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Dancer's Answers We publish a brand-new video poker article from Bob Dancer every Thursday in this section. These columns are called "Dancer's Answers". Click on any of the links below for more Dancer's Answers: Bob Dancer Articles - Main Page Vicksburg Video Poker - May 8, 2008 Vicksburg, MS Video Poker - Part 2 - May 15, 2008 Vicksburg Casino Video Poker - Part 3 - May 22, 2008 Common Deuces Wild Mistakes – Juan or the Other – May 29, 2008 Figuring Out Quick Quads - June 5, 2008 Breaking Full Houses in Quick Quads - June 12, 2008 A Quick Quads Puzzler - June 19, 2008 Let’s Go Scouting - June 26, 2008 When You're Not Sure of the Game - July 3, 2008 Can it be Right to Play Hunches - July 10, 2008 Good Hearted Woman in Love With a Good Timin’ Man - July 17, 2008 One-Way Versus Two-Way Straight Penalties - July 24, 2008 Effectual versus Ineffectual Straight Penalties - July 31, 2008 Unusual Dealt Royals - August 7, 2008 Learning from a Horse Handicapper - August 14, 2008 When Bad Is Good - August 21, 2008 I Live For These Moments - August 28, 2008 Las Vegas Do It Different - September 4, 2008 Figuring the worth when there are Multiple Progressives - September 11, 2008 Which is the Better Play? - September 18, 2008 How Much is Too Much? - September 25, 2008 Evaluating a Promotion - October 2, 2008 Sometimes the Jack, Sometimes Ace-Jack, Never the Ace by Itself - October 9, 2008 Why I Don't Play Poker - October 16, 2008 What is a Royal Flush Cycle? - October 23, 2008 A Logical Puzzler - October 30, 2008 Another Look at Changing Machines - November 6, 2008 Testing Matters - November 13, 2008 Next Dancer's Answers column coming on November 20, 2008! |
When Bad is GoodLet’s assume you’re a winning video poker player. You have good days and bad, but over the course of the year you almost always end up ahead.
Given you’re this winning player, now let’s assume that you’ve just lost $20,000 at your favorite casino. Until this trip, your biggest lost there has been $8,000, but this time the machines were ice, ice cold. There are plenty of bad things associated with losing $20,000. But there are some good things too. One good thing is that the casinos do not want you to bleed to death financially. They want you to lose gradually. Over time, your gradual losses will add up, they believe, but if you lose too much all at once they are concerned they will never see you again. So they are willing to help ease the pain. Some will rebate 10% of your losses. Some will give you far nice meals or other comps. Some will send you on a cruise you didn’t otherwise qualify for. It’s largely up to the host and his bosses about what to give you. Whether you lose $200, $2,000, $20,000, or $200,000, it’s largely a drop in the bucket for a large casino. Is it a drop in the bucket for you too? You’re going to have to let them know. Whiners are winners, in this particular case anyway. In my particular family, I don’t sweat wins and losses very much --- but Shirley does. If I lose $20,000, she DIES a little bit. She has no compunction about telling a host how much it hurts and asking for something to help ease the pain. She has gotten us on 10-day cruises to the Mediterranean and a similar one to Hawaii on separate occasions by whining at the right time. She has gotten hosts to creatively classify $3,000 in the gift shop as “travel” so they can pick up the expense. At many casinos, senior hosts are given wide discretion on how they take care of players on a losing trip. Smart players know this and use it to their advantage. If I knew I was going to win a total of $3,000 over two trips, I’d much prefer to lose $20,000 on the first trip and win $23,000 on the second. With Shirley’s help at the end of the first trip, our total win over the two trips will end up closer to $5,000 than $3,000. If you don’t ask, however, you don’t get. The casino isn’t going to force you to take their money after a big loss. They’re only going to give it to you if you can convince them that it’s a real burden on you --- either real or psychological --- to lose that much. When I ask for such things, I’m not particularly successful. Most hosts know that I’ve been doing this for years and assume that I’ve had a number of “bad beats.” I don’t seem especially distressed about it (I strongly believe I will end up positive in the end), so why should they help me. But Shirley has no problem with this. She hurts terribly when I lose and has no trouble convincing others that her pain is very real. We started this article with the assumption that you’re a winning player. Not everyone qualifies as such. How does being a losing player change things? Natural-born salesmen will have no trouble making this work. There are others, however, around whom even a hooker will play hard-to-get. These people will not be very successful at getting rebates. Note that you can’t play this “trump card” too frequently. If you whine every trip, such a note will be put into your file and you’ll stop being given anything. Hosts will intentionally give you less than you’re entitled to at first because they know you’re going to come up and wheedle them for extras. But used sparingly at the right times, it can be a big opportunity to be exploited. Bob Dancer is America's best-known video poker writer and teacher. He has a variety of "how to play better video poker" products, including the software "Video Poker for Winners," Winner's Guides, strategy cards, his autobiography Million Dollar Video Poker, and his two novels, including Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. Dancer's products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com or by telephone at 1-800-244-2224 M-F 9-5 Pacific Time.
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Classic Dancer We republish a classic Bob Dancer article every Sunday - often these articles are updated with new insights from Bob Dancer, the master of video poker writing. Video Poker Questions and Answers - May 4, 2008 More Answers to Questions About Video Poker Machines - May 11, 2008 Losing is a Major Part of Winning at Video Poker - May 18, 2008 Video Poker VS Blackjack - May 25, 2008 The Art of Tipping Slot Personnel - Part 1 - June 1, 2008 The Art of Tipping Slot Personnel - Part 2 - June 8, 2008 Putting Your Ducks In a Row - June 15, 2008 Luck and Skill in Video Poker - June 22, 2008 Strategy Adjustments in Video Poker - June 29, 2008 One Coin vs Five Coin - July 6, 2008 Video Poker Progressives - July 13, 2008 High Pairs versus Three Cards to a Rolal in Kings or Better Joker Wild - July 20, 2008 The Double Up Feature - Does It Ever Make Sense? - Part 1 - July 27, 2008 Doubling Up - Does it Ever Make Sense? - Part 2 - August 3, 2008 Did I Quit at the Right Time? - August 10, 2008 Money Management: What Does and Doesn't Work - August 17, 2008 "I'm Playing The Wrong Game" and Other Video Poker Fallacies - August 24, 2008 You Use To Be Such a Cheapskate - August 31, 2008 Is This a Good Promotion? Part 1 - September 7, 2008 Is This a Good Video Poker Promotion? Part 2 - September 14, 2008 More Video Poker Fallacies - September 21, 2008 Not All Proposals Should be Accepted - September 28, 2008 An Opportunity Too Good to Pass Up Part 1 of 2 - October 5, 2008 An Opportunity Too Good to Pass Up Part 2 - October 12, 2008 Predicting Your Future Results at Video Poker - Part 1 of 2 - October 19, 2008 Predicting Future Video Poker Reulsts - Part 2 of 2 - October 26, 2008 Moving Up in Denomination - Part 1 of 2 - November 2, 2008 Moving Up in Video Poker Denomination - Part 2 of 2 - November 9, 2008 A Letter from a Non-Believer - Part 1 of 2 More Classic Dancer coming Sunday November 23, 2008. |
