Page 12 - November 2006 • Southern California Gaming Guide
P. 12

Bob Dancer: Video Poker
OSharp Angles Can Cut You
ne casino was o ering a Card of the Day (cod) promotion, where players hitting the designated cod receive a jackpot of from 100 to 125 coins, depending on the denomination. Each player receives a di erent cod, which he won’t know until he
comes into the casino and swipes his players club card through the kiosk.
(including players club but not the value of the direct mail) into a 100.25% game. On the $5 machine I play, at 800 hands per hour, this 0.25% advantage is worth $50 per hour.
It o cially starts at midnight, but occasionally I start early. Once I got to the casino at 11:30 p.m. and started playing.  e only time the promotion takes e ect is when you end up with a natural four of a kind, and they don’t happen all that often. At 12:05 a.m., I connected on four 7s. Was that my cod? I didn’t know. I hadn’t been over to the kiosk yet to check. Leaving my slot club card in the machine, I used a duplicate card and went to the kiosk. When I did, I discovered that my cod for that day was jacks, so I didn’t gain anything that time by starting early.
But sometimes I will. Starting a half-hour early on a promotion that returns $50 an hour gains me $25 each time I do it, on average. I’m not going to cash it in very frequently, but sometimes I will.
Is this cheating? I don’t really think so, but others might argue di erently. I see a big di erence between my doing it myself and using a partner. I might start a half-hour early, but I de nitely won’t start three hours early. Waiting around for a relatively short period of time for midnight to come around may well go unnoticed. Waiting around for hours while not playing will not go unnoticed.
What will happen if I am caught? Probably nothing. A  oor man could decide not to pay me if I hit a hand at 11:50 and sat around for twelve minutes, but I doubt that will happen. I tip when I get my $625 cod bonus
and the  oor men who aren’t brand new know this. It isn’t blatant cheating and most casino employees would choose to let it go.
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, his autobiography Million Dollar Video Poker, and his two novels including, Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. Dancer’s products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com.
Someone recently asked me whether this could easily be abused. Let’s say Chuck and Don were friends, and Chuck’s cod was a 4 and Don’s cod was a 5. If they were playing side by side and four 4s came up on Don’s machine, couldn’t Chuck
slide over to that machine
and claim the bonus? And
then both players would
continue to play until
one of them landed four
then it’s face the music time. And even if you get booted out of “only one” casino for integrity reasons, casino employees change jobs periodically and one might well remember that you were busted for cheating
5s and then Don would claim his bonus. A pretty sharp move, somebody suggested.
Perhaps, and also very much against the rules, and a casino will be well justi ed in tossing both Chuck and Don out of the casino if they are caught at such shenanigans. With good reason.
Will you be caught? How can you know in advance?  e  oor people are supposed to check to see whose players club card is in the machine when the cod is hit. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.
For whatever reason, a
 oor person might have
noticed that the guy with the white shirt was seated to the left of the guy with the blue shirt, and if the order is reversed when the cod is on one of the screens, it’s easy to call security cameras and verify the fraud. And
The only time the promotion takes effect is when you end up with a naturalfourofakind,andthey don’t happen all that often. At
12:05 a.m., I connected on four 7s. Was that my cod? I didn’t know. I hadn’t been over to the kiosk
yet to check. Leaving my slot club card in the machine, I used a duplicate card and went to the kiosk. When I did, I discovered
that my cod for that day was jacks, soIdidn’tgainanythingthattime
by starting early.”
somewhere else. Casinos often use the philosophy of “once a person proves they are a cheat, it is wise to always consider them a cheat.” Do you wish to be categorized that way?
In my Million Dollar Video Poker autobiography,
I confessed to some pretty shady moves many years ago that I wouldn’t dare try now that I am reasonably well known. With that background, it would be hypocritical for me to take a self-righteous position and say that this move was so unethical that I wouldn’t consider it under any conditions. But I can tell you that the way I see the risk- reward equation today, I think this would be very shortsighted to try.  ere are not so many good plays today that you can a ord to lose your right
to play because of being branded a cheater.
One thing I still might try is a little bit “sharp”, but I don’t consider it dangerous.  e cod promotion on a nsu Deuces Wild machine turns a 99.93% game
“Once I got to the casino at 11:30 p.m. and started playing.
Page 12
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
November 2006
Video Poker with Bob Dancer


































































































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