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.

2. 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.

3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.