9/1/2006
It’s now 2003 in the royal chronicle I started three weeks ago.
Over the last few years, Brad and I’ve gradually decreased our VP play. We tire more quickly than when we were younger and we enjoy more stay-at-home time, even though I’m at my computer writing about gaming for many of these hours. Our number of royals is decreasing due to less play, but also because the number of good plays on multi-lines has decreased.
We hit 40 royals in 2003, but 15 were on the game “Chase the Royal,” where you average four times as many as on a regular VP game. Because our bankroll was growing, we were gradually upping the denomination of our play to compensate for playing fewer hours and we were really excited when Brad got our first $20,000 royal, at a $5 NSUD machine at Caesars. Before that, our biggest royals had been for $10,000, including a $2,000 bonus given during an on-going Terrible’s royal promotion.
In 2004 we hit 35 royals, in the midst of a string of big hits that made for one of our best years ever. One was my third dealt royal on multi-line, $20,000 on the $1 Five Play NSUDs at the Palms. (The other two were on dollar Triple Play. Brad has had one dealt royal on multi-line, many years ago on an Orleans 50-cent Triple Play.) We garnered only 18 royals in 2005, but they were mostly bigger ones, so this provided us with a good win for that year. We’ve hit 17 so far in 2006, including multiple hits a couple of times on one hand of Spin Poker.
What does our royal future hold? No one can predict, that’s for sure. Royals seem to have a mind of their own and no one can force them. (Of course we could try, by changing to an aggressive get-a-royal strategy, but we’d never do knowing that this would lose us money in the long run.) Royals have never read the VP study books that say they average coming every 40,000 hands, more or less depending on the game. They’re quite satisfied to come on their own flexible schedule – none for several cycles, then two or three or four in short order. It takes a lot of patience to deal with the temperamental royal. And since we bounce around over such a large range of denominations, royal waters will always be choppy for us. It’s fun to have a rush of $20,000 royals, but not so much fun to have more than your share of $1,000 ones and less at the higher denominations!
The person who started me off on this trot down our royal memory lane actually was complaining to me that he’s never hit a royal flush and he knew we’d hit so many that he was disgusted. I’m not sure it won’t disgust him more when he sees our grand total, which stands today at 375. I can only point out that this took more than 16 years to achieve. And I’ll leave him a classic VP Pappy quote: “”Hitting a royal flush is like getting a cold; everyone gets one sooner or later.””
9/8/2006
On an Internet forum recently, there was a discussion about the books I’ve written and the new one coming out this month, Frugal Video Poker. Many fellow frugalites (I just made up that name – do you guys like it?) have read or will read all of them, because they feel you can never get too many new good ideas and that many old ones need to be reviewed periodically. New devotees to the frugal way may wonder which book(s) they should study and in which order. I don’t want anyone to buy one of my books, then feel like it was a waste of money.
Each of my books has a particular focus and a particular audience in mind. Here are some details about the Frugal series.
1. The first one, The Frugal Gambler, is an introduction to smarter gambling. It has information on all casino games, with a chart that shows the varying returns of each and the “per-hour” win/loss for each. It also has a chapter on video poker, introducing the concept that this can be the way to lose less/win more in a casino. There are also chapters introducing the basic concepts of profiting from slot club benefits, promotions, coupons, and comps.
A well-known VP pro once called this book “shallow,” missing entirely the concept that you have to learn to walk before you can run. It has sold more than 100,000 copies since it came out in 1998 and has launched thousands of people on the journey to smarter gambling, many of them going on to become VP experts. It was written in simple language with simple math concepts; you don’t want to turn people off with too much complex information all at once. It’s a perfect book to give your friends and relatives who don’t understand your love of casinos! The latest edition was completely updated in 2004.
2. Next I wrote More Frugal Gambling, to delve more deeply into the area of smart gambling, focusing specifically on video poker and giving the basic building blocks to start on the path leading to VP advantage play. I give more advanced techniques for using the slot club system, promotions, and comps, with much detail on the latter that you will not find anywhere else, not even in my new book. This book gives most VP players much new material to chew on.
3. I decided to write Frugal Video Poker when I realized there was a need for an organized, one-step-at-a-time, video poker guidebook for someone who wanted to learn how to play VP, then advance up the path toward advantage play. I realized that there were many VP players who had made a piecemeal study of the subject, but who’d either missed some of the basics or some of the important concepts you need to study along the way so you can become a more successful VP player. This step-by-step approach allows you to review stuff you know, then progress to the stuff you need to learn. You can scan some chapters and study in detail others. You can take the chapters in order or skip around.
This new book isn’t the “end-all” study manual for successful VP play. My co-author Viktor Nacht and I finish the book with an open-ended Epilogue that encourages further study and we provide an extensive resource list for advanced VP students.
You can go to my Web site, www.FrugalGambler.biz and find lists of the chapters in all the books that will help you decide which books might be helpful for you. Also at my Web site, you can get a pre-publication discount on Frugal Video Poker, which will be back from the printer in about a week. The discount expires on September 9.
And thanks to all of you who have said nice things about my books – although sometimes I wish people would stop saying that my writings have been helpful to them – and then I would have an excuse to retire!! 🙂
9/14/2006
For most blackjack players traditional card counting is too much work or just too complicated to use in the casinos successfully. That’s why most blackjack players are long-term losers, even though this is one casino game that can be beaten.
Well, all that has now changed with the publication of Frank Scoblete’s new book Golden Touch Blackjack Revolution!, which can give the average blackjack player an edge over the game of blackjack with little of the work of traditional card counting systems.
Scoblete’s book is the first public release of the revolutionary “Speed Count” and “Optimum Basic Strategy,” two methods that work together to give players an edge over the game without the hard work, discipline, and skill level usually associated with advantage-play BJ systems. The Optimum Basic Strategy is even on a card, so no memorizing is required. And Speed Count can quite literally be learned in minutes.
These methods were originally taught in private seminars offered by Scoblete and Henry Tamburin, but are now available for anyone who reads this book. Having taken the private course and learned these methods, I can tell you that blackjack is now an easier game to beat – and you don’t have to be a mathematician.
Scoblete’s book opens the door to winning play for just about any blackjack player who reads it. It can help the basic strategy player add the techniques that will allow him to play with an advantage over the house. And many experienced players have chosen this system because of its simplicity.
The Golden Touch Blackjack Revolution! comes with its own CD to help you practice the Speed Count, Optimum Basic Strategy, and the betting systems recommended in the book.
I also think you’ll enjoy Scoblete’s writing in the book. He’s one of the few authors in the gaming industry who can make a dry subject into a funny, interesting, enjoyable, yet strong, learning experience. The book breezes along and when you’re finished with it you have the tools necessary, as Frank puts it, “To do unto the casinos what they do unto everyone else – beat them!”
I highly recommend this book to all of you who want to get an edge at blackjack in the easiest way possible. As Scoblete says, “Winning is the most fun!”
The book is available in all bookstores, at Amazon.com, at www.rsucasinobooks.com or by calling 888/353-3234.
9/21/2006
Remember Cindy in my May 11 column? She was so discouraged because she’d been losing steadily at video poker, even though she was doing the right things: choosing good paytables, practicing on VP software, using her players club card. Well, I just got another post from her, showing that the comp system is a terrific way to add value to your casino visits.
My Frugal Guru –
Wanted you to know I received your new book Friday night and would probably have finished it by now had I not spent Sunday night in my first comped hotel room! Wow – is this cool or what?!? The system works!
I’m actually surprised at how little I had to play to start getting some pretty sweet comps. My husband and I took three one-night trips down to Belterra in southern Indiana – a stunningly beautiful hotel and casino in the middle of a cornfield on the Ohio River. Just after three nights at Belterra, spread over five months, and a total loss of under $250, I got my first offer for a comped hotel room, along with four comped buffets and free show tickets. I also got two bounce-back coupons (total $50), earned additional comps after last night’s play for Starbucks coffees, and collected some cashback!!! Hoooo-boy!
Due to the distance from our home in Columbus (three hours), we don’t get down there as often as we’d like and can’t take advantage of all of the offers we’re now getting. But I’m still kind of amazed at how quickly the really good offers started coming. So I’m just confirming everything you’ve been writing about all these years – with lots of gratitude for guiding me through the casino gaming maze. I genuinely couldn’t have figured out how to reap the benefits without your help. Your books and advice have been invaluable.
And I now grasp the concept: Playing accurate-strategy video poker on good paytables takes you to the end of that maze less painfully by allowing you to lose less of your bankroll while running more of the casino’s money through the machine. I get it! It’s brilliant!!
Your grateful frugal follower – Cindy
I couldn’t have said it better, Cindy!
Now on to another subject, the bane of every book author – typos, grammar goofs, omissions, wish-I-had-said-that-better sentences, and wrong numbers. Only about 25 people, including English-teacher types and math experts, proofread my new book, Frugal Video Poker, before it was published, and that was after I’d read over the manuscript so many times I started hating every word in it. I guess you can never make a book perfect in the first edition.
Anyway, when you get your copy, go to page 62 where there’s a chart. Add 9/5 beside Super Double Bonus and 8/5 beside Aces and Faces. It’s only those particular schedules for which the ER numbers are accurate and on which you should use the JoB strategy. There are other much lower schedules for these two games, which would require a different strategy.
There’s a number typo on page 215, one that a third-grader probably could find, but I’ll let you hunt that one for yourself!
I welcome all comments – and “corrections” – about the book.
By the way, I have a new e-mail address, [email protected]. Also, I temporarily have no control over my old Web site, but I’ll have a new one up soon where you’ll be able to order my frugal products.
9/29/2006
This week I again offer you my favorite guest columnist, John Kelly, who gives you a relaxing alternative to staying on the Las Vegas Strip.
LAKE LAS VEGAS, THE ANTI-STRIP
By John Kelly
Don’t get me wrong. I love Las Vegas. I adore the Strip. It is, quite possibly, the most exciting piece of real estate on the planet. Where else can you find such an array of shows and concerts, dining and dancing, gambling and gawking? There is no place like it; nothing even comes close.
But vacations aren’t necessarily supposed to be all about excitement. If your career pays well enough to afford an upscale vacation, there’s a good chance your job is demanding enough to wear you to a frazzle. I think too many people tend to take their work habits along with them on vacation and frantically try to squeeze every bit of entertainment into the week that they possibly can, only to arrive home more exhausted than when they left. The Strip encourages this behavior: There’s way too much to explore and far too little time.
So consider an alternative Las Vegas experience: MonteLago Village at Lake Las Vegas.
COST
At one time, the Lake was purely the playground of the well-to-do. However, as Strip hotel rates have skyrocketed, paying $120 to $200 per night for a one-bedroom condo (complete with kitchen, dining room, and balcony) at Viera has actually become sort of a bargain.
CLIENTLE
At the Lake: upscale couples, upscale retirees, and upscale families with small children. If there are any teenagers present, they’re sulking in their rooms, as there’s little of interest for the hyperactive. The boorish, twenty-something, loud-mouthed drunk has, unfortunately, become the staple of the Strip. You’ll rarely spot this creature at the Lake.
NIGHTLIFE
Blessedly, none exists, such as defined by the young and restless. No nightclubs, no rowdy bars, no movie theaters, no nothing. Rather: heaven on Earth for us middle- to old-aged farts: glasses of wine and fine outdoor dining on the lake, free outdoor movies lakeside on the lawn, free outdoor concert offerings leaning toward jazz, blues, rock, and oldies. Nary a rapster nor a napster nor a piercing nor a baggy pair of pants is to be found.
INDOOR/OUTDOOR
Only recently has the Strip come to grips with the potential the desert offers for outdoor activities; the Lake is designed around it. Vegas gets a bad rap for its summer heat, mostly from coastal Californians who are spoiled rotten by some of the best weather in the world. Compared to most of the humidity-drenched South, Plains, and Midwest, Vegas summers aren’t all that bad, especially at night when temperatures plummet as soon as the sun goes down. Few flies, no gnats, no mosquitoes. No rain, no hurricanes, no tornados. The restaurants and resorts on the Lake take full advantage: About half the eating-seating is outdoors along the cobblestone streets and lawns and lakeshores. The rooms almost invariably have balconies offering views of mountains, mansions, golf courses, and starry cloudless skies. Boating, fishing, swimming, and golfing are the featured fun. The pools close at 10 pm, not 6 pm. The casinos are almost an afterthought, rather than the center of the universe.
STRESS
The Las Vegas Strip experience is possibly the most intense vacation to which most human beings voluntarily submit. The assault on the senses is intentionally overwhelming. Visual stimulation includes flashing lights, flashing signs, near-naked statues and statuesque cocktail waitresses, billboards, fountains, waterfalls, pyramids, castles, canals, volcanoes, towers, pirates, and pyrotechnics, all warmed by the ever-present glow of neon. The audio assault includes musicians (often in close proximity to each other), thousands of tourists babbling in every dialect of every known language, elevators that talk to you, time-share salesmen who call after you, ringing bells and buzzers, all sound-tracked by the pop-Muzak pulp pumped out by the casino