A big thanks to Phil

[case]

Beating a casino or making a living from it does not interest me. However when I see an opportunity I will play it out if possible. My wife and I stay often more than 100 days a year in casino hotels but it is rare I pay for anything. I am not a high roller but I do run a circuit of repeated casinos to get these offers. We love to travel the country and do this with the free rooms and often food as well. At the end of the year I will lose some money but nowhere even close to the freebies I get along the way.

Phil you keep talking about beating casinos but who on here keeps saying they beat the casinos? We take advantage of situations sure, but most of us play for the enjoyment just like you do. We just don't preach "our" way to everyone else like you do.

[FloridaPhil]

Beating a casino or making a living from it does not interest me. However when I see an opportunity I will play it out if possible. My wife and I stay often more than 100 days a year in casino hotels but it is rare I pay for anything. I am not a high roller but I do run a circuit of repeated casinos to get these offers. We love to travel the country and do this with the free rooms and often food as well. At the end of the year I will lose some money but nowhere even close to the freebies I get along the way.

Phil you keep talking about beating casinos but who on here keeps saying they beat the casinos? We take advantage of situations sure, but most of us play for the enjoyment just like you do. We just don't preach "our" way to everyone else like you do.

It sounds like your VP experience is very similar to ours. To us, video poker is a family activity. We don't play golf, go to the latest movie or eat in fancy restaurants. We enjoy playing video poker as a couple. My wife doesn't play as much as I do. What she enjoys most is playing on vacations or on overnight trips.

We plan all our vacations around video poker. Later this month we are flying to Seattle and driving to Denver where we will stay at the Ameristar in Black Hawk. Along the way we plan to visit Glacier National Park. We are staying with someone we haven't seen since the early days of the computer industry back in the seventies. If there is a casino along the way, you can be assured we will stop in.

The "beat the casino" narrative comes from people who want to sell you. They want to sell you products. They want to sell you on playing video poker. They want the casino filled so their managers will buy more video poker machines. That is their job. To build credibility, they have to create winners. These are not easy to find. Winners do exist, so they use them as marketing tools. None of this is bad. It's the same thing as selling you libido increasing pills or rejuvenating face cream. It works for a few people. For most people it doesn't.

There are good things that come from this effort. Players learn to play more hands with their money. They learn how to tell a good game from a bad game. They learn the value of comps. I wouldn't have known about video poker is it wasn't for this marketing. The marketing told me the casino was beatable. I was unable to do it on my own, so I tried what they told me. I didn't beat the casino, but I learned a lot of valuable information.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the casino marketing themselves or a business person selling useful products. There is no need to use profiting off the casino as a motivating tool in this effort. Some of the things I have written about on this forum happened years ago. You don't hear much about long term winning these days. I'm trying to forget. The article written about a father being happy with a daughter marrying a professional gambler is something that requires an apology. That had nothing to do with making anyone a better video poker player. It told everything about the person who wrote it. I can stand most anything, but my family values will not allow this to go away.

[Webman]

The problem is the repetition of the same ideas over and over and over and ...

There are ways to halt the repetition. I can be banned or my posts shut down. I can run out of things to say or die at my computer. Or, we can admit that video poker is entertainment and entertainment is where you find it.

Unfortunately, I think we may be nearing that point. Hopefully the first option, not you dead at your computer. Repetition is jut not suited for an online forum such as this one. It becomes a nuisance and is disruptive to the discussion of ideas. If people have already weighed in on a subject, stating it over and over again would either require them to become similarly repetitive, or the repeated idea becomes a one-sided discussion through sheer volume. That's not how this is supposed to work, and I've tried my best to be lenient and encourage you to bump old topics if you want to add to them rather than starting them over and over again.

For your posting style, I think you might be better off starting a blog, where interested readers can read your thoughts and it does not impede the discussion atmosphere of an online forum. You would also not be subject to any rules that you find silly, such as not talking about Bob Dancer. You would also not have to deal with commentary from advantage players or you could moderate it to your own satisfaction.

Here you are again, ranting in the Recreational forum about an comment Bob Dancer made in an article several years ago and demanding an apology over a mere opinion about who his child should marry. This just 2 days after a warning I made in this very thread to stop bringing him up here (since this sub-forum was created specifically for the purposes of non-Bob-Dancer discussion, or at least as you see it).

Since you either choose to ignore or somehow miss my comments in these threads, I am issuing a 3 week suspension from the forum. A shorter suspension worked last time, maybe this last effort will again bring things around to healthier posting habits. You may choose to take this time to set up a free blog as I suggested earlier in this post. At the conclusion of the suspension, I would gladly share a link to it. I know at least 3 people who would be interested in reading.

I've always said there is a place here for the discussion of VP as entertainment vs. profit, and I think the Recreational forum could be a great benefit to players with different goals. Unfortunately, you also seem to see yourself as the ambassador of this forum, despite the fact that most players here actually consider themselves "recreational" rather than professionals.

I think we may soon be entering a post-Phil era of the Recreational forum, and I think that would lend itself better to discussion. But consider this suspension a final olive branch to see if this can somehow work out after taking another break.

[FAA]

Three weeks. Who will be my sounding board this month? He really is the primary voice of reason, albeit too amplified for most members. Godspeed.

[onemoretry]

He really is the primary voice of reason, albeit too amplified for most members.

Well, that's your opinion. I would hazard a guess that it's a minority one.

[stevel96a1]

Phil didn't do anything wrong except teach and explain his experiences in a typical casino club.

Thumbs down to Webman...

[Webman]

What Phil has done wrong is repeatedly ignore some basic requests:
1) Stop posting the same things over and over again
2) Stop bringing up Bob Dancer or advantage play in the recreational forum

Nobody else seems to have this problem. I welcome his views, but saying the same things over and over again despite numerous warnings just can’t happen.

[advantage playe]

fl phil should not be downplaying people who think gambling can be a good career for others ! I know some people who have raised a family making gambling there main income. I also know doctors and lawyers with familys who are in jail and broke right now !! THUMBS UP TO WEBMAN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jstark]

The only issue with Phil, is the "it can't be done here" mentality. Other than that, I have no problem with him

[OTABILL]

Phil is entitled to his views and posting them on this forum in a civil manner. So is everyone else here. The problem, as Webman points out, is Phil way too often has repeated himself ad nauseum in a verbose way. When he returns, which presumably he will, I would encourage him to adhere closely to Webman's dictum. FP please respond concisely to the postings of others and reference your previous postings if you feel the need to do so. Keep originated topics to new material. And, of course no more new, superfluous references to experts, BD etc. I agree with some things you say and appreciate your providing information on casinos and areas you visit. I also disagree with other things you post. I agree/disagree with postings by almost everyone else who regularly opines on the forum as well. Just keep it simple and original. Peace.