Page 8 - August 2004 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
Maintaining Concentration by Bob Dancer
Video poker is a very repetitious game. Most hands are very easy for most people to play — even if they play them wrong! For example, in Double Bonus, Q♥ Q♠ 7♦ 7♣ 5♥ is a no-brainer for most people, whether they make the correct play of
Q-Q-7-7 or the incorrect play of Q-Q. ey have decided long ago how they are going to play such a hand and they just go through the motions whenever it comes up.
But there are a number of hands that are tricky and require your attention, such as with 5♥ 7♥ 8♥ A♠ Q♠ do you hold the hearts or the spades? (Either could be cor- rect. Depends on the game.) I have seen players speed through such hands, appar- ently making a guess every time or they have really mastered this game.
To be a winning player, you need to be alert so that you can play the tough hands well. This is not a trivial thing. I know of two gaming writers that are not full-time players (even though they have the knowledge to be successful) because they can’t concentrate
had the 7♦ been the 5♦ instead, I would
have had my 4-of-a-kind, which are also
call quads. So I hold the three fives and
draw. Assuming I don’t connect, I add two
more to my count because I had two chances to
usually don’t play until the conversation stops. If I cannot concentrate enough to keep count, then I cannot concentrate enough to play correctly.
If I am playing Double Bonus, I usually count two each for trip 2s, 3s and 4s and three each for each chance I get at aces. Straight flushes count one in this game and I count 5 for a royal scare.
Will this counting technique work for you? I have no idea. I have had people come back and tell me that it really helped them, and I have had others tell me that they were so busy concentrating on the stupid count that they made silly mistakes in the play!
So it might not work for you. But if you ever find your mind wandering while playing video poker, I suggest you give it a try. After all, if you want to succeed at this game you have to get close to
100% of all of the hands correct. Very close. And a wandering mind will prevent this from happening.
Bob Dancer is America’s best-known video poker writer and teacher. He has a variety of “how to play better video poker” products, including Winner’s Guides, strategy cards, videos, and the award- winning computer software, Bob Dancer Presents WinPoker, and a brand-new book Million Dollar Video Poker. Dancer’s products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com.
well enough for long enough. The current buzzword for this is add, which stands for Attention Deficit Disorder.
One of the secrets to my success is my ability to focus on what I am doing for a long period of time. Whether this
make it. So on this deal- and-draw sequence, my count went up by three.
What if I lose count along the way? No big deal. I just start from about where I last remember. I frequently start a session and tell myself that I will play until a count of 500, which might take me several hours. At the end of 500, I might extend that to 1,000.
And the next time I go play, I start my count over again.
So what we have is me keeping track of a totally useless number while
I am playing. How can this possibly help?
How it helps is that I am focused on every hand.
Keeping the count requires concentration. And it is really the game I am concentrating on. I cannot keep a count while I am talking to somebody, so I
“tunnel vision” is a good
or bad thing is a matter
of perspective. I can
easily sit down and
write articles even if
the dishes are not done
andthebedisnotmade.
Shirley couldn’t possibly focus on writing with all this “clutter” around her. Maybe it’s a good thing we found each other!
“To be a winning player, you
need to be alert so that you can play the tough hands well. This is not a trivial thing.
I know of two gaming writers that are not full-time players (even though they have the knowledge to be successful) because they can’t concentrate
well enough for long enough.”
When I am playing video poker, I generally count quad scares. What that means is if I get dealt 4♥ 5♠ 5♥ 5♣ 7♦, I add one to my count because
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Page 8 August 2004
Column: Video Poker With Bob Dancer