Poll : 11 January - 24 January 2017

Analysis

The results of this gambling-education survey surprised us in a number of ways.

For one, every time we run a poll that involves the Las Vegas Advisor, we’re always a little shocked that it places so high – as hinted by our own question in this survey about the newsletter being past its expiration date.

The following two comments sum it up perfectly:

“I checked ‘Other,’ but one of the choices ‘the LVA is a past-its-time model’ really gets to the heart of the matter. The LVA newsletter has never given any space for letters to the editor or for other reader feedback. The newsletter is indeed an obsolete way of interacting with customers/readers. I learn so much more from blogs and sites where us ‘random folks’ can discuss and interact and share our knowledge and tips. A monthly newsletter just can't keep up with the pace of change.”

“LVA is great for that purpose. Keep up the good work!”

Another reason the poll surprised us is that books placed second. Perhaps we’re falling under the influence of the Millennials in our midst (employees, children) who believe books are obsolete (except for audio books, which placed right at the bottom), but with book sales dropping like a rock around the world, for books to rank so high was eyebrow-raising.

Representative comments:

“Books and newsletters are still the best. Books for a game I know about but would like to learn the details and the strategy. Newsletters and e-letters like the Casino City Times where we get an article about various games. This way we can read about the game and decide if it is interesting enough to get a book on.”

“I voted for books and strategy cards as the best ways to learn a new game, but only because it's something you can always refer back to easily. Videos are nice, but more difficult to find specific info to review.”

We weren’t surprised that software placed third. What better way to learn, practice, and perfect a game strategy than on your own computer? It brings to mind the Big (unanswerable) Question of the Computer Age: Who’s programming whom? But we were surprised at the lack of comments about software. Not one.

Strategy cards came in fourth, which was interesting to us, since we're big fans of them. As soon as you learn the shorthand, these cards are both inexpensive and about as handy as it gets:

“Love the strategy cards I bought from LVA. They get to the easy to remember ESSENCE of a game. 4 basic rules for Flop Poker, 1 basic rule for 3 card poker. I don't need to know how to ‘build the watch,’ I only need to know ‘what time it is.’ Strategy cards do that for me. I was in Vegas in December playing 3 card poker one night, everyone else at the table matched the ante on EVERY hand, and stayed in. Because of the ONE rule on the strategy card, I folded when it said to fold. As it turned out, I won a little that session, but only because of the money I saved by folding when I did and not chasing a (probable) losing hand.”

A third major surprise was that blogs and trip reports (Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc.) placed so low and seem, from the feedback, to be entering passé territory.

“Please, no blogs. The good ship blog sank a long time ago, and with good reason!”

“Blogs, message boards, and the like are useless to me as too many so-called ‘experts’ chime in with their ‘my way is the best way’ bull. Run into the same thing at poker tables. I would prefer written or video TRUE expert advice along with your mileage may vary comments as all players’ personalities or modalities if you prefer are not the same and would interpret information differently from that originally given.”

“The content revolution is transitioning to digests, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest, and the like. Mobile content will rule in the next five years.”

“Blogs are still proliferating, but they were an early way to get into the online game. Now that everyone’s there, this old world is moving on.”

Apparently, at least one respondent hasn’t gotten that news (as we hadn’t!):

“How about an entry for "Blogs/Columns" for great and timely information from David McKee, Jean Scott, Bob Dancer, James Grosjean, et al.?”

And then there are the message boards and forums:

“Blogs sort of cover this, but one of the ways I learn more about a subject is to read message boards.”

“Message boards (you mentioned it, but didn't include it as a choice???). Podcasts! Often informative. Also usually entertaining.”

“I subscribe to the Green Chip BJ21.com. There is a lot of useful info from players on a variety of direct and related subjects.”

“I read LVA daily - in fact, it's my home page. Wouldn't mind seeing some user input, so long as a subscription is not required. Please don't go to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I do not use those, and won't.”

One reader took us to task (as one always does) about a category we failed to include:

“What about magazines like Card Player?”

A number of respondents supplied their favorite online resources:

“I like to randomly search the Internet.”

“Google. I'll Google the subject of interest, and it will give me links to the blogs, newsletters, message boards, and other published information. It does not matter how you publish the information as long as it appears at the top of the search results.”

“Websites such as the WizardOfOdds.com.”

“I usually find out about new games from LVA and then visit Michael Shackleford's wizard of Odds to learn strategy.”

“For blackjack just go on the Internet and play without money and you get feedback each time you make a mistake or play that a computer program determines is not the best play. I think the site is called Blackjack Hit or Stand.”

A few cited the casinos themselves:

“Best experience we had was walking up to a roulette table that had a dealer and no players and he took the time to teach us how to play the game. This was years ago and downtown. Great time. Played for years but then ante got too high for our simple desires.”

“I like the free lessons offered at casinos. Over the years that's how I learned to play craps. Returning multiple times to these lessons as I was ready to learn more about how crap bets, odds, and payouts worked.”

Of course, a couple went the no-strategy route:

“I just play the slots when I vacation in Vegas.”

“Go with the gut feeling ... Trust the force ...”

The comment we liked the best provided its own version of All of the Above:

“I checked them all. If you are going to master, a game you need every tool available. I also talk with dealers and pit bosses as much as possible.”