{"id":122652,"date":"2022-05-03T09:50:37","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T16:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=122652"},"modified":"2022-05-03T09:50:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T16:50:44","slug":"what-would-i-be-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/what-would-i-be-doing\/","title":{"rendered":"What Would I Be Doing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve been a professional video poker player for 28 years and played backgammon and blackjack semi-professionally before that. Someone asked me what I\u2019d be doing with my life if I weren\u2019t a professional gambler?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My initial answer was, \u201cI have no idea.\u201d I haven\u2019t had a serious backup plan for decades. I\u2019m confident that I can make money doing what I\u2019m doing, and if I have to give it up because of some medical condition (not in the foreseeable future — but that could always change tomorrow), I have enough put away that I won\u2019t need to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then I thought back to a Luke Combs song called \u201cDoin\u2019 This.\u201d I\u2019m not really familiar with his background, but his song presents him as a good old boy and a country singer.  His life and mine are very, very different. But he said something in the song that rang true for me. Not the exact details, as his song is autobiographical, but the general idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were I to be asked that same question again, I\u2019d answer today, \u201cAbout the same as I\u2019m doing now only as a skilled hobbyist rather than a professional.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m going to be playing games. Since I was a boy, I\u2019ve competed at a variety of games. I\u2019m good at many of them. That\u2019s probably why I\u2019m now a professional game player. Figuring out how to succeed at these games, and then doing it over and over again, is simply what I do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I didn\u2019t file as a professional gambler on my tax return, I\u2019d likely play for lower stakes. As many of you know, W-2Gs can cause havoc taxwise for the non-professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a skilled hobbyist is significantly different from a recreational player. A skilled hobbyist studies hard and applies himself seriously. A recreational player plays mostly for entertainment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s sort of like the difference between being a minor league baseball player and someone who plays in a co-ed slow pitch softball league. You have to be a very good player even to make the roster of a minor league baseball team. There\u2019s no money to speak of in the minor leagues, and most of these players aren\u2019t good enough to make it to the major leagues, but they\u2019ve all dreamed of doing so for years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most co-ed slow pitch leagues are just for fun. Meet with your friends regularly, get some exercise, and then have beer and pizza after the game. It\u2019s an entirely different experience than playing professionally, even in the low minors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would I teach and write articles if I weren\u2019t paid to do so? Possibly. I enjoy both activities and each one of them helps me maintain and improve my game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I wrote those articles, I\u2019d likely try to sell them somewhere. I could be a professional writer without being a professional gambler, I suppose. And I\u2019d probably try to charge for the classes — either have the casino pay me or charge admission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All in all, it adds up to: If I weren\u2019t doing this, I\u2019d probably still be doing this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go figure!<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been a professional video poker player for 28 years and played backgammon and blackjack semi-professionally before that. Someone asked me what I\u2019d be doing with my life if I weren\u2019t a professional gambler? My initial answer was, \u201cI have no idea.\u201d I haven\u2019t had a serious backup plan for decades. I\u2019m confident that I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"What Would I Be Doing? by Bob Dancer","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[428,252,196],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Would I Be Doing? - Gambling With An Edge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/what-would-i-be-doing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Would I Be Doing? - Gambling With An Edge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019ve been a professional video poker player for 28 years and played backgammon and blackjack semi-professionally before that. 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