I fell in to a burning pit of fire

I went down, down, down, and the flames got higher.

I was new to Video Poker. I had the software. I had vpFREE. I practiced for many hours. Then days. I got so good I thought my software was broken, it never flagged me for an incorrect play. I was ready.

I located those advantage machines, and away I went.

Wait a minute, somethings wrong here, the key wont unlock this door. What happened to my bank roll?

So, I speak from my own experience. I've been playing VP for many years now. I lost the wife, I lost the house, I lost the dog. OK, still have the dog.

I went to the window and yelled, " I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more!"

But that didn't work either.

Oh how I wish I had all that money back.

Father, I swear I'll never do it again, that is until I can sell some more blood and get another stake.

So, do what you will. Just take it from a poor ex alter boy.

If it sounds too good to be true....RUN!

Anybody got any spare change?

My point is just because I knew the game, and how to play it, and had unlimited bankroll, I still lost my tushca.

There are many here among us that will tell you differently. Maybe they do win, I don't know. I didn't.

But they play absolute correct strategy, know all the promotions and multi point days, and play at blazing speed. You'll see them at those advantage machines, like one armed Zombies on speed.

Do they tip? Well, that I don't know, but I do know that tipping cuts into the EV. That can mean the difference between a winning and a losing session. Where'd that cocktail waitress go?

Holy Cow Batman, Get some exercise.

Rule 1 never gamble more than you can afford to lose.
Plus on VP playing optimal strategy you have to be either betting beyond your limit or on a really, really bad streak to tank out that quick.
But as w everything step back and see if it is more enjoyable than not.

I agree wives come and go but a good dog is a great find.

I'll have to finish a blog post that I started on why I have decided against pursuing video poker with positive EV.

One thing for sure is that any positive EV machine is only marginally so, and, yeah, tips could take that away. And you will have other expenses too. Stories like yours must abound, but generally we only hear from the braggarts who claim to have come out ahead, tips, gas money, and all. Perhaps some do.

I have shed some of my superstitions but one of them that I hang on to is that if you have a situation where you *need* to have some luck, as opposed to would *like* to have some luck, you are tempting fate to deliver a good solid bitch-slap.

Here at Niagara, I see people pounding away on the 5-6-9 $.50 DDB machines which are at .978 return. Add in the double slot point Mondays (their best promotion) and the best you get up to is .982 (you get $1 per $300 played). So, at $2.50/spin, you're giving out about a nickel or about a buck a minute for 20 plays / minute. Dumb. And it's not even the best VP game in the casino (that honor belongs to a 50 play nickel Super Aces game at .989).

There used to be full pay Pick-em at the same bank of machines at .9995. At that point, absolutely, pound the machines. Pick'em has very low variance and a very easy to memorize strategy. With a double slot point promotion, you're at 1.0028 with the promotion, meaning that you earn 0.708 cents a pull. At 20 pulls a minute, it's only 14 cents, but $8.40 tax free / hour plus some free dining benefits and additional slot play offers that come with the platinum player's card. Of course they pulled out these machines a couple of years ago. The same pay table appeared up at Blue Heron (near Toronto) some time later and those were rightfully being pounded as well.

But odious is right. You have to play perfectly. Playing so much on the same machines gets boring when it becomes a job. The variance can kill. And the allure of other things in the casino (drinking, prostitutes, tipping, other games, lowlifes) can destroy your profits and fun fairly quickly.

Fort Erie near Buffalo also has those good pick 'em games. Caesars Windsor used to have them. Oh, those were the days. (Now I'm sounding old, and I'm not that old yet!)

BenJamming, what denomination and what games did you play? If you go for the high variance, high value games right off the bat they will bust you like a cheap Chinese garden hoe.

Quote: teddys

Fort Erie near Buffalo also has those good pick 'em games. Caesars Windsor used to have them. Oh, those were the days. (Now I'm sounding old, and I'm not that old yet!)

Your kids will be pining for "those good 97% return VP machines." And they'll be sure you'r making it up when you mention you actually played 100+% DW. It's the trend.

Gambling, the only activity where geezers can cite statistics and percentages about the good old days :)