To those who have made significant money with VP: What do you do?

[billryan]

Your telling of history is akin to your relationship with the truth. Sadly lacking.

[DAAnMAAn]

Back to the topic.. speaking in my experience, I have had long term very moderate success with certainly some bumps along the way. Since I’m primarily a quarter player who plays close to or over 100% tables, this makes sense.
My results are plain to see on my thread “my journey on video poker” and every win and every loss minus a brief hiatus is there to see for a few years now.
Anyone with the time can add it all up and get a total, but they must keep in mind free play, comps, and mailers are not included in the amounts. I’m almost sure if I added it all up it’s positive but don’t want to say 100% because I haven’t added it up myself.
I will say if I was a higher denom player, my games and strategies would be different. Quarter player has advantages: first, no tax forms (w2g’s) which will put you on the radar for casino counter-measures (some exceptions like progressives and multi-line of course, but royals rare enough still should be no problems). Quarters require less bankroll, can still find 100% or higher pay tables with quarters.
Dollars or higher, usually have to combine factors for a positive play. If there are pay tables besides the optimum play machines (those give hardly anything for the play) that are >%100...those finds you will not hear about or get talked about. Reason is, who wants the competition for the machine? One is hard pressed to find a player willing to give up their atm.
The secret is not very secret...a healthy bankroll, a good pay table and /or slot club that will push the play positive, learning to play correctly, a bit of luck wouldn’t hurt, and getting the hands in.
Software won’t hurt either. Once I bought software many years ago and played correctly, my video poker results improved dramatically.
Anyway, I’m sure there are many ways up the mountain but this seems to be working for me. I’m probably leaving something out,
I guess an occasional royal can help
Cheers

[billryan]

The quarter player in Vegas might be better off strictly exploiting slot clubs than trying to make money playing. It's a matter of time. Tons of plays here that pay much better for less work.

[FloridaPhil]

Excellent post by DAAnMAAn. Clear and easy to understand without embellishment. Great job!

[rascal]

DAAnMAAn got it about right.
To the OP, I would add this: You used the word "significant".
Unfortunately, there is not a "significant" amount of money to be made playing VP compared to other worthwhile occupations ON A LONG TERM BASIS. On a SHORT TERM basis, there are many players, including myself, who through nothing other than pure luck received a major, major jackpot and then either curtailed their play and/or reduced their denom and thus are still very positive.
OP, I live not too far from LV and I have a close relative who, until retirement, was a high level executive with a major casino holding corporation and a former casino manager. So based on this person's first-hand experience and my own first-hand experience, I would compare LONG TERM video poker earning ability to being a professional grocery coupon clipper. You can definitely save money/make money clipping grocery coupons, following the various in-store promotions and specials, and driving around to different grocery stores to achieve the savings/earnings. But it is a lot of work and I question if your per hour income makes it worth it.
Same thing for playing VP LONG TERM. You can put your nose to the grindstone, invest hours on the machines, hours into studying incentives, promotions and specials, hours practicing your game, hours going to drawings, hours sitting in horrid LV traffic making your rounds ---- and you can probably make some money. But will your per hour income make it worth it? It's strictly up to the individual to answer this question.
I think VP players such as Case who enjoy the game and receive enough in comps to make it close to breakeven or even slightly better than breakeven are much, much closer to a realistic expectation than earning "significant" money.

[FloridaPhil]

Same thing for playing VP LONG TERM. You can put your nose to the grindstone, invest hours on the machines, hours into studying incentives, promotions and specials, hours practicing your game, hours going to drawings, hours sitting in horrid LV traffic making your rounds ---- and you can probably make some money. But will your per hour income make it worth it? It's strictly up to the individual to answer this question.

Rascal's right. The question is not "if you can make significant money playing VP", it's "can you make more money with the same effort some other way?" The answer is Yes. I can tell you a dozen ways you can make more money than anyone ever will playing VP. So can many other forum members. These methods do not require super human intelligence, giant bankrolls or long hours sitting in smokey casinos. However, they do require hard work. You will never make significant money working for someone else. What most people need is not a job, they need an opportunity and the motivation to act on it. At this time in history, video poker is not that opportunity.

[nelsonammo]

I saw this interview with Bob Dancer recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV-DBdT14aw and he states that there are still a small number of players making a lot of money at VP (I don't feel like rewatching the whole thing to figure out the specific amounts he stated).

[FloridaPhil]

I saw this interview with Bob Dancer recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV-DBdT14aw and he states that there are still a small number of players making a lot of money at VP (I don't feel like rewatching the whole thing to figure out the specific amounts he stated).

I have no doubt what he says is true. I do not think this small group of people are what you would call average players. First, in order to make "a lot of money" playing VP you need "a lot of money" to play with. Who has a VP bankroll that big? A few people do. Without a significant bankroll, you can be the most skilled VP player in the world and you won't ever make "a lot of money". Can a poor person ever become a successful video poker professional? If someone can show me how a poor kid from a rough area of Miami can make "a lot of money" playing VP, I'll change my tune.

In my opinion, high stakes video poker is not a path to riches. It's a play toy for rich people. It can also be a way to enjoy all the casino has to offer without paying for it. I think that's a better plan.

[rascal]

Nelsomammo, casinos are in business to make a profit off of their customers. They differ from many other types of businesses because they don't always make a profit in the short term. But in the long term, they do. They have different ways of ensuring a long term profit off of their customers. One is paytables --- paytables don't lie. Another is curtailing mailers and comps for customers who have combined skill and good paytables with mailers and comps for a long term profit. The final way is by banning long term winners, referred to as "strong players" by the casinos. If you know of a casino customer who over the long term is making a lot of money from VP, then it is because the casino finds him to be profitable. Get my drift?

[tech58]

You "rascal" you!! You nailed it. However it may be best to let sleeping dogs alone to "feed the beast". I too, like you, hit not one but TWO, major, major jackpots three years ago and have been riding them since. Your comment about Case fits my game plan pretty well. I still do stupid on occasion but have managed a royal a month,on average, to stay ahead.

Many years ago i had a very successful run of free junkets playing 21. On one of my first trips the junketeer sat down next to me on the plane and we got to know each other. he said he had watched me on previous trips and liked the way i tried to preserve my bankroll while easily meeting the requirements of the junket. His reason for the compliment was because he had to fill up next weeks plane and the guys on this trip that lost their bankroll would not be on it.

Then he told me something i have never forgotten. "Gambling is not a game between you and the casino. It's a game between you and the little man inside of you that wants it all! Not just all the money, but the drapes and the chandeliers too!"

That said, i wish i could say i live by those pearls of wisdom 100% of the time (see previous stupid on occasion comment).