Page 24 - July 2009 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Bob Dancer: Video Poker
MCan It Be Right to Play Hunches?
any people have asked me whether I ever make a play “on a hunch,” or do I ever “go with my gut?” I always answer in the negative. I trust Video Poker for Winners and the other tools I have to give me the right answers. I have plenty of personal evidence
that if you continually make the right mathematical decisions your bankroll will continue to grow over time.
I came across a quotation recently that seems to apply to this type of situation. Marilyn vos Savant wrote, “If your head tells
you one thing and your
heart tells you another, before you do anything you should rst decide whether you have a better head or a better heart.”
I don’t know the context
in which she was writing,
but I suspect it had to do
with making romantic
decisions. I’m going to
take her statement out of
context, change her use
of the word “heart” to “gut,” and apply the concept to video poker.
Over the years I’ve read a lot of police detective novels and watched these stories on television or at the movies. Frequently the police hero of the story knows “in his gut” that a particular suspect is guilty of something, but can’t prove it. Yet. (Not until the conclusion of the story.)
Time and time again, however, it’s said in these novelsthatthesepoliceo cers“trusttheirgut.”Forme personally, the only thing I trust about my gut is that
whether a particular machine is a good gamble or a bad gamble. ese people are forced to go with their gut, because they don’t know enough about the game to usefully use their head.
My articles are geared toward helping readers learn to pro tably use your head. I’m not positive that’s the best way to go, but since it’s what I do and I’m the teacher here, that’s the way I’m going to teach. I can’t teach you how to use your gut because I don’t know how to do it myself.
ere are lots of ways to think. My way may or may not work for you. I strongly suggest that whenever you receive well-meaning advice (from me or anybody else), that you lter it through your own belief system and see if it works for you. Or if it can be modi ed to work for you. And you can use either your gut, your head (or even your heart) to do this.
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 his new book, Video Poker for Intelligent Beginners, Winner’s Guides, strategy cards, 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 or at 1-800-244-2224 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Paci c Time.
“Idon’tbetonsportsbecause there I bet with my heart or my gut. I’ve bet enough doing this to know that my record isn’t a winning one. I’m an analytical sort of guy. I trust my
calculations. I trust my head.”
it will keep growing!
I don’t bet on sports
because there I bet with my heart or my gut. I’ve bet enough doing this to know that my record isn’t a winning one. I’m an analytical sort of guy. I trust my calculations. I trust my head. (Shirley will tell you that that keeps growing too!)
What I get from the vos Savant quotation is that some people are better o going with their gut and some people are better o going with their head. I think of video poker as applied mathematics, and I try to play like a well-programmed computer would.
But others think of video poker as a fun way to gamble. ey don’t know all of the odds. ey don’t know all of the best plays. ey don’t even know
Page 24
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
July 2009
Video Poker with Bob Dancer