How Resilient are you?

Several times I’ve listed attributes required to be a successful video poker player — intelligence, willingness to study, ability to obtain and hold on to a bankroll, etc. I’ve recently come to the conclusion that resiliency should be on that list.

Resiliency is the ability to adapt when things change. Like, you play one particular game at one particular casino and then they take the game out. Or, one of your main squeeze casinos stops sending you mailers and without mailers the games are unplayable. Or, a casino you frequent eliminated their weekly drawings. Or, senior day used to be on your day off and now it’s on a day you have to work. Or, a promotion only you knew about got posted on the Internet and became so popular you now can’t get a machine. Or, . . .

These things happen for two main reasons: First, casinos are trying to make money so they frequently tweak their offerings. They change machines, or rules, or who is allowed to play. Second, there are a large number of players competing for the profitable scraps that are offered by the casinos. Both of these things are happening simultaneously, with thousands of people making decisions and acting on them, so the landscape is constantly changing. If you think playing successful video poker in Las Vegas in December 2011 is the same as it was in June 2011, you are naÏve. Nobody can know with certainty what the video poker scene will be like a year from now. Why is it impossible to know? Because there are thousands of decision makers (including you and me) and we’re each reacting to whatever the other players are doing.

A resilient player has some or all of the following attributes:

1. He knows more than one game because he never knows when a particular game will no longer be a good one to play.
2. He has the ability to learn new games fairly quickly. Going to classes is useful and teaches you lots of things, but it’s rare that just the right class is taught less than one week before you need it.
3. He knows how to evaluate the worth of a promotion, and how and tweak a strategy when a new promotion comes along — such as 100 coins for the card of the day, or double pay for straight flushes in hearts, or . . . whatever. I’ve had dozens of columns about this over the years attempting to teach you the techniques I use but that’s not the same as practicing them enough so that you can do them for yourself BEFORE you read the column. The columns are frequently written AFTER a particular promotion is finished, but BEFORE “next time” comes along. And next time will be a little different, but often the same techniques can be used to get ready for it.
4. He has studied several different authors. Each author has insights that the others don’t. And when the authors disagree, it’s almost never about how to play a particular five-card hand for a particular game. It’s usually about what each author thinks is the best way to prepare for a particular type of situation. And who’s to say today what situations will be coming around in March of 2012?
5. He scouts casinos — both by foot and by periodically checking databases on www.vpfree2.com, or somewhere similar. Obtaining knowledge about games or promotions a little before everybody else is very valuable. This includes your “regular” casino. If you go in every time to “your machine” and neglect what else is on the floor, you’ll miss finding better games sometimes.
6. He reads each month’s mailers and emails carefully. The mailer for each casino next month is usually very similar to the mailer for that casino last month. Except for a few differences. The resilient player concentrates on those differences and asks himself if a change in plans is required.
7. He’s willing to play a variety of game modes: such as single-line, Triple Play, Hundred Play, Super Times Pay, Spin Poker, etc. Each of these game modes has the same strategy — albeit with different variances. It’s okay to prefer one to the others, but if the casinos remove your favorite mode or there are too many competitors for the machines you like, you’ll accept one of the others if it’s within your bankroll parameters.
8. He maintains relationships with other like-minded players. You tell me what you learn about these two casinos and I’ll tell you what I’ve figured out about these other three. This information sharing is a give-take affair. We only tell you good stuff if you have a history of giving us some gems some of the time in the past.
9. He maintains relationships with hosts and other casino employees. Sometimes he brings them gifts. Sometimes this results in a useful “heads up” about a game, a promotion, or a policy that affects you one way or the other.
10. Periodically he tries to get reinstated in the casinos that have restricted him. Employees change. Policies change. Sometimes there are misunderstandings. Sometimes there are compromises to be made — such as you agree not to do xxx if they’ll let you back in. Resilient players do not assume one restriction is necessarily a life-long ban. It might actually become one, but you should test it several times over the years to be sure.
11. When things go wrong on a personal basis (such as being removed from a casino — or a mailer) he tries to evaluate what went wrong and what he can do in the future to prevent a similar setback in the future. Next time will always be at least a little bit different. But studying last time can sometimes help you prevent a similar situation next time. Going on doing business as usual with a “Sh*t happens!” explanation doesn’t improve your chances in the future.
12. He doesn’t play when the edge isn’t large enough. Many casinos intentionally offer as little as they can get away with. If they can accumulate enough profit by offering games that nobody can beat, they have no incentive to offer anything better. Don’t support this. Hold out and wait for something better. You are one of many players, but sometimes enough “non-players” will cause the casino the message to offer something better to try to attract them back.
13. He spends more time thinking about how to get better results tomorrow than he does crying over spilt milk.
14. He periodically evaluates whether this is the profession/hobby that is best for him. Many people aren’t good at keeping up with the changing landscape. This is not a crime. But if you can’t keep up you’ll find it very expensive to keep at it. There will come a time that it won’t be a good idea for you to continue supporting the casinos.

Even resilient players need to perform well today. Even if you know that Double Bonus Deuces Wild, for example, won’t be the best game at a particular casino in the future, if it’s the best game today you need to know it well before you go into the casino today. If the best game next month is Jacks or Better Multi Strike, then you’ll need to learn that game well before you play it. But today you need to concentrate on what you’re playing today.