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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 An Easy Yet Important Quick Quad Puzzler - November 20, 2008 Some Quick Quad Mathematics - November 27, 2008 Barona Improves its Video Poker - December 4, 2008 An Interesting Quick Quads Puzzle - December 11, 2008 Shirley Plays Suduku - December 18, 2008 How Often Does One Time in 360 Occur? - December 25, 2008 Earning a Free Cruise - January 1, 2008 Next Dancer's Answers column coming on January 8, 2009! |
Why I Don’t Play PokerIt’s been suggested to me numerous times that I take up Texas Hold’Em and other forms of live poker to supplement my income. I always decline. “But those guys make so much money!” I am told. Yeah, the best ones do. But so do Tiger Woods, LeBron James, and 50 Cent, and nobody is suggesting I take up golf, basketball, or rap music.
A guy generally has the right to decide not to do something without making his reasons public, but since I regularly address “why I do something” in the gambling world so talking about this doesn’t seem like an invasion of privacy. So let’s talk about it. To be sure, everyone figures things differently. My reasons may or may not be relevant to your situation. Poker and video poker are part of a small list of casino games where a good player can make a living so you can bet that many players looking for an edge try both games to see what fits them best. As did I. And different people come up with different answers. First of all, I’m enjoying my life as it is. Playing video poker along with teaching and writing about it takes up a lot of my time. Although we are not rich, we likely have more than enough money to last us “for the duration.” (Although with the recent Wall Street crisis, who can know for sure?) You can never have too much money, I suppose, but there is not a need for more income. Second, in years past, I haven’t been particularly successful at poker. Although it’s been years since I played, and when I did it was draw poker in California card rooms, and occasionally seven-card stud in Las Vegas, I wasn’t a natural at the game. To be sure, there are hundreds of how-to-play poker books out there and I’m sure I could get to a certain level of competence by studying them. Still, to get REALLY good, there needs to be a natural aptitude which I simply don’t have. Third is the age factor. I’m 61 years old as I write this. My memory isn’t what it was and I can’t sit and remain alert for as long as I used to. Poker is a young man’s game. For every Doyle Brunson (who’s quite a bit older than me and has been in the top echelon of poker players for decades) there are dozens of tournament winners in their twenties. It’s more difficult for a senior citizen to become good at something new than it is for a younger person. Fourth is that video poker opportunities still abound. Times have changed and the games I play and casinos I play at are different than they were a few years ago, but I can learn a new video poker game well in ten hours or less. It would take me YEARS to gain the experience in poker to become competent in that game. Once I no longer can find video poker games to play, maybe, but not until then. Fifth is that certain types of people skills aren’t my strong point. I am not particularly adept at figuring out when someone else is telling the truth nor am I that good at disguising what I have in my hand. These skills are generally not required in video poker, so these “failings” don’t hurt me much. In live poker, these failings will prevent me from ever becoming a great player. Sixth is that I like to play fast. Live poker is dreadfully slow, and once opponents learn I get impatient with slow players, they will ALL slow down against me. To be sure I could play on the Internet and play in ten games at once, but playing in real casinos would drive me nuts. And becoming annoyed wouldn’t help my skill set at all. Finally, I simply don’t “love” the game. To get good at anything you need to really want to do it. I’m fortunate today that I can earn a nice living playing a game I love. Why change that to playing a game I’m probably not going to succeed at and I don’t particularly like anyway? 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 - November 16, 2008 A Letter Froma VP Non-Believer - Part 2 of 2 - November 23, 2008 If You're Going to Steal From Me... - November 30, 2008 A General Look at Progressives - Part 1 of 2 - December 7, 2008 A General Look at Progressives - Part 2 of 2 - December 14, 2008 Would You Rather Be Lucky or Good? - Part 1 of 2 - December 21, 2008 Would You Rather Be Lucky or Good? - Part 2 of 2 - December 28, 2008 Shirley Wins a Cruise - January 4, 2009 More Classic Dancer coming Sunday January 11, 2009. |
