Bob Dancer LasVegasAdvisor 6-14-2016 Article

[billryan]

Henderson is a lot cheaper than Summerlin. If I had unlimited money, I think I'd chose Summerlin, although the
HOAs can be pains in the ass.
I really enjoy Henderson.I'm almost smack in the middle between Green Valley and Sunset Station, with Harleys and a Wilfire a block away.
Boulder Highway and it's casinos are about two miles away.
I'm only here two months but I don't regret choosing Henderson.

[DaBurglar]

  If you do try out to be a Poker pro (that might be your stronger suit than video poker or casino gambling), hope you are in good financial shape and have a solid plan B if the losses mount so much. You only see the winners on TV, but you do not see the 9 out of 10 people who've ruined their lives going for it.

9 out of 10?!?!?    egadWell I actually do not think it is QUITE that bad, at least what I have heard and discovered in my years of playing and talking with people and asking around.     You are obviously correct about bankroll but that is a "given" if someone is serious about taking up ANY type of gambling for a profession or living.Like anything else, a person becoming a poker pro needs a PLAN.....and needs to tend to ALL their living/survival needs FIRST before playing even one hand once the decision is made to become a PRO....things like Living quarters (i.e.  a "home") and a budget for food and medical care need to be worked out in great detail BEFORE anything else is done.  Once the essentials for mere survival are squared away, THEN you compose your gameplan, such as what games and stakes you intend to play, tournaments, etc.From what I have seen and learned so far in my own limited experience (10 years and knowing about 20 confirmed, bonafide "Poker PROS" and at least that many serious amateurs who have made the effort), most players who are serious about turning Poker pros, and who do NOT shoot themselves in the foot by gambling in other games or ways outside of poker and who adhere to their Bankroll constraints, usually find themselves somewhere just south of even, meaning moderate losers their first year or two.    That is to say, breaking even was the closest they come to success their first year but usually lose the equivalent of 10-20% of their bankroll.    A few do succeed.....By your third year usually someone learns at that point whether they are going to make it or break it.......of course nothing is for certain in any of this, and I myself, if I did undertake this...."undertaking", I would do so with confidence and the EXPECTATION of success! 

[billryan]

   I think a lot of young men come to Vegas thinking they can be poker pros and fail at it. I don't believe most of them ruin their lives by failing. If, as Mr Dancer says in the article, they end up working in casinos as dealers, I don' think that counts as a ruined life. If they end up as male prostitutes, thats bad.

[FloridaPhil]

Nothing wrong with failing.  Lots of people that open restaurants and small businesses fail.   At least with video poker you don't have to rent a building and remodel the place.  Chase your dreams.   

[FAA]

Carpe tunnel!

[alpax]

9 out of 10?!?!?    egadWell I actually do not think it is QUITE that bad, at least what I have heard and discovered in my years of playing and talking with people and asking around.     You are obviously correct about bankroll but that is a "given" if someone is serious about taking up ANY type of gambling for a profession or living.Like anything else, a person becoming a poker pro needs a PLAN.....and needs to tend to ALL their living/survival needs FIRST before playing even one hand once the decision is made to become a PRO....things like Living quarters (i.e.  a "home") and a budget for food and medical care need to be worked out in great detail BEFORE anything else is done.  Once the essentials for mere survival are squared away, THEN you compose your gameplan, such as what games and stakes you intend to play, tournaments, etc.From what I have seen and learned so far in my own limited experience (10 years and knowing about 20 confirmed, bonafide "Poker PROS" and at least that many serious amateurs who have made the effort), most players who are serious about turning Poker pros, and who do NOT shoot themselves in the foot by gambling in other games or ways outside of poker and who adhere to their Bankroll constraints, usually find themselves somewhere just south of even, meaning moderate losers their first year or two.    That is to say, breaking even was the closest they come to success their first year but usually lose the equivalent of 10-20% of their bankroll.    A few do succeed.....By your third year usually someone learns at that point whether they are going to make it or break it.......of course nothing is for certain in any of this, and I myself, if I did undertake this...."undertaking", I would do so with confidence and the EXPECTATION of success! 

Thanks for the insightful post about what an aspiring poker professional should be facing. They have to be able to deal with losing and surviving the financial burden that comes with it.

To be more specific about the 9 out of 10, I was referring to tournament play in the past. The prize payouts are for the top 10 percent finishers, and with that standard, I thought it will normalize that way. While there are celebrities who enter the WSOP Main Event for fun with $10k being disposable income, there are others where they put everything on the line for that entry fee. The local TV station here had a special report about those players where they are shown crying after being instantly eliminated by a bad beat draw. I keep hearing the term bottom feeders to the pros.

I am so out of touch so I do not know what it is now, but many highly educated players are dropping out of Ivy League universities to pursue a poker career when I was watching the Final 9 of the 2015 WSOP Main Event. Competition is fierce, that champion played so flawlessly.

   I think a lot of young men come to Vegas thinking they can be poker pros and fail at it. I don't believe most of them ruin their lives by failing. If, as Mr Dancer says in the article, they end up working in casinos as dealers, I don' think that counts as a ruined life. If they end up as male prostitutes, thats bad.

I've read that article earlier this year and shared it. Now and days it may not be a great fallback option as MGM is still going through their PGP, Caesars is cutting back on tables, and people are playing less blackjack when the payouts are becoming from 3/2 to 6/5.



Nothing wrong with failing.  Lots of people that open restaurants and small businesses fail.   At least with video poker you don't have to rent a building and remodel the place.  Chase your dreams.    



Live poker is much more tougher to succeed in than video poker. A ton of mom and pop restaurants fail. I was wondering if you can provide a general recovery plan if one fails at a business and defaults on their small business loan from the bank. How do they get their second chance?

[billryan]

I opened my first business in 1983/84. Started working on it in 83, it opened in 84. Spent weeks trying to get bank loans to no avail. Even lenders of last resort laughed at me. Finally, I turned to friends and family. My Godmother said she would match what my friends lent. I raised 5,000 from them that she matched and my Mother gave me $4000.
I had almost $5000 of my own and had budgeted for 25,000.
I ended up cutting corners, having my sister make a sign instead of buying a commercial one, putting drapes over a ping pong table for a merchandise shelf, not buying a cash register, having a much shallower inventory than I'd intended- which cost me money as I lost some volume discounts,and so on.
After I'd signed my lease but before I opened, another similar store opened only six blocks away. On a hundred mile island, with five million people, there were less than a dozen comic book shops but I had one six blocks away, co-owned by three brothers who all had much more money than me.
I limped along for eighteen months,paying back my friends $100 a week when I could. I gave up my apartment and took to sleeping on an air mattress in the back room or on my Moms couch. Even drove a cab on Saturday night's.My competition was thriving, I was surviving when someone approached me about buying me out. He wanted a baseball card store and loved my location. I walked away debt free with $2000 in my pocket and about 3000 comics.
I'd taken a beating but learned many valuable lessons. Learned about cycle sheets, learned discounting, what not to do in many cases. I licked my wounds, spent the next summer driving a Good Humor truck 15 hours a day seven days a week and opened my second shop, this time using almost entirely other people's money.

[alpax]

Thanks for sharing your story Bill, cannot imagine the stress you've been through.

[FloridaPhil]

Owning and operating a small business is part of the American dream, but it's not for everyone.  I started my business in 1970 and operated it until I turned it over to my son in 2000.  My employees thought I had it made and my son thought I went to the post office for a living.  He knows better now.  What they didn't see was me sweating payroll and staying up all night trying to keep up with the competition.  After 30 years I was walking around with a heart monitor and pumping blood pressure pills like candy.   I was very successful from a monetary standpoint, but the pressure took a toll me on me.  Was it worth it and would I do it again?  You bet!   Follow your dreams, but always have an exit strategy.  You'll get lots of opportunities in your life, some of them may work out.

[alpax]

Thanks Phil for sharing your story as well. Judging by both of your stories, it is pretty much "failure is not an option" mentality. Excellent perspective to have.

If 40/8 All American Bonus video poker at high denomination is still around today, pursuing video poker may be worth the risk.