A MOTOR CITY MEETING
"Players who only play when they have a theoretical advantage, by
the large, are winning players. Players who choose their casinos
based on how loose their poker schedules are, by the large, are
winning players. Players who practice on a computer and take classes
to improve their play, by the large, are winning players. Players who
tend to only play on double point days, by the large, are winning
players. Players who have learned the correct play and make it a
practice never to deviate from the correct play, by the large, are
winning players."
--Bob Dancer
I left work Friday at 11:30 and old VP Pappy and I headed for
Detroit to spend the day playing video poker and meet some other vp
players. The players were all people who live in the Detroit area and
post on vpFreeDetroit and can play the games almost computer perfect.
It will be nice to talk to some gamblers who know what the hell I'm
talking about when I mention such terms as perfect play, expected
return, percentage of payback, and NSUD.
My first stop was good old (if you can call 3 or 4 years old) MGM
Casino. I hadn't been there for awhile ever since they started
changing the pay schedules to squeeze a few more pennies out of the
already beleaguered blue-collered Detroit vp players. But, I wanted
to check out their new ticket, instead of coins pay out vp machines.
Upon entering the place, I went to the bar to see if they still had
full-pay Pick'Em that they had the last time I was here. Yup, they
still had a few, and just like before, there were people playing on
the 96% ones when right next to the machines that paid almost 100%. I
used to think that they just didn't know and if I informed them of
this disparity, they would quickly switch machines to play the better
ones. Wrong! Most kept pointing out that they were on the one that
paid the 10,000 credits for a royal flush and that was what they were
really playing for. And when I pointed out that a royal on this game
occurred about once every 352,000 hands or so, and that there were
some players who, after playing for several years, still hadn't hit
one, it still didn't seem to make any difference to them.
"You can lead a gambler to a casino, but you can't make him think."
--VP Pappy
Since the pay schedule was right, and I had about $1200 dollars on
me, I decided to play a little as long as I was here. I put in
hundred was off and running. Up and down I on the credit meter
I went until I was up about $75. VP said "Leave you idiot, we could
use the money to pay for our drinks." But, and how many times during
gambling sessions have we all been at some point when we stopped and
said to our self, "Self, this is a good time to take a small
profit and run."... Nah, I'll quit when I win a $100. Twenty minutes
later I lost not only the $75, but the original hundred as well. Will
we ever learn? Probably not.
Next I went to the player's Booth to redeem a $40 free-play coupon
that they sent me in the mail. Not only did they redeem this coupon,
but they also redeemed an expired one, which I thought was very nice
of them. I got all choked up about it or maybe it was just
all that cigarette smoke in the building.
Walking over to the progressive bank to play some 9/7/5 DB, I
noticed all the brand-new-ticket-out-machines lined up in a row. I
put in my card and punched in my pin number, them waited for the free-
play credits to rack up. After a few minutes and nothing showing on
the screen, I asked the woman next to me if she had done this before.
She was nice enough to give me the low-down on how it worked. First,
you have to put some money in. Then when you play the credits ring up
onto your total a little bit each hand as you play. I guess this is
so you won't just take the free credits and run. Originally I had
put $40 in and when I got up to $100 I cashed out and got this slip
of paper to take to the cashier's cage.
I next went upstairs to visit my old friends who work in the
sport's bar, formerly Venti Uno. Venti Uno used to be VP Pappy and
myself's favorite retreat. It was our hangout, our home away from
home when we were on a gambling session in Detroit. We knew everyone
there and were treated like one of the crew. I spotted Lazell, the
friendly host and got a warm hug from her. We talk awhile and then I
left to go to Motor City Casino.
"Never fall in love with a casino. They will only break your heart."
--VP Pappy
Motor City was jumping when I got there. All the blackjack tables
were crowded as well as the roulette ones. (and this at three in the
afternoon) I also couldn't find an open seat at the progressive video
poker bank, so VP got a beer at the bar and I wandered around for
awhile checking to see if there was anything new.
When I got back, there was an empty seat waiting fore me. I played
NSUD for several hours and at 6:15 cashed out down a few bucks and
headed for the bar to meet some people whom I only knew off the
internet.
The bar was not too crowded with only a few people sitting around
sipping drinks. Now let me see, who looks like they would be video
poker players? I went up to one guy who looked like the type,
although I had no idea what the hell a vp player would look like, and
said "Hi, are you from vpFree?" He looked at me with a startled look
and said, "What the *%#+* are you talking about?" I quickly made my
retreat, got a glass of wine, and took a seat and waited. I finally
spotted this small group sitting in the corner, figured that they
were the ones because they looked so studious, and went over and
introduced my self.
They were Dan and Lynne and Johnny Zee. Later, Jerry and Brenda
showed up to round out our little group of supposed expert vp
players. After talking for awhile and marveling over Jerry's cool PDA
that had "Win Poker" downloaded on it, we went out for dinner at the
deli. Later, we all went to different places in the casino to play
some vp. Dan and Lynne went to the progressive bank to play NSUD,
Johnnyzee and I went upstairs to play some triple-play 9/6/4 JB, and
Jerry and Brenda went someplace else or maybe home.
"Consider Jack's or Better as the Hershey bar of the video poker
candy store; classic, reliable, straightforward, and
simply satisfying."
--Andrew Brisman
Johnyzee and I struggled to get and stay ahead on the triple-play
machines until John said he'd had enough and retired for the night. I
hung in there until I finally got a quad dealt to me and got back to
even. I quickly cashed out and headed back downstairs. The bad thing
about playing Jack's or Better is that once you get behind, it's hard
to catch back up unless you hit a royal because of the small amount
you get for a four-of-a-kind.(125 credits)
Back at the progressive bank, Dan and Lynne seemed to be doing
alright as Lynne said she hit the four deuces and Dan said he was up
for the night. When they were leaving, I got a hug from Lynne and a
handshake from Dan. Just then old VP Pappy showed up as expected and
said, "Hey, where's my hug?" After he got a big hug from Dan and a
handshake from Lynne, he headed back to the bar grunbling.
After they left, I lost about $200 playing NSUD.(Rats!) At 12:30 I
finally found VP again (at the bar, where else?) and we left.
On the way home, being in a mellow mood after a long day of
gambling and talking to interesting people, I popped in a Steely Dan
CD and VP and I cruised home with their cool, jazzy sounds blowing
through the burned out windmills of our minds.
"Gambling is a most foolish and impudent pursuit."
--Fyodor Dostoevsky
Talk to all you vp players again, TM & VP