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Strange Happening Today at Barona

A suggestion in dealing with this casino paranoia about "cheat sheets." Since we practice on computers, read the cheat sheets at home, on the plane, in the john, in the restaurants, etc does it really make that much of a difference if we make an educated guess at the best play at the time and later look it up for future use?

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--- On Fri, 1/30/09, mickeycrimm <mickeycrimm@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: mickeycrimm <mickeycrimm@yahoo.com>
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Using Strategy Sheets In Casinos - Was: Strange Happening Today at Barona
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, January 30, 2009, 4:29 PM

            I am not embarrassed to say I use cheat sheets. I play so many

different games that the strategies can occasionally run together on

me. I sometimes get mental blocks and need something to jog my

memory.

But I don't use normal strategy cards or anything like an 8 X 11

sheet. I use a 3 X 5 pocket memo book that one can buy in any drug

store or Walmart. I actually carry two of these, one has strategies,

payback percentages, and other pertinent information. The other is

used to record wins and losses, along with other various and sundry

things like Walmart shopping lists and such. I'm a very forgetfull

person and when I think of something I have to write it down or I will

forget it, and for scratch paper in case I have to do an on-the-spot

equation. I always have a pocket calculator on me too.

If I need to jog my memory I'll usually open the notebook to the right

page and stick it back in my shirt pocket. When I get to a hand I

can't remember how to play I will just pull the notebook up a little

and bend it back to look at the strategy chart.

That's what I usually do. But just a couple of months ago I got a

little lax. As I walked into a casino in Deer Lodge I noticed the

office door open and a lady sitting there doing some paperwork. One of

those security TV's was sitting on the desk beside her. I didn't think

anything of it and went to looking at the games on the machines.

Whoopy!!!! I found an advantage game. I sat down and started playing.

I hadn't played that particular game in awhile and was gonna need some

help. But instead of doing my usual, I pulled the darn thing all the

way out a couple of times.

So I'm playing along and get a tap on the shoulder:

"Excuse me, Sir. May I ask you what you are doing?"

"Huh? Well, I'm playing a little video poker, ma'am."

"No, with that pocket notebook you have. I noticed you playing and

then looking in your notebook. What are you doing?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? Ohhh!! The notebook?"

I whip out my other notebook from the same pocket, then open it up to

the last page. Right across the top it says "Walmart Shopping List."

Then I tell her: "Yeah, I'm going to Missoula tomorrow and if I don't

write stuff down I'll forget it. I was just checking to see if I had

shaving cream on the list, then I had to check if I had shampoo on the

list."

"Oh, I'm sorry to have bothered you, Sir. I was just curious."

"No problem" I say as she heads back to the office.

When I found the Joker Spin Poker play in Ely I had no experience at

the game but had Dancer's KBJW strategy card. I had cut away the

expert strategy side from the rest. Then I accidentally washed it and

the laminate came apart. So I folded it in half and glued the two

sides together. It made it small and compact with the Joker hands

strategy on one side and the Non-Joker hands on the other side. It fit

right in the palm of my hand and no one could see it. All I had to do

was roll my hand up to get a quick look.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

FWIW Viejas has a few machines, very few, and often unavailable (in use) where you can play NSUD and 6/9 JOB (all multi play) in the non smoking room far away from any smoke.

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--- On Sat, 1/31/09, tenore_s <tenore_s@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: tenore_s <tenore_s@yahoo.com>
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Strange Happening Today at Barona
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, January 31, 2009, 3:48 PM

And where is that? I want to play there. But I haven't been able to

find it. Maybe in the high-limit areas, but I'm interested in the 25c

machines. Barona definitely has the best 25c VP in San Diego, although

at $1 and higher Valley View and/or Viejas might match it.

Robeto-Tenore

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups. com, pesach kremen <royalflush2222@ ...> wrote:

Is the video poker at Barona really any better with all the problems

discussed in this thread. There are other casinos in the area that let

you play in a smoke free environment with close to 100% games that

have good auto-hold and when you add the cash back and comps you are

about at 100% -

--- On Fri, 1/30/09, d_richheimer <d_richheimer@ ...> wrote:

From: d_richheimer <d_richheimer@ ...>

Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Strange Happening Today at Barona

To: vpFREE@yahoogroups. com

Date: Friday, January 30, 2009, 10:55 AM

            --- In vpFREE@yahoogroups. com, "popinjay999"

<popinjay999@ ...> wrote:

>

> I've read this entire thread, and want to add something. Aside from

> all the arguments so far for or against using strategy sheets, how

> about not using the sheets not just because it might be noticed by

> management, but rather do so for your own personal satisfaction and

> pride in knowing that you can play a game proficiently without

using a

> cheat sheet? To me that seems like it would be incentive enough.

> When I practice a game enough to play almost flawlessly and

understand

> why a lot of plays are made, I feel a satisfaction within myself.

It

> doesn't come easy. Learning to play perfectly or almost perfectly

is

> hard work and takes a lot of study and thinking. Don't do it

> half-assed with a cheat sheet. Get serious about it, and learn that

> game! You'll feel good about yourself.

>

> -P

I sometimes use cheat sheets for reason in keeping with your rational!

I have put in many practice hours on the computer and usually have

cumulative EVs of 99.95%+. However only in JOB or PE do I know 100%

of the correct plays cold. I play a list of games depending on the

best EV offered and tend to travel. For example in Vegas I may play

NSU or DB or various joker games. For the first session I may

occasional glance at a cheat sheet, just to ensure my hold is

correct. I find that without the cheat sheet, I suffer too much

anxiety wondering if perhaps I made an incorrect hold, and I will

get discouraged if I made an incorrect penalty card play at say DB.

As it is, I play about twice as slowly at a casino as opposed to

computer practice, which is irrational in terms of maximizing

returns. The best analogy is multilingual friends (I am not one) who

my take a day or so to adjust to speaking fluently in their non-

native tongue, but who are greatly embarrassed at being taken for a

tourist.

I also carry cheat sheets in my wallet, relating to what values are

needed to be to make progressives playable, MS strategies, changes to

JOB strategy for BP and Bdlx, etc. While I seldom play with a cheat

sheet visible, they provide a comfort crutch which may enhance

equanimity.

David

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The casino paranoia has gone far enough. Perhaps we need to make a case of this before the GCB and have it settled once and for all. Card counting was held NOT to be cheating. Using a card will not effect now the machine deals the draw cards (unless you use it to block the electricity to the machine) and therefore will not affect the possible outcomes, thus cannot be construed as cheating under the device law. The casinos have got to be told to back off. The other approach is to stop playing at once, making sure to tell a supervisore ont he spot why you are leavign and why you won't come back. If we all did that they could use the video poker aisles to pratice for next years superbowl.

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--- On Fri, 1/30/09, Harry Porter <harry.porter@verizon.net> wrote:
From: Harry Porter <harry.porter@verizon.net>
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Using Strategy Sheets In Casinos - Was: Strange Happening Today at Barona
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, January 30, 2009, 12:11 PM

            jackessiebabe wrote:

In addition to all the good reasons proposed by popinjay,

both Brians and Harry, as to why it is best NOT to use a

strategy sheet while playing in a casino, IMO, the best

reason is still this one; The VP player who needs to refer

to a SS in casino probably does NOT know the game well

enough to be risking his/her money playing it.

Brave, Babe.

In fact, I'll offer an analogy. Someone riding a bike with training

wheels has no business being out in the road with traffic.

Okay, I'll allow that having a bit of a crutch when starting out with

a game can make good sense. But about the time that you have 20 hours

under your belt with a paytable, for your own sake you want to pull

your game strategy together sufficiently to start flying solo.

No matter what denom you play, it's a safe bet that it represents

decently serious money (few people get a real charge out of play if

losses don't bring some pain and wins aren't cause for real

jubilation). If you're heavily reliant on a strategy card, it's a

certainty that you're not on top of your game ... and prone to making

some significant errors with frequency, despite presence of the card.

Still, all but the simplest games have hold decisions that can be a

rather tough call, yet occur very infrequently ... challenging even

some of the most astute players who don't possess perfect recall.

Having a small card discretely pocketed for reference no more than

once or twice an hour can make good sense.

- H.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I'd rather be perfect, and I do consider myself as a pretty good

player.

Scott.

  Well Scott, there was that missed field goal in Super Bowl XXV :slight_smile:

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--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, Scott Norwood <magnum0829@...> wrote: