In Bob's defense I can tell you that his actions are simply par for the course for marathon tournaments of the type he described.
You aren't playing against the casino, you are in direct competition with the other players, and it's basically "all's fair in love and VP tournaments".
We used to use every strong arm tactic in the book and a few that aren't, to win those things. And if you don't do it to the competition, the competition does it to you.
The difference between using the types of tactics Bob used and not, is the difference between winning and losing. Considering $50,000 was on the line, I believe he may have under-reacted.
Try to put yourself in his shoes, with what most people make in a year on the line, and tell me honestly you wouldn't have done the same or worse.
~FK
P.S. For the record I'm not defending Bob specifically, because he's now my radio show co-host. I'm defending marathon tournament players in general, because I happen to be one with 17 first places and 1 second place (when I slow-played so my partner could take first) to my credit. In fact, I have never entered a tournament of this type, if I wasn't 100% sure I or my partner would take first.
Nice guys don't always end up last in life, but they do in VP tournaments.
···
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Daniel Marticello" <martret@...> wrote:
I don't believe that Bob should have tormented Joyce the way he did. In my opinion it was in very bad form.
----- Original Message -----
From: mikeymic
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 10:02 AM
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Bob Dancer's LV Advisor Column - 25 JAN 2011
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Neil" <nemartin2002@> wrote:
>
> --- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "vpFREE Administrator" <vpfreeadmin@> wrote:
> >
> > Bob Dancer's LV Advisor Column - 25 JAN 2011
> >
> > "Whom Do You Trust?"
> >
> >
> Very interesting, from the standpoint of "heady" $$ amounts and "long-term" perspective of a competitive event. But a particular comment in the article got me wondering: "The promotion ended on Wednesday, December 29, at midnight. On Tuesday afternoon I got a phone call from somebody saying that Joyce was playing again."
>
> Did the "heads-up" call come fron anyone affiliated with the casino/resort? And if so - would that have any bearing on the final standing?
>
> Neil M.
The notion of a casino employee contacting Mr. Dancer is certainly a possibility. But it honestly didn't occur to me.
Instead, I would assume Bob had a few friends around town keep an "eye on things" much the same way you or I would network in watching a specific progressive. It was a precaution since he knew his investment would be significant. Simple as that.
I don't always agree with him. But I do want to commend Mr. Dancer in his article for the honesty in reporting his losses during the event. Most of you understand the math and volatility of video poker. Yet others find a full-pay machine and still incorrectly fantasize that their loss size will somehow mirror that tiny percentage under 100% that the game takes from you long-term.
And then you learn the cold, hard truth that in the short run it just doesn't work that way.
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