2014 Reveiw & why I changed to the one coin system

[luvzlyfe]

And PS you were right I did win $50 on that hand...LOL.

[WVRadar]

OK, I went to Coconut Creek yesterday to try it "the Phil Way".  Sorry, but this picture frustrated me more than you could know....Is the point of the exercise spending only .25 each hand?  What was always drummed into me was "max bet max bet" but also "max bet to what you can afford"..  This is the reason I pay nickels.  Because I'm such a low level player, it pissed me off no end that I won $63 instead of $500.  Phil, I'm not trying to dismiss your system, but maybe it works only for those people who are high end players?  Would love your input on this.



I haven't read all of Phil's system yet but I have my own thoughts on the question of playing single coin versus maximum bet. The problem in a lot of casinos is that nickel machines are getting harder to find and you end up playing quarter machines most of the time (at least in my area). A lot of the nickel machines are triple play or higher and you can't play just one line at max bet, you have to play all of them. Thus you're betting almost as much or more than you would on a single line quarter machine.

I tried playing one coin bets on quarter machines (same bet each time) but found that it was very hard to reach a level where I could cash out. Sure I might play longer, but I almost always ended up in the red for the day.

Since then I've come up with a very simple system to increase the number of coins I'm playing per hand and it seems to be working out at least half of the time. Any time I reach 3 times the amount of the cash I put in a machine I play until I reach an even multiple of $5 and cash out.

I started playing this way last year and I'll have to total up my results but I know I did much better than I usually do.

[FloridaPhil]

Actually, I think the cheap strategy works better for a quarter player than a high roller.  High rollers usually have lots of money to burn and don't care that much about losses. Many of them are "Jackpot Junkies" that get their kicks out of hitting huge jackpots no matter what the cost.   A quarter player is usually someone who would be really upset by losing $10K or more in one year.   Playing video poker should be fun, not painful.  Whatever your threshold of pain is, adjust your play accordingly.   Just know that you will never beat a negative expectation video poker machine long term and you most likely won't be recovering your losses either.  What's gone is gone, so why not make your losses as small as possible? 

[OTABILL]

[QUOTE]instead of being disappointed about not winning, accept that it is more
likely one is going to lose, but, the entertainment value is worth an
amount you can accept. This quote gets right to the heart of the question of why we play video poker.  If your goal is to win money long term, pack your bags move to Vegas and start following Dancer around.
[/QUOTE]

We play VP for entertainment purposes. We expect to spend what we allocate/budget for an outing to the casino much as we would if purchasing tickets to a concert for the same amount. The difference is that winning is wonderful and an added bonus. This is something both Bob Dancer and Frank Kneeland earlier find it hard to relate to. Then again, they are pros -- we are recreational players. That is another reason we play the type of VP we like (DDB or TDB (infrequently)) rather than seek out something with a better paytable (JOB/DW, etc.). BTW, we wouldn't go near a casino if we were looking for a money making enterprise. That's our philosophy. No better or worse than anyone else's. To each his own.

[olds442jetaway]

In light of this recreational play discussion, if I think about my negative 50k year which is horrible, I really can't complain too much. If I booked a hundred rooms for the year which is about right, that is worth retail at least 20k right there and much more on weekends or for the suites they give me sometimes. I never pay for gas, so there is another 2,500 there. Food at least 10k worth and that is probably under. Gifts, another 2k or so. Probably antother 8k in free play. If I just played with that and cashed out all winning hands, I probably would have 7k of that left. Also another 3k in spendable points worth a buck each. I did get my new HP Pavillion last year from them which I like very much. I am not a big drinker but the bar tab would have been at least 2k for the year. Finally I forgot the shows and games which would be another 10k or so. Well, that puts me over 50k right there. Do I still complain....yes, do I still love vp yes if it is fair...do I have a good time and forget about the madness in the world when I am there...yes, and have I made many new freinds both there and here on this site....yes again..so all in all that is " the rest of the story ".....

[notes1]

i am sure the issue of comp value has been discussed before. it is a valid point to put some value on what the casino gives us back, but, we need to be careful, not to over value some things. i remember bringing home a 'snuggie' from the casino one time. gave it to my wife and told her it was worth $700. what a value!  to me, the more interesting point that continues to be brought up are the numerous ways that VP players are trying to keep their losses to a reasonable amount. many of the comments seem to infer that the cost of gambling has risen over the past few years.   it seems that as the number of regular casino visitors has dropped per casino, the casinos are needing to grab more money from each customer they have. this may work for a while, but it may be catching up with the casinos. gamblers have been adjusting their play, i wonder if the next step for some, will be to just give up and direct their entertainment dollars elsewhere. 

[FloridaPhil]

I considered giving up video poker many times over the past few years.  I discussed it with my wife and we sat down and listed all the things we enjoy about it and the things we don't.  What we enjoy most is our video poker vacations.  It's very nice getting away from the office for a few days to a place where you can mentally relax and the phone doesn't ring (at least you can't hear it). We've been married 50 years and still enjoy each others company.  Casino vacations are romantic, exciting and just plain fun.  I enjoy my one day a week trips to the Hard Rock because it gets me out of the house and away from staring into the computer all day.  The thing we don't enjoy is the depressing feeling you get when you lose a lot of money.   Losing a couple hundred dollars a day doesn't bother us much, a thousand or more is an entirely different matter.  We keep separate bank accounts and are both well off financially, but we both feel like fools when we give away our money.  We both made the decision to play the cheap strategy about a year ago and we are playing more hands and having more fun than ever.   I am writing this because some of you may want to undertake a similar exercise of your own.   Video poker is a very enjoyable activity if you play it on your own terms instead of the casinos. 

[ko king]

i am sure the issue of comp value has been discussed before. it is a valid point to put some value on what the casino gives us back, but, we need to be careful, not to over value some things. i remember bringing home a 'snuggie' from the casino one time. gave it to my wife and told her it was worth $700. what a value!  to me, the more interesting point that continues to be brought up are the numerous ways that VP players are trying to keep their losses to a reasonable amount. many of the comments seem to infer that the cost of gambling has risen over the past few years.   it seems that as the number of regular casino visitors has dropped per casino, the casinos are needing to grab more money from each customer they have. this may work for a while, but it may be catching up with the casinos. gamblers have been adjusting their play, i wonder if the next step for some, will be to just give up and direct their entertainment dollars elsewhere. 

I'm going thru the same thing right now, do I quit or do I adjust or change the way I play. Truth is I've been having these thoughts for a few years now. As far as my results go I cannot deny the cost of playing like I always have has gone up, don't know why because the pay tables haven't changed and I still play like I have for over 20 years. It's not that I won money all those years, truth is I only finished ahead a couple of times during all those years but my losses were never really that great and I could justify playing by the comps I got in return. I can't justify my losses with comps anymore because it's just too darn expensive to play, that is play like I always have. I can't ignore the fact that the industry in this area has taken a huge hit and there's no question all the casino have taken steps to "limit their exposure" I just question how they've limited the exposure and how far they've been allowed to go. Something's changed, it seems subtle and hard to recognize as far as the game goes but at the same time it's aggressive toward players like me as far as cost go. The last time I went to play the first casino I went to had no people playing vp, none, I played for a very short time and left. Went to another casino and it was the same story, no one was playing vp. I kid you not I remember taking the drive to the casinos and thinking I hope I can get on a machine, that's not a problem anymore, the machines are setting idle most of the time just waiting on their next victim.

[FloridaPhil]

I think a lot of recreational players are reevaluating their leisure dollars and coming to the conclusion that they are not getting their money's worth.  This is a death spiral for the casinos because they make most of their money from slot players.   The casino loses money, so they reduce the slot odds.  The casino loses more money and they reduce the odds some more.  Sooner or later the players rebel and stop going or start inventing cheaper playing solutions.   On top of this, developers keep building more casinos which doubles down on the problem.  I don't know what the solution is, but maybe some day it will be like the old days and Vegas will be the only gambling destination worth playing.  As for us, we'll play as long as we can keep the cost to a reasonable level.

[ko king]

I think a lot of recreational players are reevaluating their leisure dollars and coming to the conclusion that they are not getting their money's worth.  This is a death spiral for the casinos because they make most of their money from slot players.   The casino loses money, so they reduce the slot odds.  The casino loses more money and they reduce the odds some more.  Sooner or later the players rebel and stop going or start inventing cheaper playing solutions.   On top of this, developers keep building more casinos which doubles down on the problem.  I don't know what the solution is, but maybe some day it will be like the old days and Vegas will be the only gambling destination worth playing.  As for us, we'll play as long as we can keep the cost to a reasonable level.

I get how they do it when it comes to slots, I quit playing them all together a while back. Now as far as vp goes I never really thought had thoughts about "should I quit", I just played. I found vp to be a very trust worthy game, as long as I stuck to the plan everything would work out and it did for many, many years. The hits/jackpots don't come as often anymore so in the long run it is costing me a lot more money to play. For years I would bring home a stack of W-2G's on a good trip, now I'm really lucky to get 2 and I find myself just hoping to get 1 anymore. The last 5 trip playing $2 denom DDB I've only managed to get one $1,600 hit, which seems to be the norm anymore, it's became a tough fight for me to just walk out a few hundred ahead every once in a while.