Today I want to blog about a subject that presented itself to me in the “Comment” section a few weeks ago. I did not “approve” this comment – and thus it didn’t go public – because it was much too long, and much of the ranting and raving would not help others. (Keep your comments pretty short, don’t insult personalities, and try to give information that might help other players.) However I do want to address some of the points in this except from his longer post, highly edited with some details redacted:
Your success rate has been much, much higher than that of the vast majority of players (myself included) over the past couple of decades, and as a result, you can afford to dump in the massive amounts of coin-in needed to get anything more than a complimentary doughnut. I assume that since XXX casinos have absolutely no good video poker anywhere across the breadth and length of this great land, that you have figured out a way to make it profitable to play there nonetheless. One of these days, you’ll have to detail for us just how you’ve managed to make that work. The absolute best game you’ll ever find at a XXX property is 9/6 JOB (at very high stakes), and I’m truly curious as to how you squeeze a full 1/2 percent in extras out to make the play worthwhile.
Other people have raised some of the same issues as the poster above so I think they deserve a discussion.
First, Brad and I have had a higher success rate down through the years than many other knowledgeable players because we have always looked for a bigger advantage than many require. A play with a .1-.2% advantage is a positive play but one might not live long enough to get to the long term and achieve that positive result. That is the reason we don’t play as much as we used to. We can’t find many plays with a bigger advantage. We do some small lower-denomination plays with a lower edge than we would have done in the past – and that shows up in our records: more losing streaks and lower profits. 🙁
Another reason for our success is that we never used gambling profits for “living expenses” – we either had a job or, in later years, retirement savings. We have always lived quite frugally so when we hit a jackpot we didn’t think about how we could “spend” the money for some luxury item. We kept plowing our profits back into our bankroll and this allowed us to go up in denomination where the profits would be even bigger.
Second, people are always talking about “no good games in that casino.” We don’t waste our time looking for 100% EV games; there are few anywhere. We are looking for good plays. That means looking for not-quite-so-good games and then piling on the extras – players club benefits, promotions, bounce-back, and anything that will add value to the EV of the game. And how do we find some of those almost-good games so it isn’t so hard to bump up the value with the extras? We scour the information in vpFREE2. Have you ever studied it casino by casino? You might find some of the hidden gems we play.
Third, I have written three books and more articles than I can number – thousands? – “detail(ing) for us just how you’ve managed to make that work.” I can’t reveal every specific detail at every casino where I have played because some extras depend on long-term relationships with casino employees, play levels higher than for the average player, extra knowledge learned by many years of experience, and the personality, circumstances, and goals that differ for each player. However, I really don’t have that many video poker “secrets.” It’s mostly spelled out pretty clearly in my writings – and in much detail – for anyone to study and use. It’s up to you how far you want to run with this information.
Let me just state you help all those who listen and are willing to invest the time and money, you and Brad do!! Personally I get the biggest smile when I log in and see another post from you.
MGM Grand Detroit is our playground and my wife and I have a blast. My motto is enjoy life and may you be in heaven 30 minutes before satan knows you are dead.
This discussion always sounds the same, nothing has really changed, except, in the last 5-7 years, the casinos have drastically cut back the benefits on VP. 15-20 years ago 100%+ machines and 1% cash back, plus comps, was common. There are 2 groups of players in today’s environment:
1. Locals that are able to exploit the system with hard work scouting and scheduling like Jean and Brad do. It takes a lot of time to be sucessful .
2. The rest of us that are not local and are unable to take advantage of the local deals.
So my solution has been to play 100% plus 25 cent machines, which still generates free room offers and other minimal comps, plus hosts are always willing to help out if you call and ask.
With luck we have a 100.67% cash advantage and free rooms. It works for us. We are still having fun and leave Vegas every year on average(over 20 years) with $3-4,000 by playing maybe 100,000 hands over 3-4 visits.
I am a casual player, and yet, what I have learned from you had taught me to lose less and to many times break even over time. I appreciate all I’ve learned from you and continue to learn from you.
As a video poker player you must search whatever casino you are at for the best pay offs as many of them have a mixture of good and bad and combine it with the best offers.
I’m from the Detroit area and Greek Town Casino has 9/6 Jacks or better for. 25 and up. Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant has 9/6 Jacks or better, Double Double bonus poker that is 10/6, Hot Aces that is 9/6 all for. 25 and up. Other machines there do not have those pay offs so you must look before you play. Same with Las Vegas as the off Strip casinos like Gold Coast and Orleans have better pay schedules. But again you have to find the machines.
Dear Kevin,
VPFree2 needs the input from players to correct mistakes. Have you sent them updates? We would all appreciate that. I play VP in Nevada only, mostly not CET. I have found them to be an excellent resource, and help when I can.
C’mon people!!
It’s all about luck. You can increase your playing time by learning and using strategy to give you more opportunity to hit the royal, but you have to be lucky enough to hit it!!!
Over the thirty + years my wife and I have been going to Vegas I’ve been much much luckier than her. She plays a far greater number of hands than I do. I drink beer (and not a light beer) for as long as I play the first night in town. Yes, I do get loaded, but my wife swears that I’m luckiest when I’m drinking. I only play 9/6 and don’t have any idea what the EV of my play is on any given night. What I do know is that I got my first $1000.00 royal with less than 300 hands played in my life and I’ve never looked back.
Back then I didn’t know anything about strategy or comps. Thanks to Jean and others on the Net I learned to play well enough to maximize my comps. I play strictly for fun, and believe me it has been fun. But then, I am one of the lucky ones!!!
Thanks, Jean
For those of us that only goes to Vegas once a year, we love the insight and appreciate the knowledge you provide. We read all year and follow your blog so we will learn the best way to be frugal. We have a great vacation and do our best, and with that info and obviously practicing all year on software programs gives us some advantage to be knowledgeable and enjoy the trip.
I appreciate your blogging. I live in the Midwest and visit six to eight times a year. Though study,reading, and practice i now loss far less than my friends spend on a small fishing boat each year and have a lot of fun. Keep writing.
No two gamblers or gambling sessions can ever be alike. There are winners and there are losers. Jean has shared her valuable knowledge and experience to help us win more and have more fun. A big thank you to you Jean !
10-4, great response & information.
1. Essentially, it’s near-impossible to find a situation where inherent EV + slot club benefits = positive expectation. Therefore, you need to know what else playing at a given place will get you–and that is information that NO ONE shares. Thus, you have to experiment–and two people playing identically may realize much different benefits, due to factors such as zip code, age, or even gender. I would LOVE to see some kind of database where people shared, and somebody collated, what nature and amount of play got what form and amount of bounceback, mailed offers, etc.
2. VpFree2, unfortunately, is so outdated that it’s well-nigh useless. I have had at least a dozen occurrences in the last year or so when I looked for machines that were in the VpFree2 database but weren’t there (in one memorable case, the entire casino wasn’t there any longer).
3. You can’t count on getting the extras and goodies that would push a play into positive territory. When that happens, it’s basically an error on the casino’s part, as they are awarding you benefits out of proportion to what you’re actually worth to them. I’ve noticed that CET is very, very good at calculating precisely what your play is worth and making sure that it isn’t profitable for you. Other casino operators: YMMV. So how would we know BEFORE putting in 100K in coin-in whether we’ll get enough back to make doing so worthwhile?
Very well said. Many of us do the same. You have done more than your fair share to educate many on how to do it all.
It is all about the “good plays” that the casinos will make too juicy to pass up.
They do this frequently, and as players it is up to us to do the math in order to recognize those opportunities. There is no “magic sauce” as the young ones say nowadays.
And of course practice, practice, practice your game(s) of choice.
Thanks for all you do for so many , and keep up the good work. It is much appreciated by many.