{"id":86070,"date":"2018-11-06T09:14:55","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T17:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=86070"},"modified":"2018-11-06T09:14:55","modified_gmt":"2018-11-06T17:14:55","slug":"what-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/what-now\/","title":{"rendered":"What Now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Las Vegas casinos have become more aggressive at booting video poker players than they used to be. A number of pros and semi-pros, including myself, are down to a small number of places where they can play unrestricted. Or sometimes, play at all. Some players have no places left in town that welcome their action and have taken to regular trips out of town — or even out of state — so that they can still play.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, what now?<\/span><\/p>\n

A friend of mine suggested that I form a group and teach others to do what I do in return for a percentage of their action. That way I could capitalize on my knowledge even though I cannot physically play in many places.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think that would work for several reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, I have already written about a high percentage of my \u201ctricks of the trade.\u201d People who can learn from me, for the most part, already have. Or even if they haven\u2019t learned yet, hundreds of my articles and podcasts are readily available. In general, you can\u2019t sell what you\u2019ve already given away for free. I still have occasional students come in and buy a few hours of private tutoring, but that isn\u2019t nearly enough to support me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another problem with that idea is that most of my discoveries of profitable situations have been found while in the casino searching for the holes. No two casinos are identical. No two slot clubs are the same. And often the techniques that worked in a particular place six months ago are no longer available today. You must be in the casino working the promotions to find out that at this moment, four separate promotions are in affect at one time — and two of them are particularly lucrative. And to notice while in that casino, they don\u2019t enforce this particular thing. And to hear scuttlebutt about what\u2019s coming down the line at a third casino. And to find out that the theoretical on a certain bank of machines has been mis-set in the players\u2019 favor. Or notice that a typo in the rules allows a one-off situation that will expire as soon as the casino realizes someone is exploiting it. If I\u2019m not actively in a casino trying to beat it, I simply will not know enough about the current possibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another option is to talk the casino into allowing me to play under certain conditions. I\u2019ve had some success with this, but more failures than successes. Every situation is different. Sometimes I can convince the General Manger that there are some extenuating circumstances that warrant reconsideration. Often the GM is simply not at all interested in changing his mind, whatever I say. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes it might make sense to continue to play, subject to whatever restrictions the casino has instituted. If you\u2019ve been trespassed or told \u201cDon\u2019t play video poker no matter what!\u201d then continuing to play is not an intelligent option. But a lesser restriction, such as \u201cno mailers\u201d and\/or \u201cno multipliers,\u201d might still be beatable. It\u2019s hard enough to eke out even a small edge when you get all the benefits, but sometimes it\u2019s still possible with one hand tied behind your back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Note that in the previous circumstance, the casino will likely be watching you. The first restriction was intended to get you to stop playing there, or maybe only to be able to play and lose. If you demonstrate that you can still play and win, further restrictions may just be around the corner. Getting lucky immediately after a partial restriction may end up being costly. If you take a month or two off and then come back and get lucky, sometimes you are allowed to continue to play.<\/span><\/p>\n

A totally different option is to go down in stakes. There are very possibly several places where you could play for quarters or dollar single line where you would be welcome to play. The win-per-hour isn\u2019t as good as where you are no longer welcome to play (otherwise it would have been on your list of places to play in the first place), but maybe it\u2019s still enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

For some folks, playing with an edge is not as important as playing. (This will never be me.) In general, folks like this generally won\u2019t be excluded in the first place. Although these folks can hit some big jackpots and get thrown out by casinos who don\u2019t understand the winning process, generally these players are recognized as profitable assets by the casino and allowed to play and lose.<\/span><\/p>\n

A more drastic option is to retire from playing video poker. This can entail shifting to a different gambling game or perhaps giving up gambling altogether. \u00a0Although I\u2019m personally nowhere near doing this, everyone has to make this choice for him or herself. <\/span><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Las Vegas casinos have become more aggressive at booting video poker players than they used to be. A number of pros and semi-pros, including myself, are down to a small number of places where they can play unrestricted. Or sometimes, play at all. Some players have no places left in town that welcome their action […]<\/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":[428,196],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Now? - 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-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Now? - Gambling With An Edge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Las Vegas casinos have become more aggressive at booting video poker players than they used to be. 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