{"id":67874,"date":"2018-08-07T09:11:36","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T16:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=67874"},"modified":"2018-08-07T09:11:36","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T16:11:36","slug":"obtaining-information-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/obtaining-information-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"Obtaining Information from the Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bonnie and I were having a casino meal with a woman in her late 20s. She and her husband (who was about the same age as she and not present at the lunch) were both players who were trying to decide whether to continue with their video poker career or go try something else.<\/span><\/p>\n

The day before, this woman had hit a $40,000 royal flush on a $10 machine — her biggest jackpot to date.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI look at this royal flush as evidence that the universe believes I should continue playing video poker,\u201d she told us.<\/span><\/p>\n

I, for one, believe that such thinking is nonsensical. Whether you call me a skeptic, an agnostic, or an atheist (none of these terms exactly fits my view of my beliefs — but possibly they are good enough for this article), I do not believe that some sort of Higher Power was involved in her hitting the royal flush. <\/span><\/p>\n

She had been playing 8\/5 Bonus Poker. With correct play, royals in that game come around every 40,000 hands or so. The fact that one hit the day before was coincidence. They are going to be hit some time by every player — and one came about the day before. The next one might be tomorrow — or maybe in a few months. You just don\u2019t know. And they come about whether you believe in Higher Powers or you don\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision on whether or not to \u201cgo get a job\u201d should properly depend on things like:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What games are available in your area?<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. How much can you reasonably expect to make playing video poker?<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. How much do you like the game?<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. What other skills and\/or interests do you have?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    None of the things on this list has anything to do with how long it has been since your last royal flush. <\/span><\/p>\n

    If your list includes something like, \u201cWhat do you think God wants you to be doing?\u201d the answer will probably always be, \u201cI can\u2019t believe God really thinks being a professional gambler is an enlightened way to live my life.\u201d This type of consideration doesn\u2019t enter into my decisions — but I recognize that for some people it does.<\/span><\/p>\n

    But while I don\u2019t believe that a $40,000 jackpot is particularly significant in making the decision about whether to continue being a professional gambler, it could definitely make a difference bankroll-wise. One excellent reason to quit gambling is if you\u2019re broke. Royal flushes can provide a cushion which tends to postpone the decision for another day.<\/span><\/p>\n

    It is common, yet misleading, to take stock of what you want to do with your gambling future immediately after you hit a big jackpot. The reason it\u2019s misleading is that you are making a decision at a relative high point in your bankroll — and your bankroll may regularly fluctuate by significant amounts.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The fact that this couple today has $xxx in their gambling bankroll immediately after the $40,000 royal flush is just one data point. She could very well lose $10,000 or more tomorrow playing the same game. Would the decision about her future be the same after the $40,000 win as it would be after that $10,000 loss? If not, then why would you think that the decision you make one day which will affect your future for a long time is any more valid than the decision on another day?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Finally, I didn\u2019t tell this young woman any of this on that day. This was a friendly get-together and the first time Bonnie and she had met. I knew the husband much better than I knew her — and he and I have had these bankroll discussions periodically. I didn\u2019t need to have the same conversation with her. Each family has its own way of dealing with financial items and I\u2019ll let them work it out.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Bonnie and I congratulated her and were happy for her. If she and her husband invite me to help them with this decision later, I will. I\u2019m very fond of them and have a sort of grandfatherly relationship with her husband. But if I\u2019m not invited to participate in this decision, that\u2019s okay too. <\/span><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Bonnie and I were having a casino meal with a woman in her late 20s. She and her husband (who was about the same age as she and not present at the lunch) were both players who were trying to decide whether to continue with their video poker career or go try something else. The […]<\/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":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nObtaining Information from the Universe - 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\/obtaining-information-universe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obtaining Information from the Universe - Gambling With An Edge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bonnie and I were having a casino meal with a woman in her late 20s. 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