Random? I don't think so.

[FloridaPhil]

But this crusade of yours against AP's is kind of silly.

I should have been clearer in my description. I realize there are Advantage Players who play quarter VP. I see them all the time when we play in Vegas. There is nothing wrong with taking advantage of something that is already available to you. If I lived in Vegas, I would be a fixture at Red Rock and South Point. I would earn cash back, get my dog groomed for free and take all the free classes they would let me attend. I would probably be one of "Mr. Dancer's" best students. Playing VP with an advantage would be wonderful. I can dream all I want to, but positive VP is not coming to my home casino any time soon.

The problem we have is these opportunities are rare and getting rarer. Where does that put the average player? Should he/she quit the game for good? Should we save up our money, fly to Vegas and play alongside the other positive game players crowding around the few positive games left? What happens to Advantage Play when all the positive games are gone?

It's not the strategy that's the problem, it's the signal you send when you tell people that playing with an advantage always wins then double down by saying playing big is an advantage. If you can't see the harm in that, you will never understand my posts.

[onemoretry]

it's the signal you send when you tell people that playing with an advantage always wins then double down by saying playing big is an advantage.

You seem to be the only one who thinks someone does this.

[case]

When I see an article stating that gambling $25 a hand in a slot machine is profitable, it touches a sensitive part of my heart.

Obviously you are not talking about video poker because you said it was a 25 dollar slot. So can you give us this article to read that said a 25 a hand in a slot machine is profitable?

I am positive you would not mis quote someone.

[Vman96]

This forum needs two voices. When you only hear about Video Poker as an AP plays the game, you come to the conclusion that winning big is easy. Video poker is gambling. To some, it can be an addictive and destructive behavior. As a group, I believe we should temper our remarks when we discuss big profits. If you feel I am preaching, I'm OK with that. I want average players to know the chances they will make money long term in a casino are extremely slim. If I can keep one person from financial harm, it's worth it to me.

Pretty sure your voice is very well heard here... Also when it comes to this forum, I don't think any "regular member" here thinks playing positive VP is an "easy" way to win.

[FloridaPhil]

Pretty sure your voice is very well heard here.

I realize my posts are not helping anyone but myself. I'll try to tone it down. I have a love hate relationship with gambling. I never considered it until a friend told me video poker was the best game to play in a casino. I had just retired and found myself with a lot of time on my hands. I enjoyed the casino experience, especially the resorts. I enjoyed the game, especially when I won. I have a tendency to immerse myself in any activity I like. It's a good thing I don't drink or smoke, because I am sure I would be dead by now.

I started reading everything I could find about video poker. I must have read "Million Dollar Video Poker" at least 20 times. This fueled my gambling fever even more. When I went to the casino, the game wasn't what I expected. It let me win once in a while. Most of the time it cleaned out my wallet. This left me wondering if the games were rigged? They were, but I didn't know how to tell. The "rigging" was the huge house edge on the games I was playing, not anything sinister.

Eventually I realized if I was going to play these games regularly, I had to find a better way. This lead me to alternative strategies. I discovered single coin play, which limited my losses and made the game playable. Currently, I use a new strategy that allows me to enjoy max coin royals. No strategy makes me a profit, but I have my losses under control.

I realize that no one wants to go to a video poker forum and have someone consistently tell them they are going to lose. It's like a recovering alcoholic going to a cocktail party and calling everyone a drunk. I apologize for that.

Currently I am playing most of my video poker for free on this website. I have cut down on my trips to the casino significantly. Since last Christmas, I have hit five max coin royals and I am enjoying being ahead. This forum allows me to vent my frustrations. Gambling for me is a loser no matter how I do it. If you were in my shoes, I'm pretty sure you would feel the same.

It's not "Bob Dancer's" fault that I don't have positive VP games to play, that I make errors or do stupid things. It's wrong to blame him for my losses. He told me not to play negative games. It's my fault if I do.

[FloridaPhil]

This left me wondering if the games were rigged? They were, but I didn't know how to tell. The "rigging" was the huge house edge on the games I was playing, not anything sinister.

I don't want anyone to interpret this statement to say I believe VP is not random. I have seen machines where I questioned the maintenance of the hardware to the casino's advantage. I have never seen a video poker machine where I believed the software was manipulated. If it was, I didn't notice it.

[Tedlark]

Phil can you remind us then, of your recent writings on video poker in Atlantic City? How did you interpret that again?

[FloridaPhil]

Phil can you remind us then, of your recent writings on video poker in Atlantic City? How did you interpret that again?

Frankly, I don't know what to make of our experience in AC. On numerous occasions both my wife and I observed cards that we threw away reappear on the next hand. This happened at the Borgata. This didn't happen on only one machine, it was casino wide. We pointed this out to a slot attendant and she called a manager. We waited for 30 minutes and the manager never showed.

Many of the video poker machines in this casino had problems with sticky buttons, thick tobacco ashes covering the keyboards and bad screens. Except for a royal flush that shouldn't have happened, our luck was so bad we left a day early and drove to the Mohagan Sun. Our luck at the Mohegan Sun was much better.

You could say our eyes were bad or we didn't see what we thought we did. You would be wrong. After much thought we attributed this to poor machine maintenance. This if not uncommon. In Atlantic City this is the norm, at least when we were there. We will not be back to Atlantic City. We both became ill and my wife's bronchitis turned into pneumonia. I honestly pity anyone who has to play there.

[markinca]

Except for a royal flush that shouldn't have happened, our luck was so bad

[FloridaPhil]

That royal was actually funnier than you think. My wife only plays Deuce Wild. The math says not to hold non deuce Ace high two card royal flush draws like A-10, A-K, AQ and AK. The quarter play penalty is only 3-4 cents and she wants to see more royals, so she holds then anyway. She has hit four royals so far with these hands. As I remember she held an AK and hit a royal. If she hadn't she would have lost $1,000 more. Of course that does matter to math geeks. All they care about is the numbers and they never lie. Right? Sound the applause.