I play everyday

[FloridaPhil]

I believe what's happening here is the difference in personal attitudes toward gambling. People that were raised with tighter moral values no not consider gambling as an activity to be proud of. Many of my friends know I play video poker. I tell them playing any casino game is a loser and they must be prepared to lose all their money. I tell them we enjoy the game as entertainment, but we have no illusions that we are going to make a profit. If they insist, I tell them to learn to play video poker accurately. I tell them to play as small as they can possibly stand. Even then, I warn them to expect losses both short and long term.

I don't live in Las Vegas. I live in Central Florida where there are far more churches than casinos. As a Christian, I do not judge people or tell them how to live their lives. The decisions they make don't affect me. They alone must deal with them. I started playing video poker around the year 2,000. I have had great days and bad days. I have never seen a casino that I believed I could beat. I have met others who claim they do. I have never seen a scrap of evidence proving their claims. Even if they provided 6 feet of documentation, It would not change my attitude. I am OK with gambling as entertainment as long as it's done with expendable income and it doesn't take over your life.

I know this forum has many members who do not share my view. That's fine with me as long as they don't try to recruit others into their way of thinking. I can see how someone who lives in Las Vegas totally immersed in gambling would disagree with me. The truth is gambling is not that important in my life. I have a family, a business, and a community to occupy my time. Once in a while, I drive over to the casino with a friend or my wife. I never expect to make money and I don't care if I do or I don't. The truth is if I won a million dollars playing VP, I would give it to someone who needs it.

I don't think I am alone in my feelings toward gambling. When you make gambling the most important thing in your life, you are setting yourself up for long term disappointment. Life's too short and too sweet to tie yourself to that burden.

[Tedlark]

I don't live in Las Vegas. I live in Central Florida where there are far more churches than casinos. As a Christian, I do not judge people or tell them how to live their lives. The decisions they make don't affect me. They alone must deal with them.

In order to save space I culled just the above.

Phil, you have officially jumped the shark. Or, are completely off your rocker.

How many times have you spoken out here in these forums about a certain someone and saying that they should not be proud of the fact that a son in law (or whoever) would be a professional gambler? You made that comment again within just the last week. You have also made similar comments about other people making a living this way as well.

If what you wrote in the above quote is true, then why do you care how a person earns a living as long as it is honest? As you said: The decisions they make don't affect me.

Wow.

[Webman]

There is a lot to be taken in here. I'm going to close the topic as we have strayed far from the original intent.

I'll close with the following on the personal feuding, which I believe will soon come to a conclusion one way or another:

Simply "taking shots" at people in the Recreational forum (or any forum) is not permitted. Obviously if someone says something that is in need of correction, helpful advice is always welcome. So please be sure to quote the error and offer correction in a helpful way when needed. While we have tended to operate in the past with a "if you can dish it out, then you should be able to take it" mentality, it's clear that over time this can escalate and just come across as nastiness and unwelcoming to new users who may want to participate. Having said that, some of the repetition of certain themes is downright exhausting, and to expect people to re-quote the same thing over and over again when offering correction would be equally exhausting. So as long as you have provided helpful advice on a particular subject in the past, I will give a pass on this guideline if the exact same subject is revisited by the same member.

To Phil, I think a few things have been shown clearly in this topic that are worth noting when it comes to your disagreements with Bob Dancer. As you have said, you don't have the exact same opportunities as he does. If you believe you have no access to positive opportunities and that positive opportunities will soon be gone and that his advice only applies to these opportunities, I see no reason for you to even comment on his Advantage Play advice further. It does not apply to people in your situation.

If someone mentions a positive $5 opportunity, the context of that opportunity is important (as it always is in Advantage Play). If someone told you to go play $5 machines in Florida on lesser pay tables with lesser pay tables, your response would be warranted. However there is no reason anyone should avoid posting an opportunity they are aware of just because it is a higher denomination than you are personally willing to play on a machine you do not have access to. A lot of people enjoy reading about these opportunities. If people interpret that opportunity as a suggestion that playing $5 games is a good idea in losing situations or when they do not have the bankroll to support such a bet, that is their folly in ignoring the vast amount of advice give out by Bob Dancer and many others to NOT do such a thing. Continuing to accuse him of encouraging people to play beyond their means ignores what I believe are his concerted efforts at the exact opposite. And it's gone on long enough.

Thank you all for your attention to these matters. Let's get along with some civility or some people will need to move on to other places.