Page 24 - April 2014 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Bob Dancer: Video Poker
ItDepends
was helping Bonnie learn an advanced square dancing move called “Cast a Shadow.” (I know this is my hobby and not yours, but bear with me. We’ll get to video poker shortly.) is is a move that starts out with two parallel lines composed of four dancers in each line.
Without describing the move in detail, I was asking her in which direction the dancers on the ends of the lines turned rst. First she guessed “right,” (which I told her was wrong), and so then she guessed “left” (which I told her was also wrong). is frustrated her. She (correctly) knew the only ways to turn were left and right, and now I was telling her neither was correct.
Actually, the dancers are supposed to turn away from the other dancers in the line. So if this dancer happened to start out on the right end of the line, that dancer should turn right. If that
Similarly, in Jacks or Better, a high pair is always better than these 3-card royals. But when you go to Double Bonus, Double Double Bonus, and other similar games,
dancer happened to start “Another example is whether out at the left end of the line,
that dancer should turn left. Bonnie agreed with the instruction, but wished it weren’t so complicated.
At the easier levels of
square dancing, some
moves are de ned so that
you always start with the
right hand (like “swing
thru”) and some moves
always start with the left
hand (like “allemande left”).
In the more advanced levels
of square dancing—and
life—more and more of
the moves fall into the “it depends” category.
e same “it depends” thinking often applies to video poker.
When you are rst learning Jacks or Better, for example, it’s correct to say that 4-card ushes are less valuable than 3-card royals (e.g. AKQ, AKJ, AKT, AQJ,
AQT, AJT, KQJ, KQT, KJT, QJT). As you become more advanced, you learn it depends on which 3-card royal we’re talking about and what the fth card is.
Calling this mental exibility is probably close to being
correct. Intelligent people are generally able to deal with “it depends” situations better than not-so-intelligent folks (although there are some geniuses who are completely in exible)andyoungerpeopletendtobemore exiblein
their thinking than senior citizens.
Perhaps my point in this column is obvious, but
whenever I’ve seen a list of attributes of gambling winners, I’ve never seen anything like: “Deals well with ‘it depends’ situations,” but I’m pretty sure that it should be high up on the list somewhere.
Professional video poker player Bob Dancer’s radio show Gambling With An Edge, is on Thursday evenings 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Paci c 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. Paci c Time.
it’s better to gamble at Casino A or Casino B. The correct answer depends on what stakes you play for? What games do you know how to play? What promotionsaregoingonat the time?”
sometimes this is no longer true. And sometimes it again depends on the fth card in the hand.
Another example is whether it’s better to gamble at Casino A or Casino B. e correct answer depends on what stakes you play for? What games do you know how to play? What promotions are going on at the time? Are you a local or out- of-towner? Do you need to get a certain amount of play done so you get your standard mailer? Are
things such as entertaining others in your party a factor? Do you feel safer at one of the casinos? Et cetera. No casino can possibly a ord to be looser in all respects than every other casino. Each casino has its vulnerabilities, and the better players look to exploit them. And the correct answer will usually be,“It depends.”
People have di erent capabilities of dealing with “it depends” situations. Logicians and mathematicians regularly deal with this: “If A is true then we should ...”
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PAGE 24
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
APRIL 2014