Just finished reading the article by Bob Dancer in the Feb. issue of the Casino Player Magazine about whether a person would rather be lucky or good when gambling in a casino.
My experience(with limited gambling excursions) tells me that I would rather be "lucky". Guess that's why lately I don't get too concerned about the best strategy or best paying machines at vp. Seems like my greatest success is from less than full pay machines. If someone gambles much more frequently, I can agree with Dancer that it might be good for those individuals to be good, rather than lucky.
Do most of you who gamble "infrequently" find that it is best to be good, or just plain lucky for the best results?
Do those of you who gamble "frequently" find that it is best to be lucky, or just very good for the best results?
I don't consider 6-8 gambling trips per year very frequent. I would consider gambling every week or several days/week frequent gambling.
Hey, I'm good. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/cool.gif[/img] But I'd rather be lucky. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] Come to think of it I have been pretty luck in the past. Most of my trips over the years have been to Reno. For years the only VP I would play were the progressive JB. Usually I played 25 cent but once in a while $1. Almost every trip I hit a royal for $1200 to $2500 on a quarter machine. I'd consider that lucky. We used to go 5 or 6 times a year. I've never had a royal on a $1 machine. Our last trip was in September to Las Vegas and I hit a royal on a quarter DB for $1000. I've spent hundreds of hours studying at the feet of Bob Dancer and the other gurus so some of that knowledge has to have rubbed off.
But to answer the question---Yes, I would rather be lucky.
Beth, I'd rather be lucky than good. My first Royal was dealt to me, the second and third came from incorrect strategy. The 4th one (tonight!) came from correct play, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to hold three to the royal<g>.
Congratulations! You kind of slid that bit of information in there unobtrusively. Where did you get it and what denomination and stuff? I get a big thrill when I get one on my Winpoker, but to get a royal in a real casino is an event. Were you lucky or did you use your goodness? [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
Bob
[This message has been edited by vpbob (edited 28 January 2001).]
Bob, I was playing quarters at Sam's Town. It was funny when I went to claim my jacket; I rate a cloth jacket for the quarter Royal, but the promo runs thru Jan 31st, and the lady behind the desk suggested I wait to collect until the end of my trip ...just in case I get lucky enough to hit a dollar Royal for the suede variety. Right... pigs might fly too<g>. Actually, I had planned on some dollar play to build up some brownie points here since my gambling time at Sam's will be limited on this trip, and that suede jacket does look really nice. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
Beth, now I start the struggle to take it home<g>. But, first things first, I'm hungry! I'm off to try the lumberjack breakfast at Nevada Palace ....wouldn't Lee be proud of me?
Registered: 07/12/99
Posts: 3627
Loc: Columbus, Ohio, USA
Beth,
I'll take lucky on the short term and good on the long term. I guess I feel you'll win more being lucky and lose less being good. Lets see.....win more or lose less???
Daisy,
Way to go! Are we going to have to change the Daisy Deuces name Royal Rph? [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
To bad you're not playing on Winpoker. With a click of the mouse button you can change from quarters to dollars, even after you hit a royal. Maybe you can find a VP machine at Sam's that has that feature. Come to think of it, Winpoker can change to $25 coins so if you switch to that maybe they'll give you an ermine jacket.
Daisy and I tried our best last night but we were not lucky. I will take luck over skill any day! Daisy even gave my machine a "lucky rub" but alas---no royals [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/frown.gif[/img]
John in Las Vegas
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John Moderator Dining Forum and Entertainment, Attractions and Sightseeing Forum john@talkvegas.com
Lucky is the way to go. I don't care how good you are in BJ - if you're busting and the dealer is drawing to 21, "good" becomes meaningless. And as for spinning the reels luck wins in the long run. The way to be is good and lucky!
Registered: 05/31/00
Posts: 1887
Loc: Chicago, IL, USA
Beth - You raise a very good point. I suppose if I was a professional VP player like Bob Dancer is, I'd want to be good. But considering that I only visit Vegas 3-4 times per year and hardly (if ever) do the riverboats of Chicago, I'd rather be lucky. When I am in Vegas, I try to stick with the 9/7 machines at NYNY. But I have a real taste for DDB which usually has a bad pay schedule. So I guess I would rather be lucky than good. However, a few times I played "correctly" and ended up with a Straight Flush. So who knows? Maybe it depends on the mood I'm in!
Beth, in the short term it doesn't matter how well or badly you play. I have a grand total of seventeen days gambling in Vegas and I have hit two royals on machines where I don't know the 'correct' strategy, whereas I am way behind on Deuces Wild which I have practiced so much that I feel like I can play in my sleep!
Actually I should qualify the above point. I witnessed a near marriage-breaking row between a couple in Bellagio when the husband was dealt a wild straight flush with a deuce, and forgot to hold everything but the 2! So, in exceptional circumstances, it pays to know what you are doing <g>.
DAG, pigs weren't flying in Las Vegas this week ....I like Bob's idea of switching to dollars on WinPoker, but it didn't seem too logical to switch from full-pay quarters to less-than-full-pay dollar machines out at Sam's Town. If I really had to have that suede jacket, I could have purchased it in the logo shop for $89. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
Jeff, you can call me anything you like, but Royal Daisy DEUCES would be appropriate this week<g> ... I finally hit the deuces on a DB machine out at the Regent.
When I'm practicing on WinPoker, my correct strategy only averages about 93% on DB and 98% on DW ....however my "return %" runs 99+ on both games as I keep improving from "major" to "moderate/minor" errors. As I improve, I can stretch the same gambling budget farther ...which means more chances to get lucky. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] I'd still rather be lucky than good because GamblinTater is right when she says I'm way ahead of the law of averages lately ...but I'm keeping the money<g>.