I frequently get questions from beginners about what resources they need to get started on the path to successful video poker play. And every once in awhile someone will declare themselves “frugal” because they get all their gambling information free on the Internet and never “waste” money buying books. So I guess it is time to revisit the subject of VP resources.
I would never diss Internet sources; I go to them all the time myself. My favorites for video poker are vpFREE and vpFree2. The best for many games and general gambling information is the Wizard of Odds site.
However, books often give you specialized information that you either can’t find on the Internet or that give you a place where you can find particular subjects, especially the basics, in a more concentrated form, saving you much time surfing around in cyberspace and getting things piecemeal. I wrote all my books with one or both of these purposes forefront in my mind.
The first book, The Frugal Gambler, has been starting hundreds of thousands people on the smart gambling path for over 12 years, teaching the basics. The second book, More Frugal Gambling, is just loaded with more detailed information on video poker, but more importantly, it thoroughly covers the complex field of comps, with oodles of “secrets” you can’t find anywhere else, even on the Internet. Most people who read this book get back their investment during their first trip to a casino and many score hundreds and even thousands of dollars of comps over the years. Now that’s “frugal.”
After these two basic books, I saw the need for more specialized information. The Frugal Video Poker Scouting Guide will help in your casino search for the best video poker games. Tax Help for Gamblers will guide you through the IRS maze. The book, Frugal Video Poker, gives the beginner step-by-step instructions in the basics and then gives advanced information for the more experienced. It also can be used to help you get more out of a VP software program, especially the same-named Frugal Video Poker program.
You can order all these products through my Web site, including combo deals for the FVP book and software. There are also combo deals and books and photos offered on an eBay site. Besides selling all the above books, Huntington Press offers the tax book and the Frugal Video Poker book as e-Books, which can be downloaded immediately.
Of course I’m not the only one who offers good math-based VP products. In all of my writings I acknowledge the experts who helped Brad and me become successful gamblers, and I have included a long list of additional helpful resources in all of my books.
Ken,you and I must visit different South Points as the one I visit has,I think,the best VP games in all of Vegas. Well actually it’s not Vegas but Henderson. By the way I just noticed on the Las Vegas Advisor web site that next Sunday is double points day at South Point-for your info.
George
55 comped nights ( 89 days) with meals so far this calendar year, all thanks to what I learned from Jean’s books. Living 85 miles from Vegas ,one, two and sometimes three night stays in Vegas allow me to concentrate on VP without having to return home on the same day besides if I did that it would more than erase any potential VP advantage.
Speaking of advantage my biggest day so far this year was Memorial day with a dealt Royal on a JOB triple play machine followed by another Royal on same machine two hands later.
This 76 year old also always carries Jean’s strategy cards in his pocket as backup insurance against a senior moment.
Thanks for sharing your knowhow with the rest of us Jean.
George
It’s sad, but true, that VP books and scouting guides aren’t enough. You also need to know where the few (very, very few) decent remaining games are, and where the few (very, very few) decent slot clubs can be found. It does you no good to learn about FPDW or FPDB, and how to use cashback and comps, if you get to your chosen casino and find out that they only offer 7/5 Bonus and their slot club gives back 0.05 percent.
For instance, South Point, which used to have the best VP plays in Vegas, no longer has positive EV games, they’ve gutted their mailers, and they no longer have double points days. This is all recent info. You could wander around all day in South Point and not find a single game better than breakeven–and even those games are gradually being taken out. And if you are going to a HARRAH’S property (shudder) and expecting to find anything even remotely playable…
So you need access to a casino database to find out which casinos are still worthy of your business, and the VPFree2 website is a pretty good resource for that. Internet chat boards are also good resources, but unreliable.
In these days of drastically tightened casino comps and drastically worsened VP, I would say that being able to pick out the few decent remaining plays is the most important skill of all.