My next semester of free video poker classes will be in the Showroom at South Point on Wednesdays beginning January 4 at 12 noon. The schedule of classes may be found at http://www.bobdancer.com/seminars.cfm. In previous semesters the classes have begun at 1 p.m. but this time the Showroom will be used for another event on Wednesday evenings so we need to get out of there earlier than before.
You will not become a video poker expert by attending one semester of classes. To learn Jacks or Better (arguably the easiest game and most boring game to learn) takes many people 20 or more hours of practice. Each new game takes additional study time. And trying to learn Jacks or Better along with another game simultaneously is extremely difficult. Each game is different and going back and forth between games isn’t the easiest thing to do.
Taking video poker classes does not provide a guarantee that you’ll be a winning player.
Although I’ll be trying my best to impart useful information, you’ll have to work at it to absorb what I’m saying. Some people absorb better than others. Some people adapt easier to my way of teaching than others do. Some people never learn the game well enough to even become a favorite over the casino. Most competent players at least occasionally go through losing years. I haven’t figured out how to eliminate periodic losing streaks for myself.
Video poker classes cannot instill discipline. I was playing 8-5 Bonus Poker Spin Poker Dream Card at the Orleans recently on a Tuesday when you could combine 7x points if you were at least 50 years old with a promotion that gave you another half percent worth of Macy’s gift cards. A lady who had attended many of my classes was telling me all of the strategy deviations she wanted to make playing Dream Card versus the regular version of the game. I told her I wasn’t tempted by those demons. I learned the correct strategy and played it. Period. She constantly was at least considering plays that were inferior. She was making the game much more difficult than it had to be.
I will not be bankrolling your play. Every now and then someone comes up and tries to convince me that if I really believed in my “system” that I should teach it to them and pay them to play it. (Actually the word “system” is usually reserved for the sizing of bets based on your recent scores. What I teach has absolutely nothing to do with that type of thing.) If you’re going to be a winner at gambling you’re going to need to find your own source of bankroll.
I can’t totally eliminate the leaks in your game. I know competent video poker players who love to play craps or slots or bet on football. However much you make on video poker can easily be lost at other games. Or by playing not-at-your-best.
For many students, simply learning which games to play is huge. The first part of every class will be what pay schedule is important for the particular game we’re talking about. You may have learned that 9 and 6 are important numbers to look for. And they are for Jacks or Better. And Double Double Bonus Quick Quads. And Bonus Poker Deluxe. But they are not good for Double Bonus, Triple Double Bonus, or any variation of Deuces Wild or Joker Wild. Nobody can possibly master everything in one semester. But it is very possible to master which game you should be playing on. And this is the single most-important factor in playing winning video poker.
What the first eight classes will be involved with will be strategies for the various games. Learning correct strategy is a relatively minor part of winning video poker — but simultaneously a critically important. You MUST play the hands well to start with to have a shot. The last two classes will be about other stuff you need once you’ve mastered playing the hands.
There are a surprising number of hands that are played differently from game to game. Consider the hand K♥ K♣ 3♥ 3♣ 7♠. How do you play it? There are a number of players who routinely play KK. This is not the correct play in any of the games I teach. (There are a few games where holding KK is correct— such as Super Double Bonus with a bad pay schedule. But I can’t think of any game I would actually recommend that ever included this play.) In most games I teach, it’s correct to hold KK33. In one game it’s best to hold 33 by itself. If any of this comes as a surprise to you, you NEED the classes.
Consider the hand 6♥ 7♥ 8♥ 9♣ 9♦. In some games we hold two cards. Some games three cards. And one game four cards. Do you know which is which? Do you know why? These are the kinds of things we’ll be talking about. The two examples mentioned here are just the tips of the iceberg. We’ll be talking about LOTS of differences.
The classes will be interactive. That is, I’ll be asking YOU questions. Everybody (depending on the size of the class) will get one, two, three, or more chances to answer questions. There are people who refuse to try to answer these questions. That’s their right, of course, and I won’t “make them.” But I think they are missing a major part of the learning experience this way.
There are 2.6 million different dealt hands possible for each game. We’ll cover 100 or so of the more interesting ones each week. And we’ll also show you how to look up the best play for any other hand. Consider the hand Q♥ J♥ 9♥ 9♣ 3♣. It’s sometimes correct to hold the hearts and sometimes correct to hold the nines. We’ll talk about it in the classes, but down the road you may forget. But even if you do forget, hopefully you’ll remember how to look up the answer.
Although I do get paid for teaching the classes and I do get to sell my books and software, primarily I’m teaching because I love to do it. And I think I’m good at it. And teaching ensures that I keep fresh on the strategies I actually use when go into the casino. Also, I’m generally an introverted kind of guy. But when I teach (or host a radio show) I force myself to be extroverted. Shirley likes me better that way. So whatever you get out of it, teaching classes helps make my entire life run smoother.