What Are All the Advantage Players Doing with Casinos Closed?

I am curious on how the shutdowns might be affecting professional gamblers. Obviously there is a range of APs from making a livelihood to strictly a hobby. For someone that makes their living at gambling I am sure there would be no unemployment insurance available. Dipping into the bankroll seems like the only option for those that may not have other sources of cash available.

Excellent question. We put it to several APs (advantage players) and here's what they had to say.

Blair Rodman, co-author of Kill Phil and our upcoming All About Sports Betting: "I’ve made some kind of bet every day for almost 40 years, but not one in over a week. You know what? I don’t really miss it. Good to take a break from the lows and highs.

"For poker players, there are tons of private invitation-only online games. Agents trying to drive players to them are everywhere -- for a piece of the action, of course. The problem is, many have really high rakes. I heard of one that had a $10 rake and thought that was absurd, until I heard of another taking $30/hand. In those games, no one wins but the house. But there may be reasonable ones out there. Or use the sites in the few states where it’s legal.

"For sharp sports bettors, there aren’t many edges to be found. For addicted sports bettors, offshore books are being very creative in finding bets to offer, like on the weather, esports, and some political stuff."

Bob Dancer: "I'm preparing to get back to work. I've composed four or five weekly blogs, so that when I can go back into the casinos, those are already prepared. Same with pre-taping Gambling With An Edge podcasts."

Frank B: "Most I have spoken with are preparing for the opportunities expected to present themselves once things get going again.

"Reacquiring players should be a priority for casinos and sports books in more progressive states like New Jersey. I plan on going to New Jersey immediately after sports start back up. The offers should be as good as ever. Goodwill toward players will be in force early, but that will be temporary, only as long as the casinos decide it's worth giving some action to get players back. Competition will be the most important factor. If one casino or sports book is offering a good enticement, the others will follow. Just like we saw from the airlines earlier this month.

"There's nothing much to do except prepare for the future and work on your game, whatever that may be."

Logan Fields, author of our sports betting book 20/20, which is now in production:

"My bankroll is built to withstand large fluctuations. It has to, as that's the nature of the business -- losing days, losing weeks, losing months. I've even had a losing year. With the sports shutdown, the month of March will simply go down as breakeven. One month of inactivity will have very little effect on my long-term prospects. That said, should these breakeven months extend into the summer, life expenses will continue to mount, making a reduction in bankroll likely."

Anonymous AP and close friend of LVA: "There are still some Eastern European league sports to bet on, esports, and through this past weekend at least, the two main Australian leagues of NRL (National Rugby League) and AFL (Australian Football League). Additionally some boxing and mixed martial arts, as well as sumo wrestling!

"I've been studying the effect of rain on the speed of cockroaches for the purpose of my own unique private-information vault and I expect to CRUSH the cockroaches (I can hear that sound of them being crushed now) when the new RRS (Roach Racing Season) opens soon. Throughout history, cockroaches always survived, so it makes more sense to race them instead of horses, dogs, camels, or humans."

What are all the advantage players doing now that all the casinos are closed?

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Don the Dentist Mar-26-2020

Practice

Staying at home, practicing VP an hour a day to keep sharp. Hope the offers from my casinos, when they reopen, are fantastic.

Kevin Lewis Mar-26-2020

Object lesson

I abandoned serious advantage play a few years ago, when it became obvious that the casinos were tightening the screws so much, that the same crowd of APs was chasing a dwindling set of opportunities, and they were cutting each others' throats. I was motivated to seek a more stable way to make a living. I strongly suspect the current crisis May similarly motivate existing APs. There might be a short burst of opportunities when things open back up, but things will soon revert to being as tight as ever. APs are like fishermen in overfished waters.

gaattc2001 Mar-26-2020

I was never a serious advantage player;

but if certain places offer certain not-too-bad games, I'll play enough to get comped. So far, that's still working. If those few places tighten up much more, or decide to blackball me as a loathsome advantage player, then so be it. 
Like Don, I think there will be some opportunities after the crisis--but, like Kevin, I think probably not for long. If anything, things will eventually get even tighter. That's been the trend for the last few years.
Here in Phoenix all the casinos and all the sports bars are closed, so we're suffering "poker withdrawal." Time to catch up on other things and maybe learn a new VP game.
Coraggio.

Question of the Day - 26 March 2020

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