Since I'm still having trouble with my normal address (and yes John &
Dick, I've already posted that this is me!) I'm giving you guys
something valuable to read that you can't get anywhere else today.
It's my article from my column in today's Gaming Today. Read it and
learn.....or more likely, weep!
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A Video Poker Romp Includes More Than Video Poker
By Rob Singer
It's really been an up and down year for me in playing video poker.
Since the beginning of 2005 I made a statement that I wasn't going to
be playing more than once a month, if that, and that I'd resume
normal for-profit play as soon as 2006 came along. It's basically
because I did so well last year, and with a new grandchild as well as
us preparing to move into a new home, the fewer trips to Nevada the
better at least for a while. And besides, it's so easy to do now
that I'm no longer addicted to playing as I once was and
the 'advantage video poker players are'--although they'll deny that
fact to their grave.
In the world of gambling, I've found that anything that is a catalyst
to an approach can and usually is often influenced by other
unforeseen occurrences that just happen. For instance, one of my
trips this year was an RFB/paid airfare trip to Harrah's New Orleans
in October. Obviously, not only has it been nullified it's also not
hardly important now in the grand scheme of things down there. I've
been to that amazing casino several times and played very sparingly,
but I was so overwhelmed by what happened that I felt compelled in
sending one average session's worth of profiting over my gaming
career to one of the relief agencies that are helping the city and
people get back to normal.
Since I drive almost every trip I make to Nevada, some people have
been asking me if the skyrocketing price of gasoline has had any
adverse effect on my gaming. If I were someone who tried to squeeze
out every hundredth of a percent from a machine and slot club as if
it really meant something, yes, rising gas prices would bother me as
much as a math geek is troubled by the amount of a tip he gives on a
hand pay
.or the worrying involved in seeing if he can `get away'
with stiffing the bartender or cocktail waitress after receiving a
free drink.
But thankfully, my play strategies make a lot more sense than all
that. All I need do is raise my overall session win goal $30-$40, and
crude oil never enters the equation. Such was the case on my latest
romp to various casinos that included a little over 1350 miles of
driving. In addition to continuing my strategy of running around
collecting as much free money and as many giveaways as the casinos
offer up in the mail, I played video poker with a win goal of $1000 +
the surcharge of $40 for gasoline.
Before I start, I know there's a question about what I'm
doing `collecting' cash coupons and free play, etc. Last year I
played a lot, and the offers from casino marketing departments
continuously get computer-generated for months after the last visit -
and many of them are very generous. This year with much less play, I
spread it around just enough so that the casinos get a `taste' of my
play just enough so that they can't resist continuing sending the
lucrative offers. It's like taking candy from a crying baby.
This trip was set up as part mini-vacation for my wife, and part for-
profit play for me. Our first stop was at Harrah's in San Diego.
Since out last visit a few years ago, this hotel/casino has only
gotten better. This time they sent me a free night, $100 in food, and
$150 in cash. This had to be a benefit of having a Diamond card,
since the last trip I may have flushed $300 through if that. After a
great meal at Fiore's and a good night's rest, we left with +$180. At
the beach in LA we had a nice morning barbeque under a very hot sun,
a quick swim, and we were off in the legendary Friday afternoon LA-
Las Vegas traffic up Interstate 15. Thank God I always use a rental
car for such journeys.
Our first stop when we finally arrived was at Sam's Town. No, I
usually don't stay in such a place, but they gave me $100 plus RFB,
so I grabbed the cash, won $60, ate dinner and left for the MGM. I
hadn't stayed here for maybe 4 years, and the check-in process as
well as collecting my meager $35 in free-play went relatively well.
The best part was that while playing the $35 through a short-pay
dollar Double Bonus Poker game, four Aces came up and we left with a
profit of $775 agter tossing a FH with three Aces. What....the
Einsteins out there say that the mathenatically correct play is not
only right in the mysterious 'long-term' but it's also the best and
only play to make in the SHORT-TERM! HA!! And wouldn't you know it -
that left us with a profit of $1135, which meant another success. I
stuffed $1040 of it into my WinnersBank200 with full knowledge that
none of it would be spent for the rest of our stay.
There was, however, still several days to go. The next day at the
Hard Rock I ran through $70 in free-play only to see a $1000 winner
on 50c Double Double Bonus Poker with four Aces and the kicker. Most
of it was gulped up at, where else, Sam's Town as we arrived too
early for our dinner reservation. A visit to the Rio, where video
poker players from all walks of life condemn their video poker
as `non-playable' (and in most cases I agree) awarded us with a $310
win. That came on a dollar slant top just below one of the
Bevertainer stages. Their bar top games throughout the casino have
had their pay tables ridiculously lowered, and with the smaller cards
on those already small screens, the only people who really play them
don't know what they're doing.
On Sunday we played $100 in free-play at the Golden Nugget to a draw
before heading to Laughlin for our last day. What's a visit to this
fabulous Colorado River Resort area without a few hours on hi-speed
jet skis? Of course, a little too much sun comes with all that fun,
and we paid for it for several days afterward. We also lost around
$240 while there, but the stopover was well worth it. At least this
time I gave it to Harrah's instead of the Edgewater.
All in all a successful and fun trip. We did an awful lot, my win
goal was attained, we had numerous gourmet meals, stayed at great
hotels, and enjoyed the whole gaming experience far more than I used
to when I'd simply sit at video poker machines as many as 16 hours a
day thinking I could outperform a very perfect computer. Once a harsh
lesson is learned, there's a whole new world of fun waiting for you
on the other side of the nightmare.