use Dancer’s program to practice Multi-Strike, which no other program offers.  If you have a Mac, I recommend Dan Paymar’s OpVP Software for Mac.  Both can be ordered at http://www.shoplva.com/collections/video-poker/software.

If anyone has any questions about the FVP software that have not been answered above, please feel free to e-mail me privately.