Questions for the Veterans

[olds442jetaway]

Phil and Bob are both right. Even with my whopping horrible 95% return last year, if I value all of the comps that included over 100 free rooms I used and in there are several 2,000 square feet suites, free gas, free food some of which was gourmet, gifts, and shows, at retail my 50k cash loss would have been about a break even. I would rather have had two new cars with that money, but the lack of Royals the last 2 years really did me in. One thing to remember and I am a prime example of this is that Royals can be very elusive and long term results that match the paytables and frequency of hits may not come around in one's lifetime. The lack of Royals alone cost me 20k in each of the last 2 years. Edited to add...2% or so of the loss came from games with a 97.5-98.9 paytables. The final 1% or so came from mistakes, sticky buttons, playing too fast, and playing at too high amount for the very short term. ( playing ten bucks or more a hand at a time short term and not hitting. )

[Vman96]

[QUOTE=FloridaPhil]  Some people can pull this off, most can't...

As I said, the regular posters here are living in a very different world than successful players. These people cannot get their head around what it takes to succeed.FP's conclusion might be reasonable  for regular members  of this site, but the original poster was a successful online poker player. And for players in that subset of people, most CAN be successful at gambling.[/QUOTE]

I would think he would be better off brushing up on no-limit holdem though and playing the live poker games at horseshoe hammond. The VP choices there aren't good to make money off of, especially at quarters. And I feel like that's the way for the entire Chicagoland/NW Indiana area. I may be wrong on that though...maybe comps are juicier than I know, but I doubt it.

I made money at online poker before black friday too, but I haven't seriously considered making a living at VP.

[JonizZooted]

I really appreciate you letting me know there is a legitimate possibility to still be successful gambling and I'm incredibly grateful for the words of encouragement. It's refreshing to hear some positivity when it comes to anything gambling related.
Last week I started looking into the optimal strategy on the wizard of odds site and have bumped my correct play percentage from 97% after 1 week of practice to about 98.5% correct play in a single 8 hour practice session. However, it's still obvious that I'm failing to recognize patterns and remember correct play 100% of the time. The book has been purchased and the podcast has been subscribed to. I think the thing that interests me the most about video poker is that eventually it will be second nature, you can't argue with math, there will be no over analyzing hands or betting patterns of opponents, there will be no embarrassing show downs after I attempt to make a hero call that I was wrong about. I'm excited to learn a game where no one is around to judge my play, it's just me vs the machine, I think that will make the grind more bearable (As I can only dedicate about 10 hours a week of live play). My only question is how you feel about playing VP on online casino's. I have no idea how safe they are, if the rng in the online casino version is even legitimate, things like that. I feel as though it's not profitable for me to take such early risks to my bankroll with the low pay tables they offer (I was just overly eager to experience live play). Again I appreciate the encouragement and any advice you can give!

[FloridaPhil]

Keep in mind that a professional player is playing two games, the game itself and the comp game.  Bob Dancer makes money playing video poker but his ability to turn comps into a usable revenue stream is where he excels.  If he wrote a book on that subject, I would buy it.I would love to play video poker on line for money. Unfortunately, I do not trust these websites enough to risk my money.  There is no regulation and no guarantee you will ever get paid.  The Internet is the Wild West and nothing on it can be trusted as far as I am concerned.  Sometimes I wonder about the legitimacy of casino games, much less some website from Nigeria.   

[BobDancer]

 Bob Dancer makes money playing video poker but his ability to turn comps into a usable revenue stream is where he excels.   This is news to me!Anyone who believes that selling comps is a significant part of my income stream is mistaken. I am taking some casino gifts to a garage sale next month, but my annual revenue from comps in 2015 was zero and this garage sale will net a few hundred dollars max.Selling comps is NOT where it's at!

[case]

Bob Dancer   [/QUOTE] but my annual revenue from comps in 2015 was zero and this garage sale will net a few hundred dollars max.Selling comps is NOT where it's at![/QUOTE]



Is not free play a form of comps?

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=BobDancer]This is news to me! Anyone who believes that
selling comps is a significant part of my income stream is mistaken. I
am taking some casino gifts to a garage sale next month, but my annual
revenue from comps in 2015 was zero and this garage sale will net a few
hundred dollars max. Selling comps is NOT where it's at![/quote]I didn't say you sold them, I said you count them as revenue. Free play is a comp, free cruises are comps, mailers are comps, free rooms are comps, free food is a comp, entries into exclusive drawings are comps, cars are comps, Etc.  Are you saying Bob Dancer makes six figures a year playing video poker without counting anything outside of video poker game wins, no comps?

[BobDancer]

I disagree with your definition of a comp.I do not consider cash back, free play, drawings, cash casino incentives, or mailers to be comps. These things are cash or "almost cash" in the case of free play. I definitely include this type of cash in my winnings. i definitely report this kind of money on my tax return.I do consider cruises, hotel rooms, meals,  cars. and various other casino gifts to be comps.These things are not cash, unless you sell them, which I have rarely done. I do NOT include this type of item in my winnings.  I do believe that these things add to the quality of my life --- but not my bottom line. I do not report free hotel rooms on my tax return.As an example, Bonnie and I might stay in a Travelodge if we were going to an out-of-town square dance convention, but if a casino nearby were willing to give us a nice suite for free, that would be better. But I would not pay retail for a nice casino suite and do not consider the retail price of that suite to be part of my winnings.

[FloridaPhil]

Got it.  Just clarifying.   If you don't mind,  I have a couple of questions I have been wanting to ask for a while.  1. Do you ever give up on a good game just  because it doesn't work for you?2. How long can you play perfectly without resting?3. Have you ever made a mistake that you know cost you money?4. Would you ever scale down your play in retirement?I'm sure you have been asked these questions many times before, so if you don't want to answer them it's fine.  Thanks.

[BobDancer]

Got it.  Just clarifying.   If you don't mind,  I have a couple of questions I have been wanting to ask for a while.  1. Do you ever give up on a good game just  because it doesn't work for you?2. How long can you play perfectly without resting?3. Have you ever made a mistake that you know cost you money?4. Would you ever scale down your play in retirement?I'm sure you have been asked these questions many times before, so if you don't want to answer them it's fine.  Thanks.



Answering your question took me longer than 1000 words, so I decided to save it for one of my Tuesday blogs. It'll probably be posted in mid June.