Trip Efficiency

[FAA]

Time is the ultimate asset. I wish to optimize it this year. This would require maybe 25-50% less trips and expanding my bankroll, as Ted once said suggested. I'd be less skittish about busting and more likely to concentrate on .25/.50 as there would be no panic to recoup losses. Most people already are low frequency players. Thoughts?

[jetermacaw]

It all depends on what you are ultimately looking to accomplish. Less trips with higher bankroll will raise your ADT and increase your offers. Less trips means missing the sights and sounds of AC.

[FloridaPhil]

It all depends on what you are ultimately looking to accomplish.

How do you know what road to take if you don't know here you are going? Sit down and write out all the things you like about playing VP and the things you don't. Analyze your opportunities and decide what is realistically possible. There is no use in setting expectations that are impossible to reach. If you do, you won't stick to a plan, you will thrash around inflicting even more damage.

Everyone is different. You may be able to play with accuracy longer than I can. The games you have may be better than mine. My comps might be better. Someone else may have a greater tolerance for bankroll swings. You may not be satisfied playing quarter VP. A third person may enjoy playing nickels.

Find what works for you, not someone else. This may not happen overnight, it's a work in progress. Eventually you will find the right balance to fit your options. After you have it, hang onto it and don't let someone with different options tell you it's wrong. It's only wrong for you if you don't enjoy what you are doing.

Math formulas do not factor in things like anxiety, fear, satisfaction, peace of mind, tolerance or pleasure. All they do is tell you how a computer programmed for maximum profit would play. Humans are not computers.

[FAA]

Poor loss tolerance and anxiety will improve with more BR. I can easily engineer net break even trips. Maybe this is it; same frequency with more stiff trips. You can't beat the house, but you can stiff it. Sights and sounds and sitting on wallet.

[olds442jetaway]

Like i have so many times.... the math works long term, but that can be more than one’s lifetime. Both the wife and i have had our biggest hits and more of them on poor paytable machines. That said, i just can’t force myself to play the poor ones 90 percent of the time. My wife on the other hand plays what she wants which 90 percent of the time are poor table machines. Her losses percentage wise dearf mine. Go figure. It is short term being short term.

[FloridaPhil]

Maybe this will help?

Here's what I like about Video Poker.

It's a nice way to spend a day
I enjoy quality time with my wife and friends
Gives me something to think about
I might win money

Here's what I don't like about Video Poker.

Losing money
Feeling depressed
Anger
Depression

To counter this, I find a VP game that entertains me with the least amount of negativity. This means playing low variance games. It also means playing as small as possible and working to reduce my risks. I am not a person who can lose money for months at a time in order to possibly make a profit on one day.

Right now, quarter Deuce Wild is my game of choice. I still have losing days, but they are much less frequent. There is no way to stop them completely. That's video poker.

I consider my negative feelings toward video poker as an asset, not a liability. They keep me from hurting myself both emotionally and financially.

[FAA]

Good input. Same list items. Negativity should only fuel conservative, close to the vest spartan play. Most entertainment with the least financial leakage possible. Since the nickel pay tables are abysmal, this means quarter play. Leave happy.

[FloridaPhil]

Since the nickel pay tables are abysmal, this means quarter play.

It's not the odds of nickel play that keep me from playing them. I can't get excited about nickel jackpots. Everyone has a different excitement level. A $1,000 royal is enough to keep me in the game.

[FAA]

Yes, of course is my main gripe. Can't commute this much for a pittance a RF.

[olds442jetaway]

I bet one could excited on nickels if you could hit like my mrs did in the last month on ddb ultimate x. 32000. 36000 and 16000 nickels if i remember. 2 of the 3 were hand pays so ct was right there to steal their 7 percent with no hope of. loss writeoff.