"Jean Scott" <queenofcomps@...> wrote:
"Skill" seems to be the operative word!
This struck a chord so I thought I finally enter the fry on this thread.
As I'm sure the followers of vpFREE are beginning to realize, we were so isolated in the teams, we almost had our own language made up of English words but with our own definitions. What Jean said about skill level reminded me of a distinction WE made that I've not seen brought up in these forums. It is not possible for me to be wrong on this, because it is also not possible for me to be right. When one is talking about pure opinion, of which this is, all one can do is share their viewpoint. So just to be clear, I'm not saying this IS the definition of PRO. I'm saying this WAS our definition. We also had some made-up sub-classes I thought I'd include for flavor.
PRO (True PRO)
To qualify for this fairly elite group several things needed to be true. The majority of your income or savings had to come from gambling. You had to play very accurately and be proficient in whatever games you played. Skill was a factor, but not only at playing. You had to be able to figure things out like, game return and strategy, on your own independently. The use of VP software was not prohibited as a time saving tool, but in a pinch you had to be able to do it the old fashion way, by hand. So math skill was the real stick by which you were measured. If you gambled for fun or recreation at all, you were not a "True PRO"...you were instead a...
Quasi-PRO
Quasi-PROS were in all ways nearly as "with it" as True PROS with the one difference that if you barred them from every casino in the world they would merely spend more time with their families and their real job. To them gambling was a past time or supplemental income. Quasi-PROS were in no way inferior to real PROS unless you count having a life as a deficit. More often than not the term Quasi was replaced with Queasy, which was perhaps how anyone that did what we did, in the absence of needing to, made us feel.
Poser PRO
Posers were to True-PROS what everyone else other than the guy in front is, in a game of follow the leader. Posers might well play a VP strategy very well, but they did not make it. You might find one on the best play in town, but they did not find it. They might be dressed very stylishly, but with a little more digging, it turns out their Mother dresses them. Some posers were very successful gamblers, but without the True-PROS to guide them, they would have been little girls, lost in the woods, on the way to Grandma's house.
Wannabe-PRO
If wishes were horses... Some folks are cut out for professional gambling and others are not. This sub-category of player may follow others lead or strike out on their own, that is irreverent. Somewhere along the line they strayed from the path to look at something shiny, and ended up taking the wrong turn in Albuquerque. They play poorly, either by accident or design. They get an E for effort, but that is all. The only PRO roster they rank on, is the one within their own minds. One does not wish to be in this category and I'm happy to report there is a very simple and easy way to get out of it...stop gambling.
Hope this amuses.
Note: The primary reason for the existence of all these internal team colloquialisms is all the time we had sitting next to each other on incredibly long play sessions. The mind comes up with some strange stuff when tired and bored.
~~One should avoid heeding to opinion, of course that's just my opinion.
~Frank Kneeland, former manager of the largest Vegas slot team and Author of The Secret World of Video Poker Progressives--A History and How-To of Video Poker Slot Teams in Las Vegas. www.progressivevp.com
