Deleted on vpFREE and Posted on FREEvpFREE
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Message # 51301
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To: vpFREE@Yahoogroups.com
From: "jw776655" <jw776655@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu Nov 10, 2005 8:35 pm
Subject: Re: 8 NOV 2005 Bob Dancer CasinoGaming Column
In this article Bob Dancer claims that his study of penalty cards is
what has put him in the top 5% of vp players.
I would suggest - assuming that he is indeed in the top 5% - that
several situations which he describes in his autobiographical "Million
Dollar Video Poker" (I suggest reading a library copy as I did - there
is nothing in this to help your play or refer to in the future) are much
more likely to describes his claimed success.
A) The book describes numerous situations in which he would find a
backer for a vp opportunity. If the opportunity lost money, he would let
the original agreement stand. But if he discovered that the opportunity
was extremely profitable, he would renege on his deal with his backer
and insist on a more favorable deal.
Many people would treat this situation honorably and stick with the
original agreement. Someone who stands by his original agreement in a
losing situation, but reneges and insists on a more profitable payoff in
a big winning situation, is going to earn more than someone who sticks
with the original agreement in all cases.
B)The book describes different examples of "shot taking" which made
money for Dancer. "Shot taking" is a term used to describe
questionable/unethical practices in a gambling situation. One example of
this would be Dancer mentioning that he bribed slot attendants during
one promotion.
Many would feel uncomfortable for moral/ethical reasons in taking such
actions. A player who does take shots is going to make more money than a
player who doesn't.
C)He also describes taking shots at friends. The book mentions a casino
having a promotion due to start in the evening. A friend asks when the
Dancers will arrive to be sure to get a machine. Bob replies "We'll be
here at x PM". The friend says "See you then". The Dancers then show up
several hours ahead of when Bob said they would and sit down. So the
Dancers get to take advantage of the promotion, while their friends are
shut out - taking Bob at his word, they arrive at the time he said he'd
be arriving, and find that they are too late to get a machine.
Many would not be willing to lie in this manner. A player who is willing
to lie to friends to obtain an advantage will make more money than a
player who is not willing to do this.
One recent example of his penalty card play - in a recent thread on a
Riviera promotion - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/message/49584 -
Dancer gives two penalty card situations for the special 9/6 Jacks pay
table of 239 SFL instead of 250 SFL. One of the penalty card situations
he cites turns out to be incorrect. The other - taking "QJ" with no
straight interference over SF3 0h0i, yields an ev on a $1 machine of
3.1214, versus 3.1193 - an advantage of 21 hundredths of one cent. On a
$5 vp play, an advantage of 1.05 cents.
The three examples I've given above are a much bigger reason imo for
Dancer's claimed success, than is the fact that he's memorized dozens of
penalty card situations which will let him grind out an additional few
pennies per hour - and that's assuming that the time wasted evaluating
the penalty card hands will not cost him money overall, a factor pointed
out by Paymar in his excellent book.