My JoB journey

[advantage playe]

still cant spell !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FloridaPhil]

Having a sense of humor is a great asset. This is especially true in a casino. I have spent hours listening to players explain how their strategy works when I know it doesn't. I watch people cursing and pounding the machine like it's a dog who just pooped on their new rug. The funniest thing ever is someone who believes the machine owes them a jackpot. All they must do is keep feeding money into it.

There are only two significant things that determine if you are going to make a long term profit playing video poker. The first is the amount of money you lose between royals. You can reduce this amount by playing better games more accurately and taking advantage of what the casino gives you. The second is the frequency of royals.

You can be an expert on the first thing. The greatest VP expert on this planet can not make royals happen any faster or more frequent. If you are a long term winner at VP, both of these things came together to make it happen.

"A wise man turns chance into good fortune." Thomas Fuller

[Tedlark]

Phil, why do you still almost constantly mention: "The greatest VP expert on this planet"? Please, get off the guy's back.

Now don't come back with something like: "I wasn't talking about him" when we all can see it.

And least of all you; should be writing about listening to players explain how their strategy works when you know it doesn't.

"A wiser man turns opportunity into great fortune." - Tedlark

[FloridaPhil]

There are dozens of VP experts. Most of them seem to be on this forum. Who is the "greatest VP expert on the planet"? Go on Google.com or Youtube.com and you will get a lot of opinions. Can any one of them force royals to appear when they are suppose to? Hardly. That's my point.

Ted, if you would spend more time thinking about what I say instead of defending someone who doesn't need defending, you might understand what I am talking about. The man you are defending knows VP inside and out. He also knows more than anyone here what I said above is true.

[Tedlark]

Phil, I'm not defending him but just quit bringing him up for the sake of bringing him up.

[FloridaPhil]

OK. I have nothing against any of the VP experts. I think the one you are referring to is the greatest video poker expert on the planet today. His strategy of Advantage play is the best we have so far. It's not infallible like some members of this forum seem to believe. There are many logical reasons for this. The main reason is human mistakes and frailties. Very few people can play like a computer simulation forever. The most obvious reason is few Recreational players play enough hands for math to significantly influence their results. Assuming you play like the expert, hit more than your share of royals and you are a winner. Hit less and you are a loser. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

Video poker players are not harvesters, they are gamblers. They do things that no computer simulation I have seen can do. A computer program has fixed elements. There is nothing fixed about a human playing VP in a casino. Humans get tired. Some are old with failing eyesight, hearing or manual dexterity. They become easily distracted. They dream of big jackpots which causes them to make bad decisions. They panic when they are losing. They increase their bets when they are winning. There may be someone in the universe who can play exactly like a computer forever. That person would be a very rare individual indeed.

My argument has always been against any strategy that "guarantees" a VP profit in the short or long term. There is no such thing as a can't lose video poker game.

This does not mean I ignore the expert's strategy. Through experience I have learned his strategy is the cheapest best way to play VP. It holds down my losses, increases my comps and allows me to enjoy the game as cheap entertainment. Making a long term profit if it happens, is an unexpected bonus.

[Eduardo]

Phil, I would wager you have mentioned Bob Dancer aka "The Expert" more times in the past year than all other people posting on this forum combined.

[FloridaPhil]

How can you have any discussion of VP strategy without mentioning him? He is the creator of the only VP strategy that has produced verifiable results. Some people believe they can duplicate his results by playing only positive games. They believe his math guarantees a profit. I believe it makes a profit more likely. It does not make it a certainty. No matter what strategy you use to play VP, you are still gambling.

[FloridaPhil]

Why is this important? New players should know the risks before they play. Otherwise, they may assume playing perfect is a guarantee of profit. They may spend hours practicing with their software. They read posts from players who post wins and never post losses. They read posts from members who know better talk about winning like it's a sure thing. You can't harvest anything worthwhile out of a field of weeds.

It takes more than perfect play to make a profit at this game. You must have access to the right games. You must have the discipline to stay the course even when things go badly. You must have enough disposable income to last and be willing to flush it all down the toilet. Above all, you must be fortunate enough to hit all the royals you are due before you go broke.

The expert I keep referring to has these things and more. He has skill and knowledge that you probably don't have. He knows how to recognize a profitable opportunity and has the patience to wait for them. He tells people they can't do what he does, but they try anyway.

I have been playing this game for a long time. By now, I know my limitations. I own 3 copies of Video Poker for Winners software and can play at the expert level with no errors for an hour or two. I can't play perfect forever. The closest video poker game to my house that is even close to giving me an advantage is 1,000 miles away. Despite that, I play VP cheaper than 99% of the players in my casino. I don't make a profit. Does that make me feel inferior? Not one bit.

I am grateful to the experts. Without them, I would have quit this game years ago.

[Sarah.W]

Small wins are still wins.

Don't concern yourself with how much you win or lose in any one day. Setting cash out limits will make you feel better. It doesn't do anything to help your results. Some days you will win and some days you will lose. You will have more losing days than winning days. Be aware you could lose for a long period of time. You could win it all back in 30 minutes, or perhaps not.

What you want to avoid is doing things that hurt your results like running off to the high limit room to recover your losses or playing high variance poor return games. Keep a good attitude, enjoy VP as entertainment and you will be fine. That 9/6 Jacks game you are playing is one of the best games in any casino anywhere. You are lucky to have it. It may not last.

Only take into the casino what you can afford lose. When that's gone, leave. It may help you to keep records. I carry a small notebook with me and record my results. I started doing this in 2008. I have only made a profit 3 out of those 10 years of play. Two of those years I played a game with odds a lot worse than you are playing. I do not make a profit long term playing VP. Lots of people on this forum claim they do. There is no "lasso of truth" on this forum, so we must take their word for it. In any case, it's not an easy thing to do.

You are probably younger than I am and I doubt you read many comic books when you were young. If you don't know what the "lasso of truth" is, Google Wonder Woman.

You are right. I should focus on the long term. I keep record on my phone, but also using this post as a way to keep track of how I do. Nope, your guess is right. I didn't know what "lasso of truth" is. Was planning to watch Wonder women sometimes last year, but up till now I still haven't watched it yet.