Page 24 - August 2011 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Bob Dancer: Video Poker
WIhat Is Most Important?
frequently get asked for the one secret to winning video poker. Here it is. Get ready to write this down. e secret is that there is no single secret to winning.
Winning is analogous to juggling maybe ve di erent balls at once. You have to keep them all in the air. Concentrating too much on the red one may well allow the blue one or the yellow one to fall.
Let me talk about each of the balls you have to keep in the air. e order isn’t critical. Let any one hit the ground and you won’t be successful.
1. Learn which games o er returns in excess of 100% when you include the players club, the mailers, and other promotions. Di erent casinos in Southern California have di erent games, but several of these casinos allow knowledgeable players to play with an edge, if these players know which games to play and how to play them. A list of the best games at most casinos in the country may be found at vpfree2.com.
2. Learn how to play these games well. And I mean very well. e truth of the matter is that the best players (i.e., those that learn the games perfectly) only have a small advantage. So if you don’t play well, over 99.5% perfectly, any potential advantage you have will be wiped out. I do not believe it is possible to learn to play this well without a lot of practice on a computer. You need to develop (or buy) a strategy for how to play the games. And you need to concentrate when you are playing, and only play while at your best.
3. Do not play any game where you do not have the advantage. It is one thing to learn which games are best, and how to play them. It is another thing to avoid betting on other games. You’d be amazed at how many advantage video poker players also play
ree Card Poker, or some other casino game where they do not have the advantage at all. I sometimes get e-mails from people who tell me they were in a casino, and they couldn’t nd a pro table game, so they played 8/5 Jacks because it was the best game available. Nonsense! You do not need to play. Scout
out other casinos. Find a good game for your next trip. And if there are no good games in your area, go someplace else to gamble next time.
4. Accumulate a su cient bankroll. You have to have money to make money. For some people, saving money comes naturally. For others, it is impossible.
And you know the principles of how to accumulate a bankroll. Get a job (or a second job). Spend less than you make. Invest wisely. Times are hard now, and lots of people have nancial troubles. I understand that, but casino games don’t get easier just because you don’t have the money. Gambling is a luxury, and frankly, many people need to concentrate on the basics in life, and forget about the luxuries just now.
A related point is to keep the bankroll after you get it. It is one thing to sacri ce for three years to amass, for example, $10,000. It is quite another to stay in that mode inde nitely. ere can be considerable pressure from family (e.g. vacations, tuition, a new car), or just plain life (e.g. the roof is leaking), to spend a large part of your bankroll. Everybody’s situation is di erent. ere are often no unique right answers. And sometimes, without a doubt, the best answer is to spend the bankroll on something else.
5. Learn to deal with the inevitable nancial swings. You will sometimes lose for weeks straight. Or more.
Even when always having the advantage and playing perfectly, sometimes the breaks don’t come your way.
ings will usually turn around if you keep at it, but if the swings along the way send you on a major tilt, you’re better o nding a di erent hobby.
None of these ve things is particularly di cult. A large number of people successfully master one or more of them. But, for whatever reason, probably 99+% of casino visitors will let at least one of these balls hit the ground.
You can look at this as being depressing if you wish. After all, if 99% of people haven’t been able to do it, why should you be able to? On the other hand, I recommend you look at it as a road map. If you want to succeed, this is what you have to do. Ask yourself: Can you learn do the things on this list? If the answer is “yes,” which it will
be for a large number of people, then winning is possible, as long as you follow the map.
Listen to Bob’s radio show Gambling With An Edge, on Thursday evenings 7 to 8 p.m. Pacific Time on radio station 1230 AM in Las Vegas online at klav1230am.com. Dancer’s products may be ordered at bobdancer.com or at 1-800-244-2224 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time.
PAGE 24
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
AUGUST 2011