The following story is fictional, but based on real events.
The Gold Mine in Las Vegas was one of many casinos where Jack played. There were two, and only two, “good” machines. These were $5 single line Bonus Deuces machines that returned 99.45%. With the slot club, mailers, and promotions, these machines were playable, in Jack’s opinion. Continue reading More Dogs Than Bones
In the video poker world, I am somewhat of a public figure. Between the classes, articles, and radio show, lots of people ask me questions all the time. Some of them are in the “none of your damned business” category. And some aren’t. I thought I’d answer a few of them publicly that I haven’t addressed recently. Continue reading Recent Questions I Have Received
Richard Munchkin received a note from a Gambling with an Edge listener about a subject to talk about. The note referred to a casino where the formerly 8/5 Bonus machines were recently downgraded to 7/5. Part of the note said: Continue reading Picking Up Free Play
I have two good friends, “Thelma” and “Louise,” who are married to each other. I’ve been friends with Thelma for more than a decade, Louise about half that long, and Bonnie and I happily attended their wedding last year.
Thelma is very bright and has been successful at a number of things. She’s also very well-off financially. She’s a pretty strong video poker player, but doesn’t concentrate on learning all of the smallest details. “Why spend hours memorizing rare hands that will save me a tenth of a penny once every two years?” she asks. “I don’t need the money and life’s too short to spend my time on shit like that.” (If you don’t like that language, take it up with Thelma — not me.) Continue reading Being Good at Everything
Dear Mr. Dancer:
My wife Doris and I regularly play at a Mid-West casino. I’d rather not tell you which one. Near the end of last year, they had a “Twelve Days of Christmas” promotion which was pretty good.
On each of twelve days, if you had an Elite card and played $500 through on decent video poker machines, you could come in and pick up a scratcher. Scratchers awarded at least $10 in free play once you scratched the silvery cover off, often much more, and were supposed to range up to $1,000 — but I never saw one that high. Continue reading My Wife Thinks This is Cheating
Bonnie and I traveled to Los Angeles several months ago and, among other things, spent an afternoon visiting Margo, a platonic friend of mine going on 35 years. The ladies got along great and the visit reminded me of a story I wrote about Margo several years ago. Continue reading How Good Do You Want to Be?
Winston Churchill was the British Prime Minister during much of World War II. Unlike modern politicians and their political correctness, he smoked a big cigar and enjoyed drinking alcohol in public — sometimes too much so. Continue reading Churchill was Right
The title of this article is somewhat tongue in cheek. A few years ago, someone called me a master because of something I’ll explain shortly. It occurred to me that many players don’t understand the day-to-day activities of a successful professional player — whether that player deserves to be called a master or not. Striving to be a master of video poker is one of my goals. Actually becoming a master is likely unobtainable. Mastery is about something you do, not something you are. Continue reading Life as a Master
A version of this article first appeared in 1999, but I haven’t written about it for a long time and many of my readers are newer to the game than that and didn’t see it the first time.
Continue reading Breakeven Point Analysis Leads to Some Strange Conclusions
I read an article in a poker publication some time ago. It was about a live poker player who recently spent a half-hour run “in the zone.” Apparently there were six major pots, and that writer won five. Then the writer was beaten two hands in a row, determined his streak was over, and left the game up $900. Continue reading Knowing When to Quit
