Question of the Day - 12 January 2014

That's an interesting question, and you'll probably be surprised at the answer. To clarify, our understanding is that you are referencing LVA staffers, as opposed to any of Huntington Press' authors or some of our close affiliates, many of whom earn their living as gambling pros.

We don't want to get too personal or invade anyone's privacy in any way, so what follows will necessarily be somewhat vague, but here are a few observations:

• Huntington Press/Las Vegas Advisor publisher, Anthony Curtis, is renowned both in professional-gambling circles and, thanks to numerous TV appearances, with the general public, as being an expert on gambling who, unlike some of the theorists from whom he learned his craft, was also at one time a full-time practitioner who earned his living from gambling. However, if you ask him, Curtis will explain that he doesn't consider himself to be a "gambler" and that he's in fact pretty risk-averse, deliberately choosing to wager only in circumstances where he knows -- or at least believes strongly -- that he has an edge. Hence, his gambling endeavors are almost exclusively focused on two of the five casino games that are known to be beatable, namely video poker and sports betting. Historically, blackjack would have been included in that list, obviously, but these days it's pretty much impossible for Anthony to play a live game in a casino and he has too many other commitments to find much opportunity to play live tournaments, although he plays almost daily at our new online casino (see yesterday's QoD).

Speaking of the LVA Casino, it was the introduction of this that revealed some interesting information about the rest of the current HP staff:

• When the casino was still in its early beta-testing phase, it was open only internally to workers at HP/LVA and our development partner, all of whom were required to play each day so that we could bug-test to the maximum. The minimum requirement was for everyone to log in, so that there were sufficient numbers registered to launch a viable tournament; playing was optional. While several staffers gamble recreationally and were happy to participate in a blackjack or poker tournament, a couple professed complete ignorance and intimidation at the whole concept and resolutely refused to play.
• Of those two, one enjoys playing our slot tournaments, but still will not try any of the table games; the other now dips a toe in the water, especially if being guided by a more knowledgeable co-worker, but still wouldn't even dream of joining co-workers in putting money in a video poker on the rare occasions when we all go out for drink in a local bar.
• One particular staff member sticks out in our mind as being the dark horse of the company, however. This person, who shall remain anonymous, has already surprised Anthony Curtis in past years by placing high (unlike him) in some of the free football tournaments offered by the locals casinos. Now, this same person has shown to be consistently a winner at both blackjack and poker tournaments online and has again earned the bemused respect of A.C., over whom this unlikely candidate has been victorious on too many occasions for it to be coincidental. It just goes to show how it's dangerous to judge a book by its cover, especially when it comes to poker tournaments.