Category: Advanced Strategy

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A Lesson from Backgammon

Bob Dancer

Many of you know I played backgammon professionally for a long time — actually from 1974 to 1993. I became pretty good, but there were many players who played better. By the time I moved to Las Vegas in 1993, I had decided to give up the game simply because as hard as I tried, I could never make a living playing it. So, I gave the game up for more than 20 years.

Over the years on the podcast, we had several backgammon players: Bill Robertie, Kent Goulding, Bob Wachtel, Jim Pasko, and Kit Woolsey. If I left anyone out, I apologize. Usually, these experts would come on to talk about books they had recently written, and would send review copies of their books to Richard and me prior to the show.

I read these books and started to feel the old juices flowing again. After reading the 10 or so books I had been forwarded, I was a considerably better player than I had been a few years ago. 

I learned about XG, which is a downloadable app and is the latest and greatest backgammon computer program. Other programs are available, and some players prefer different ones. But XG is the one I heard was best and that’s the one I got. 

For any position, it ranks all the plays in order and tells you how much they are worth. Positions vary in the number of possible plays — from zero to several dozen. Practicing on the program for maybe 25 hours, I became a better player than I was when I quit the game. It was easy for me to see that continued practice would improve my game even more.

But this program is available to all players, and some players have been using computerized help for decades. I’m now in my late 70s and I have no illusions that I’m as sharp mentally as I was when I was younger. Having a good memory is a key part of being a good player, and my memory isn’t what it used to be. 

I might enter an intermediate-level tournament occasionally, primarily for entertainment purposes, but becoming a professional backgammon player isn’t in my future.

When I play against XG, I do win some games, of course. Each backgammon game contains both luck and skill components. But the program keeps track of my EV as we continue to play. Since the computer plays perfectly, I can never keep up. The difference between my score and the computer’s score inevitably keeps growing. The only way I can “catch up” is to reset the scores to zero.

I believe this also happens in video poker — only we can’t see it. Every mistake adds up. I know 9/6 Jacks or Better perfectly and the game returns 99.54%. But sometimes I make mistakes due to playing too fast, mis-keying, being distracted by something, having a senior moment, or maybe a sticky button. Each one of those mistakes costs me EV. 

You don’t spend EV directly, of course. You either win this session or you lose. But the mistakes add up. They are there for everybody. Practicing on a computer is useful, but it’s not the same as playing in a casino. The sources for errors in a casino are much more numerous than they are when you practice at home.

I’m not sure if I “learned” this lesson while practicing backgammon. Probably I already believed it and what I experienced with the backgammon program just reinforced what I already thought was true.

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Learning it All

Bob Dancer

I was paid to help somebody learn the strategy for 9/5 Triple Bonus Poker Plus. “Mary” was a person who wanted to learn the minimum and take the strategy with her. Whenever Mary wasn’t sure of how to play a hand, she’d look it up on the strategy sheet.

I suggested this wasn’t such a good way to go about learning this game. There were enough unique hands in this game that you’d never know if it was an unusual play unless you knew the whole strategy. But Mary reminded me that she was paying me by the hour and the customer was always right, so we were going to do it her way.

Today’s lesson dealt with hands starting with an A of one suit and a suited JT of another. Mary wanted to concentrate on just those hands where the final answer was A or JT, but I informed her there were a lot of other possibilities. She allowed me to go over them.

“You hold all trips, which can only be aces, jacks, or tens, given that each hand we’re talking about starts with AJT and there are always exactly five cards in each hand.

“We hold 4-card straight flushes, namely KJT9, QJT9, and QJT8. Whether we hold 3-card straight flushes, KJT and QJT, depends on whether there is another king, queen, or jack in the hand.”

At this point, Mary stopped me and said she thought the lesson was just about A and a suited JT, not all this stuff about royal flush draws and straight flush draws, not to mention 3-of-a-kinds and I seem to be getting into high pairs.

“I am and it is,” I assured her, “but every one of these hands includes AJT. If you don’t want to look at every line of the strategy and use a top-down approach, these are all hands that can arise starting from AJT. Each of the high pairs, AA, KK, QQ, and JJ have different things to be concerned about, and low pairs are not treated all the same either. We haven’t even gotten into most 4-card consecutive straights and 4-card inside straights, nor have we discussed most 3-card straight flushes, which come in four different flavors, each of which is treated differently strategically. You probably should be taking notes. We’re less than halfway through and there are still some tricky hands ahead.”

Mary looked uncertain, not sure she was ready for this. If she pulled the plug on this lesson, so be it. I needed to know all of this because I played the game myself.

“Let’s look at pairs, remembering that we’ve discussed trips, so they are off the table. A pair of aces is better than any other possibility, as are a pair of kings. For a pair of queens, it matters if one is suited with the JT. If so, we’ve already discussed the 3-card straight flushes. If both queens are unsuited with the JT, the pair is better than anything else not discussed so far.

“For a pair of jacks, we now have the possibility of two pair — jacks and tens. This is the only two pair combination we hold with hands included with AJT. Pairs of nines and tens are lower in value than JT9. 

“Now let’s look at the 3-card straight flushes. Six of these include an A and two low cards. These are simple to play. Hold the three cards.

“JT9 is more valuable than any two suited high cards and any 4-card straight in the hand except QJT9.

“JT8 is more valuable than any two suited high cards and any 4-card straight in the hand except JT98. It is lower in value than every pair.

“JT7 is less valuable than two suited high cards and 4-card inside straights with three high cards (i.e., AKJT and AQJT).

“If you have a K in the hand suited with the A, hold AK unless there is a flush penalty to the AK, in which case you hold AKJT. If you have an unsuited K in the hand, hold AKJT.

“A Q in the hand is played identically to a K, with the exception that QJT9 is greater than either AQ or AQJT.

“There are three other hands starting from AJT where you hold neither A nor only JT. From AJT98, the correct play is JT98 and those hands with a 4-card flush (including JT), hold the 4-card flush. From AJT and any low pair, hold the low pair.

“Okay. We’re now ready to discuss the hands you wanted to look at first: AJT with none of the above items in the hand. But as you can see, there are a LOT of other possibilities before we get to this point.

“With AJT without any of the cases already described, first look at penalties to JT. If there is a 9, 8, or flush penalty to JT in the remaining cards, you hold the A by itself, no matter what penalties the ace has.

“If there is a 7 in the hand, hold the A unless there are two flush penalties to the A. In this case, a straight flush penalty to the case counts as a flush penalty.

“If the JT is totally unpenalized, hold the JT if the A has one or more flush or straight flush penalty.

“That’s it. That’s the entire strategy for these hands.”

“So, I’m ready to play now?” Mary asked me.

“Not really. AJT is probably the trickiest combination in this game, but an unsuited AQJ is played differently in this game than any others. Plus, the 100-for-1 return for straight flushes, rather than the more typical 50-for-1 return causes quite a few unusual plays. We can go over those later if you like. I think you’ve had enough for today.” “Finally, something we agree on.”

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Not a Smart Promotion

Bob Dancer

In Nevada, there are a large number of bars/pubs with restricted gaming licenses that permit them to have up to 15 machines. I haven’t counted these pubs, but I believe there are more than 100 of these in Clark County alone, a large chunk of land in the southern part of the state, which includes the two most populous cities — Las Vegas and Henderson.

In 2022 and 2023, a number of these pubs had a promotion where if you bring in a W-2G from any casino, the pub would give you up to 10% of that, usually up to $500. Although each pub had slightly different rules, if you hit a $4,000 jackpot at South Point, for example, you could take that W-2G to places that would give you $100 in free play today, and tomorrow would give you an additional $300.

You had to bring in the W-2G within 24 or 48 hours, sometimes loosely defined. Some of these pubs limited this to once a week. Some once a day. When they found out how slammed they were getting, some limited the promotion to only jackpots earned in to pubs, which for me was no problem because I played at Dotty’s. Sometimes you could cash the same jackpot at two or more pubs.

I’m not sure what the bar managers were thinking. Perhaps it was some version of, “These players will have $4,000 in their hands, and if we can just get them in the door, perhaps they’ll leave a good part of this here.” That must have happened some of the time, of course, but most of the time this was a losing promotion for the house.

Since I play at Dotty’s where you get rewarded for W-2Gs, I can generate as many jackpots as I like. It’s already a positive play at Dotty’s to play $10 9/6 Jacks or Better where I get a W-2G every 400 hands or so. Extra money for a promotion that was already positive is a good thing. My problem was: How do I milk these promotions? I know they’ll eventually stop the promotion or kick me out, because I’m definitely not the kind of customer they are trying to attract. 

When a bar would let you cash a W-2G once a week, I’d limit myself to once every other week. When a bar would let you cash the W-2Gs once a day, I’d never cash more than two in a week, and then I’d take at least a week off. I’d rotate the times I’d show up to all three shifts, so bartenders didn’t know how often I was cashing these. If the bar had several outlets around town, I’d vary where I’d go to pick up the money. 

Usually, the best game was 6-5 Bonus Poker, a horrendous game worth less than 97%. Whenever I came in, I’d play about an hour at quarters. That meant maybe $1,000 through the machines, which cost me $30 in EV. There were slot clubs and bonuses such as wheel spins for certain 4-of-a-kinds, reducing my expected loss to perhaps $10 — which meant a profit of at least $90 because the casino started me with at least $100.

Sometimes I’d come into each place and play for an hour or so without cashing any W-2G. I wanted my record to show that I was a “regular player,” not one who would just show up to cash a W-2G. 

In the earlier example, when I brought in a $4,000 W-2G and received $100 today and $300 put on my card tomorrow, I downloaded the free play as soon as I could. There was no doubt that eventually I was going to be removed from the promotions, and when that did happen, any unclaimed free play might well be forfeited.

I tipped the bartenders at least $5 or $10 each time. I knew the managers would kick me out eventually, but I didn’t want the bartenders suggesting that I be eliminated.

Eventually all of these promotions ended – at least for me. I’m actually surprised they lasted as long as they did, at as many different places as there were. I guess it was a copycat effect where, “That casino is doing it and seems to be getting more business. Maybe we should too!”

I ended up more than $10,000 ahead over all of these properties. Not a lot, and it required driving around some, but there was basically no downside. Yes, I could lose more than $100 in a specific day collecting the money, but over time it was guaranteed I would come out ahead. 

And when establishments are giving away non-trivial amounts of free money, I’m the kind of guy who takes it. And if I learn about another bar with this promotion, count me in!

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HOW TO PLAY YOUR HANDS AGAINST A DEALER’S 9 UPCARD

This post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.

AC Says:

Another basic strategy primer from Henry Tamburin, this one specific to play against a dealer 9. These plays aren’t difficult to remember, as they’re mostly intuitive, and the strategy is almost the same for any number of decks. The most misplayed is not hitting soft 18. Other typical misplays are not splitting 9s and not surrendering 16 in multiple decks. Once you ace the test, you’ll have this section of basic strategy down cold.

This article was written by Henry Tamburin in association with 888Casino.

When a dealer shows a 9 upcard in blackjack, she has about a 77% chance of getting to a final hand that totals 17 through 21 and only a 23% chance of busting (depending on the number of decks shuffled).

A 9, therefore, is  a strong card for the dealer, which means…

Click to continue reading …

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Switching Players

Bob Dancer

During a juicy promotion, let’s say I have a deal with “Peter” that I will leave a machine at 5 a.m. and he will take it over. Later on, perhaps noon, he will give it back. But when he arrives at 5 a.m., all of the relevant machines are full, and somebody is hovering — waiting for a machine to open up. How do we handle this situation?

If I know the person hovering and he is reasonable to work with, he already knows Peter is taking over. How? I’ll tell him beforehand. Most professionals have made similar deals in the past and we don’t want some sort of fight where casino employees get involved. That situation rarely ends well.

If players are fighting over a machine, many casinos “solve” the problem by kicking out one or both players or removing the machine. If the players want it that badly, it doesn’t take a genius slot director to conclude that he’s better off without it. 

If the hovering player is a stranger, we try to switch players without incident. I might ask Peter to watch my machine while I use the restroom. When he sits down, I’ll tell him I might be several minutes, and he can play with his own card and money until I return. He cashes out my money and gives it to me along with my card, and he begins to play.

It seems innocent enough. An hour later, when the hovering player realizes that I’m not coming back, the problem has usually gone away. Sometimes that player has found another machine. Sometimes that player has given up on playing on these particular machines during that promotion. (Most of us have “backup” plans in case our first choice of machines isn’t available.) 

Sometimes when a full bank of desirable machines is occupied, another player will ask if anybody is planning on leaving soon. (I do this myself.) The reason to do this is to “get in line.” Usually this is a good time to say words to the effect that, “My machine has somebody already in line.”

Despite your best efforts, sometimes somebody comes looking for a machine and announces that the only way to allocate machines is “first come first served” and he’s first in line for the next available machine. If Peter shows up for his shift while this person is waiting, I’ll whisper to him to let him know the situation. Sooner or later this person will either get a machine or leave the area for a bit. When he does, that’s the time to make the shift.  

One thing to keep in mind is that regardless of whatever is done today, most of us plan on playing for years and “what goes around, comes around.” Sometimes you have the machine and somebody else wants it. Sometimes somebody else has the machine and you want it. 

Treating people fairly is almost always the best policy. It doesn’t always work well, but it gives you the best chance of having good results for years to come.

There is one lady in greater Las Vegas who is known for being a real jerk about these things. She’s made a scene at several casinos where she feels people have not let her have her turn, and casinos have removed machines because of what she’s done. Insofar as I’m concerned, she doesn’t play fair, and I won’t work with her. But with most others, I do,

One last thing to mention is that there are fewer of these great video poker promotions than there used to be. Just a fact of life. Sharing great machines is far less of an issue than it used to be.

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Getting Time on a Machine

Bob Dancer

Assume there is a juicy 24-hour video poker promotion that works best on four machines. There are more than four players looking for a seat — including you. How should you go about getting a seat?

For me, I try to establish a partnership that will last as long as the promotion. Somebody I can trust. Somebody I can work with again and again, because in a few months there will be another promotion where there are more players than seats.

Let’s say the promotion starts at midnight. One of us needs to be at the machine by 10 p.m., playing very slowly, killing time. When midnight arrives, the game changes and this player begins to play very fast. After some agreed-upon period of time, the players switch places. And, sometimes, after another period of time the players switch back again. And possibly even one more time. 

The two hours of “dead time” before the promotion starts is likely a money-loser. We share this. If I take this shift this time, my partner takes it next time.

Let’s look at what I would want in a partner.

  1. Someone I can trust. Trust is a many-faceted quality, but if “John” tells me he will be there at 10 p.m. and turn over the machine to me at 5 a.m., I want that to happen. I don’t want to hear “some other promotion came up,” or “I made a deal with somebody else and didn’t tell you about it.” 

If John calls me at 10:05 p.m. and tells me all the machines are full, and I believe him, that’s not a mark against John’s character. We made a judgment that 10 p.m. would be sufficient. Next time, maybe 8 p.m.

  1. I want somebody who can negotiate. Let’s say all the machines are full at 10 p.m. I’d want John to ask the players how long they are planning to play, and can he have the machine then? The best deal is that he gets the machine at 4 a.m. and doesn’t have to give it back. Then he can give it to me at 11 a.m. and if he wants another shift, he can have one.

The person negotiating is negotiating for the partnership, but if the best he can get is some time on the machine for himself and nothing for me, he should take that. Sometimes a machine will open up later. 

Let’s say he can get a deal where he can have the machine from 4 a.m. to noon, and then has to give it back to the guy who gave him the machine. After he has the machine at 4 a.m. he asks the others how long they are going to play. Sometimes he can work something out where somebody is going to want to leave at 10 a.m. and is willing to give that machine to me at that time.

  1. I want somebody who doesn’t have a lot of baggage. There are players in every jurisdiction who aren’t well-liked or well-trusted. Other players won’t be so willing to negotiate with somebody they dislike.
  2. I want somebody who can play for at least six or eight hours. I need my sleep between shifts. If the best somebody can do is hold a machine for two hours, that usually isn’t useful to me. Although it could be in a particular situation.
  3. I want somebody who will be playing with his own money and won’t likely run out mid-shift. A dollar Five Play game can go through a lot of money during an eight-hour shift, when things go badly. How badly depends upon what game you’re playing. So how much money is that player planning on bringing? If I’m told, $3,000, then I know this isn’t the right partner. While it could possibly be enough, very likely that person will be behind more than $3,000 during the shift. And if that happens, the machine won’t be available to me later.
  4. If the machine allows for it, I don’t care if the player I’m switching machines with is playing for the same stakes I am or not. On the Quick Quads machines I mentioned last week, you could play for quarters, halves, or dollars — Triple Play, Five Play, or Ten Play. Since it was a six-coins-per-line game, this meant you could play for the same odds for several different total bets between $4.50 and $60. Someone playing for $4.50 a play is just as suitable to me as a player playing $60. Each of us is at a different place bankroll-wise.

I keep note of who has agreed to share machines with me. This means I need to repay the favor down the road. The deal may be between John and me this week, but if there’s a way to give Harry a few hours, that takes precedence over giving the machine away to a complete stranger.

It’s a fairly small world of players wanting to play the same sized games as you during a promotion. You have to treat others appropriately. The maxim, “What goes around comes around,” applies here.

So, let’s say I have my partner. I start first and he gets to take over at 6 a.m. Next week, I want to discuss how the changeover happens if there are other players waiting for the first empty machine.

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A Look at: “Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk”

Bob Dancer

Billy Walters, a legendary sports gambler, finally writes an autobiography. For those who wish to share his success at betting football and other sports, he gives the “from 30,000 feet view” of his secret sauce. He prints the factors his computer programmers take into consideration, but you’re going to have to do your own analysis and come up with your own numbers. 

Although he ended up wildly rich and successful, his life didn’t start out that way and it was a very bumpy ride. He was raised in rural Kentucky by his grandmother, and he started gambling at a very young age. He presents himself as a degenerate gambler and alcoholic going through several dozen boom-and-bust cycles until he finally got his ducks in a row. He is not at all shy about recounting his many, many failures along his road to success.

One of his “secrets” is that he performs very well under pressure — and is not afraid to go broke if he calculates the odds being in his favor. He is a very good golfer, but even better at sizing up his opponents. Hustling at pool and golf taught him many secrets for getting money out of bookies. He is very good at applying what he has learned in one circumstance and applying it in another.

The Federal Government tried to convict him numerous times throughout his life. He was able to beat all the raps — except the last one, where he was convicted for insider trading. He maintains his innocence and blames Phil Mickelson for his conviction. Walters contends that if Mickelson had testified at Walters’ trial and simply told the truth, Walters would never have been convicted.

Although Walters has nothing nice to say about Mickelson (or Steve Wynn, for that matter), this is not a sour grapes book. He did his time, and now is helping others who do not have his financial resources to beat the prison system. Still, this is just one side of it. I’m pretty sure Mickelson would have a very different take on what went down.

Although there are dozens of specific stories in this book, Walters is not a particularly good storyteller. Many of his adventures would make a good plot for a thriller, but Walters recounts the stories in a rather matter-of-fact manner.  Billy Walters was one of those gamblers that Richard and I lusted over having on our Gambling with an Edge podcast. But Walters was in prison for much of the GWAE run and didn’t do many interviews. So, we never got him on the show. Now Walters is doing more interviews promoting this book than he ever did previously.

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Lord Have Mercy

How Special Is It?

More than thirty years ago, country music artist Travis Tritt recorded a song called “Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man.” The song is about the social injustices suffered by blue-collar workers.

One of the lines in the song is, “Why’s the rich man busy dancing while the poor man pays the band?” Today I’d like to apply that line to the gambling situation.

In gambling, it’s not so much the rich man versus the poor man, but rather the knowledgeable player versus the rest of the gamblers. While knowledgeable players sometimes have money, earning money in a casino and being wealthy are not the same thing at all. Casinos make most of their money off of well-heeled gamblers who buck the odds and lose.

Video poker is not a game where the losing players give money to the winning players. At least not directly. Indirectly, however, casinos take money from the losing players, give that money to the winning players, and hold out a percentage of that money for expenses and profit.

My goal in a casino is to be the player who is “busy dancing,” both literally and figuratively, while the losing players end up paying for my ride. I want to enjoy winning, dining, hotel rooms, cruises, and various other goodies while actually accumulating money during the process. It doesn’t always work out that way, of course, but that’s my goal.

Obviously, only a relatively few players manage to do this over time. Casinos need to make money overall in order to stay in business. But if losing players lose enough, that leaves enough for the knowledgeable players to enjoy the fruits of the game while still keeping the casinos afloat.

There are problem gamblers whose addiction causes considerable pain and hardship for their families. While I know these people exist, and their losing contributes to the money from which I’m paid, I largely ignore this aspect of gambling. I don’t know anything I can do to ease this problem.

I’ve been questioned periodically whether or not I feel guilty letting others pay for my good times, and my answer is always, “No.” I believe that players, problem gamblers aside, have a choice as to whether or not they gamble. 

Players know that overall, casinos win. Not from every player. Not all the time. But most players realize the odds are stacked against them. Some of us believe we have a system that works. Some of us are correct in this belief. Most aren’t.

Many players who wish to join the ones receiving these benefits can join the ranks by studying. Not everybody is up to learning how to play well, but many are. Even if you are intellectually capable of learning how to play well, it takes effort and discipline — and many aren’t up to that.

For me personally, I’ve tried backgammon, blackjack, poker, and sports betting. I’ve become convinced that I don’t have what it takes to succeed in those games — except sometimes when lucrative promotions are in effect. For whatever reason, I can do it in video poker and can’t do it in the other games. 

Each person has to work out which game, if any, is his/her path to gambling success. If you can do it— great. If you can’t, you are going to be a person who donates money to more successful gamblers. If that idea is offensive to you, then your choices are to get better at one of these games, quit gambling altogether, or learn to live with big losses in the casinos.

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Powering Through

Bob Dancer

After our cruise, Bonnie and I flew from Athens, Greece to Atlanta (via Washington DC) on October 1. Since Atlanta is much closer to Harrah’s Cherokee than Las Vegas is, we decided before the trip that we’d stop in Cherokee for three days and then fly on home.

We get mailers from Cherokee, and there are other promotions, and suffice it to say that I felt the odds were in our favor. The only drawback was that we hadn’t been home in more than a month. 

After a 25-hour travel day, we finally reached Cherokee — exhausted. Our vacation wasn’t turning out to be so relaxing. And our physical ailments were much more severe than they were when we booked the trip.

On Monday morning, October 2, I went to the casino to play. I had some sort of a head cold and wasn’t feeling very perky, but still, I can play competent NSU Deuces Wild pretty automatically. So, I powered through the play, losing $6,000 the first day. (That’s pretty much what it’s like playing Deuces Wild when you connect on neither a royal nor a set of four deuces.)

We both went to sleep fairly early Monday night, both because jet lag still affected us and, though my cold wasn’t very severe, it was still there.

Tuesday and Wednesday were much the same. We didn’t feel very well, but I powered through the play. I lost both days. This side trip to Cherokee turned out to be a loser, offsetting most of what we were ahead during our time there before the cruise. Still, the fact that my actual score turned out negative this time doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have gone.

Another long travel day and we got home Wednesday night. We both grabbed a quick bite, went to bed, and would deal with everything else the following day. Including getting ready for our next trip. 

Starting Saturday morning, just a few days later, we were booked into a Seven Stars event in Reno. As I went to bed Wednesday, I didn’t even want to think about Reno. I just wanted to sleep.

Thursday morning, I felt much better than I had in Cherokee. Bonnie had a sore throat and other symptoms. We decided we should take Covid tests. Which we did, and we both tested positive. 

My medical insurance has a 24-hour “Senior Help Line.” I called in, saying basically, “I tested positive on a home Covid test. Now what?”

I was asked about specific symptoms, including most which I knew about and one, mental confusion, which I hadn’t realized was a symptom. I was told to isolate, drink a lot of liquids, and treat it like a common cold. Over the counter cough syrups may or may not help. For most of us who’ve had the Covid vaccines and boosters, which includes Bonnie and me, that’s sufficient. If the symptoms significantly worsen or remain for more than a week, then I should get medical treatment. I shouldn’t be contagious after the fourth day.

I figured we had it since Monday and would no longer be contagious by Saturday. Reno was theoretically still on the table. It was a trip where we had a pretty sizeable edge and I’m very good at powering through these kinds of plays. 

Then I looked at the strategy of the game I would be playing there. It was a game that I had 100% mastered when we played there six weeks ago. I figured I’d be up to that level again with a ten to fifteen minutes review. I’ve been putting accurate video poker strategies into my short-term memory for more than two decades. It’s part of my process and I’m good at it.

This time, though, it was different. I looked at this strategy uncomprehendingly. It was way more complicated than I wanted to deal with. This was mental confusion. It was now I realized that I was sicker than I thought I was. I told Bonnie that what I thought was best was that instead of powering through, we should power down and skip Reno this weekend. She sighed and said, “Thank you very much.” Bonnie lets me make the decisions on gambling and she would have followed my lead. But clearly, we were both feeling poorly and, in our saner moments, it was clear we should stay home.

So, I texted my host and told him we were staying home because of Covid. 

I’m surprised it took me so long to make the decision to not go. I try to eat healthily, but sometimes I forget that taking care of myself is more than just eating right. It includes allowing my body to recuperate when it needs to. Dragging Bonnie around when she’s not at her best is a terrible move in many ways. As positive as this play was, there will be others for me in the future. If I keep myself alive to play them.

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Spinach!

Bob Dancer

I was playing $5 NSU Deuces Wild at Harrah’s Cherokee on a recent Seven Stars trip. This casino is one of many that will not let you accumulate credits on your machine greater than $2,999.99. If I have $2,900 in credits immediately after the deal and I end up with a $100 quad or full house, the machine will “spit” out a $100 ticket and I’ll keep the $2,900 in accumulated credits. 

Continue reading Spinach!