Recently, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, a lucky quarter video poker player, with a $1.25 bet, collected more than $150,000 for a sequential royal flush.
I’ve received a number of inquiries asking things such as: Was I said lucky player? (no) Was it a play with a positive expectation? (yes) and, If I had known about how large the jackpot had grown, would I have been playing it? (absolutely not!)
Continue reading Big Sequential Royal JackpotIn my post last week, I discussed switching hotels for fun and practical reasons. Click on the link if you haven’t read it.
In this week’s post, I offer up some tips on how to minimize the logistical hassles of moving from one hotel to another at least once and up to several times during a trip to Las Vegas.
Continue reading Since You Asked — Hotel Hopping Part 2At www.gamblingwithanedge.com , in the comments section for a recent blog post of mine, a poker player said he had two stop limits–one for being ahead and on for being behind. (It’s possible he uses the same amount for each. He didn’t say.) He wanted to know if winning video poker players use this system as well.
In all gambling, money management is important. One of the key elements is being able to stay in the game. If you go broke, you’re out of the action.
Continue reading When Do You Quit?Author’s note: I ran this originally in December 2009, while I was teaching classes at the Eastside Cannery.
After this was published, Andy and Sharon became good friends with Shirley and me, and later Bonnie and me. Recently Sharon, real name Phillis, died after dealing with a brain tumor for years. Reprinting this article is one way to say, “Rest in Peace, Phillis.”
Continue reading A Sexy CorrelationEvery Vegas-goer is at different stages in their Vegas “careers.” I’m 49 years old and semi-retired, so a Vegas trip now is different for me than it was 20 years ago or even 10.
I love the sun, the pools, and the warm weather. That always used to be part of the appeal of Las Vegas for me. I spent most of my life living on Long Island, where pool season runs from late May/early June until late August/early September. But now I live in Florida, where pool season runs from late January until early January.
Continue reading Since You Asked — Hotel HoppingListeners to our podcast know I typically end with the line, “Go out and hit a royal flush!” Colin Jones, the owner of blackjackapprenticeship.com, one of the sponsors of our podcast, has numerous podcasts of his own in which he typically ends with, “Keep generating EV!”
Not that I’m planning on changing, but I like Colin’s ending better than mine! It’s far closer to what I believe intelligent gamblers should do.
Continue reading What’s in a Phrase?Have you ever dreamed of meeting a celebrity in Vegas? Well, you can!
I once saw Patrick Ewing playing blackjack at Bellagio. He played mostly good basic strategy, except he split 4s on one hand. That’s part of the reason he was losing stacks of $10,000 chips.
Continue reading Since You Asked—Madame Tussaud and Her Wax CelebritiesAuthor’s note: I’ve become very active recently in the storyteller community. I’ve appeared on several national shows — all via Zoom. I’ve won a few competitions, but have lost far more than I’ve won.
This story is about a video poker promotion which happened 24 years ago. Although a story is different than a regular blog, I hope my readers will enjoy it. It describes a variant about something many of you have experienced before.
Continue reading Valentine’s DayYou can actually have a good time at Circus Circus.
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Continue reading Since You Asked — A Good Time at Circus CircusAuthor’s note: Sometimes I get criticized for “bragging about my success.” The unusual feature at Dotty’s I’m discussing today is only relevant when you do have success. Like all players, I have good and bad weeks — and this one was a good one. So, if you get annoyed at me talking about one week when I was successful playing the game, better skip this week’s article.
As I write this, my last trip to Dotty’s was less than a week ago. It was a much, much better trip than average. And I still don’t know exactly how well I did! I will know before you read this, so I will note my actual results at the bottom, but this is intended to describe my thought processes before I know. That’s typically when you have to make your decisions.
Continue reading They Make You Wait