<\/em>Since Michael\u2019s work brought him to Las Vegas regularly, I let him know the schedule when I was teaching classes. I suggested he sit in on the beginner and intermediate NSU classes. If he aced those classes, perhaps sit in on the advanced class as well. People learn differently from taking a class than just reading a Winner\u2019s Guide. <\/em>He never found the time to attend one of my classes, or perhaps he just wasn\u2019t interested, and he didn\u2019t want a one-on-one class during one of our visits to Lake Tahoe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/em>Michael didn\u2019t do well gambling, even with his newfound knowledge. He probably read the book at least once and practiced a few hours on the computer, but then basically stopped studying. Whatever information he obtained from that brief study lasted him the rest of his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Michael settled for playing the 16-13-4-3-2 version of Deuces Wild that he found in a 15-machine bar about a mile from his home. This game is 3% tighter than NSU, and there are a number of very common hands that are played differently between the two games. One is 7\u2660 7\u2665<\/span> 3\u2663 3\u2666<\/span> K\u2660, where it\u2019s correct to hold two pair in NSU and one pair, either pair, in the 16-13 game. Another is A\u2665 J\u2665 8\u2665 4\u2665<\/span> 4\u2663, where it is correct to hold the hearts in NSU and the pair of fours in the other game.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n How Michael actually played these hands, I\u2019m not sure. I do know he lost a consider amount. He certainly could have adjusted the computer software to the pay schedule he was actually playing (or asked me show him how to do it if it wasn\u2019t obvious to him), but even practicing a 96.76% game on the computer is not going to yield very good results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Somewhere along the way, a frustrated Michael told his wife, \u201cDoing it Bob Dancer\u2019s Way Can Lead to Bankruptcy.\u201d That was repeated by Joyce to Bonnie, and then repeated to me. I was forbidden from letting him know I had heard what he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In general, I believe in the bromide, \u201cDon\u2019t speak ill of the dead,\u201d but in this case I wasn\u2019t allowed (assuming I wanted my marriage to work well) to say anything about this before Michael died and there\u2019s an important teaching moment here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my classes and writings, I repeatedly urge players to only play when they have the advantage if they want to win. Michael\u2019s play violated this underlying premise — with predictable results. Michael may have thought he was doing it Bob Dancer\u2019s way, but playing the game he was playing with the skill level he had was nowhere near a situation I would recommend. Although I did tell him this a few times, I wasn\u2019t a nag about it. He has his own money and can do as he pleases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Michael blew many tens of thousands of dollars to gambling, possibly hundreds of thousands, he didn\u2019t bankrupt the family. Joyce doesn\u2019t have as much as she might have had Michael gambled intelligently, but she\u2019s all right financially. And there\u2019s no chance Bonnie and I will let her starve even if she does struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Michael and I were friends at the end, this one statement he made stuck in my craw and so I wanted to say something about it. So I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Technically, however, Michael\u2019s statement was accurate. All gambling involves risk. It is possible to do everything correctly and still go broke. Not likely. But possible. There are no guarantees I can make that a particular player will succeed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re playing with an advantage for small stakes relative to your bankroll, you\u2019re most likely going to end up coming out ahead. But any deviation including playing games where no player has an advantage, playing when the slot club and promotions aren\u2019t at their most generous, or playing with a skill level that is far less than perfect, can lead to very poor results indeed. Not always. But usually.<\/p>\n My son-in-law, or perhaps a more correct term is step-son-in-law, Michael, passed away recently after a long illness. Michael was married to Bonnie\u2019s daughter Joyce. He was more than 20 years older than Joyce, and in fact was a few months older than me. After a somewhat rocky start, where Joyce and Michael were initially […]<\/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":"\u201cDoing it Bob Dancer\u2019s Way Can Lead to Bankruptcy\u201d by Bob Dancer","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[29,2,3],"tags":[428,507,196],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Facebook\"](\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/96x96\/facebook.png\" "\\"Follow")
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