Education of an AP - Avoid Addiction

[Kasi]

Or (subtitle)---don't be stupid! :whip:
On my 7th outing to AC I won $1,000 playing BJ--hurray! And I put $1,400 in the slots! Stupid! You idiot! Don't you have an ounce of sense! What were you thinking!:whip: Yes, folks! Hanging out at the casinos playing BJ I have become a slot machine addict. This I might add is the first time I didn't hit anything--nada--nothing--not even a $50 payoff! They saw me coming. I might add they always saw me coming, only this time they caught me. So now I am in my own mental half-way house for recovering slot machine addicts. Words of advice, consolation, or upbraiding will be cheerfully accepted, although if you have something punishing to say about my moronic behavoir, save your breath because I have already said it to myself a thousand times over! :cry: I vow never to play another one-armed bandit--ever! Is this too extreme? How do you play a little, without getting your nose open? I think abstinence is the best way. What say you?

Don't beat urself up. Guess the good news is BJ is working!

I don't see why u can't spend ur winnings any way u want. Assuming they are net winnings lol.

 

[Kasi]

the variance is much higher on blackjack, BUT what you meant to say is that without the jackpot (royal flush) the house edge is about 2-3%, and some people never hit the royal as much as they should, but the variance in jacks or better is actually the lowest variance of any game in the casino, its like 19.. btw, variance has nothing to do with winning or losing, it has to do with ups and downs

I've always thought the variance is higher in video poker than BJ.

Anyway, variance has a lot to do with winning or losing since it dictates bankroll requirements for a ROR.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

that is false.. the variance is much higher on blackjack, BUT what you meant to say is that without the jackpot (royal flush) the house edge is about 2-3%, and some people never hit the royal as much as they should, but the variance in jacks or better is actually the lowest variance of any game in the casino, its like 19.. btw, variance has nothing to do with winning or losing, it has to do with ups and downs

Variance per typical session, Mr. 4:20! You understand exactly what I mean though, most of your return is tied up in a jackpot that you have to play a 40 hour week if you expect to ever see it. On hands where you don't have an RF your return is very low, but when you see a RF pop up you will pollute your shorts.

That might be part of the reason why getting hooked on machine play is so dangerous- that feeling when you hit the big score. In BJ there is never really a big score so you don't get habituated to it.

 

[Kasi]

Variance per typical session, Mr. 4:20!

I'm not quite sure but I think u r saying variance is higher in VP than BJ.

Is that what u r saying?

 

[nightspirit]

Yes, you are right Kasi. And i think AM mentioned it in a post above. The variance in Blackjack is 1.33 per hand, for video poker the variance is higher, see here.

 

[EasyRhino]

aslan, I got so pissed reading your original post that I couldn't even reply right away.

What are you thinking, man?!

Playing slots goes against against everything that card-counting stands for.
- In BJ, you have some element of control over your outcome, in slots, you have nothing.
- In BJ, you need to use your brain, in slots, nothing.
- BJ is low variance, slots are huge variance.
- BJ lets you interact with people, slots have no soul.
- BJ can make you money, slot can't.

But you also violated the First Rule of Fight Club: you played without an edge. Shame.

Of course, there are exceptions. Guys like shadroch might walk in with six pounds of coupons and turn slots into a money winner. Or a truly exceptional promotion might turn it around. Or a machine with broken payouts would be manna from heaven. But these are all very rare exceptions.

Very judicious video poker play might also turn a small edge, but it's a lot of work to find the right game and get the strategy down. And the little bit that I've done it, it's been just miserable. Why? Because of all the other flaws of machine play (no control, no soul, and ridiculous variance). It was also boring.

 

[21forme]

I think a 3 day banning is in order for aslan's breach of conduct :grin:

 

[aslan]

aslan, I got so pissed reading your original post that I couldn't even reply right away.

What are you thinking, man?!..............................Shame.

I wasn't thinking! You, my friend, are 100% correct and I thank you for being honest. I got exactly what I deserved. In a way I'm glad it happened. It convinced me once and for all to rid myself of these desires to "get lucky" or go for the big payoff. There is no big payoff--by the time you hit it big, you've already paid the casino's light bill for a year, and you're still behind! I saw a guy get lucky this week--he started with $300 and made $7,000 by betting $500 in negative counts, hitting 17 against a dealer 9, doubling down on A/3 against a dealer 3. I can just picture him down the road losing $300 after $300 trying to duplicate his dumb luck. It just isn't going to happen! I am happy grinding it out at BJ from now on, unless I find another advantage play. Thanks again for your frank comments. I don't tolerate fools well, either.

 

[aslan]

I think a 3 day banning is in order for aslan's breach of conduct :grin:

Maybe a good old-fashioned ass whipping, too!

 

[Canceler]

Another 2 cents

You should be proud of the fact that you're smart enough to beat the casino at blackjack. You just need to adopt the idea that you're too smart to play a game where you don't have an advantage.

 

[SilentBob420BMFJ]

I've always thought the variance is higher in video poker than BJ.

Anyway, variance has a lot to do with winning or losing since it dictates bankroll requirements for a ROR.

"video poker" doesnt mean anything.. which game? the variance on some games can be literally 6x higher than on jacks or better.. if your talking about jacks or better the variance is very low, but if your talking about double double bonus, its very high..

 

[SilentBob420BMFJ]

I'm not quite sure but I think u r saying variance is higher in VP than BJ.

Is that what u r saying?

you cannot say "in video poker" because there is a HUGE difference between the different variations of the game, whereas with blackjack, its all pretty much the same.. basically, the games that tie up more of the payback % in the jackpot hands, have a higher variance, but games like jacks or better which only have 1 huge jackpot, 95% of your payback is tied up in the hands easy to get, thus the low variance.. i started playing video poker before blackjack, and i tell you what, its a lot harder in terms of what you have to learn for basic strategy because each game is different, and some strategy sheets are like 100 "hands" long.. and also, its very easy to come across an author who has no idea what he is talking about with video poker, whereas with blackjack everybody is pretty much on the same page

 

[geneticfreak]

I have to admit that I'm guilty of playing a little with the slots, but not the the extreme of aslan. I only attempt it after I've had a profitable blackjack session and limit myself to somewhere between $20 and $50, depending on the the machine's denomination. I know it isn't much, but if it helps me look more like a degenerate, then so be it. I was actually more excited about the $250 hit on the Wheel of Fortune game today than my much larger take at the tables.

 

[Cardcounter]

Video poker

The gold standard in video poker 9-6 still has a house edge with perfect play by the way 2 pair must pay 2 for a 99% return. In deuces wild a full pay game with perfect play produces a small player return. However 1 mistake every 100 hands would wipe that out. but playing with any advantage in a casino is golden. You get comped meals, rooms, and drinks for your play.

 

[SilentBob420BMFJ]

I have to admit that I'm guilty of playing a little with the slots, but not the the extreme of aslan. I only attempt it after I've had a profitable blackjack session and limit myself to somewhere between $20 and $50, depending on the the machine's denomination. I know it isn't much, but if it helps me look more like a degenerate, then so be it. I was actually more excited about the $250 hit on the Wheel of Fortune game today than my much larger take at the tables.

you make a good point.. i read on here earlier about somebody who totally shud have been backed off, but he wasnt, probably because he played slots and/or video poker too.. i wonder if when they see you raising your bet at the blackjack table, that they check your account (players card) and say hmm he plays slots too, nevermind, ill let him be

 

[SilentBob420BMFJ]

The gold standard in video poker 9-6 still has a house edge with perfect play by the way 2 pair must pay 2 for a 99% return. In deuces wild a full pay game with perfect play produces a small player return. However 1 mistake every 100 hands would wipe that out. but playing with any advantage in a casino is golden. You get comped meals, rooms, and drinks for your play.

9/6 only exists in $1 and up machines now in most places.. its 99.54% payback and about 97.6% without the royal flush (u shud hit it every 40k hands or so).. all these standards are becoming insanely rare because for some reason casinos have gotten super greedy in the past few years.. i read about all these great games from the late 90s, and they are nowhere to be found now, and i have witnessed a couple casinos just absolutely kill everything good they had in there.. go back 5 years and almost every casino had $5 blackjack, 9/6 jacks in quarter and even nickel, and go back 10 years and places even had full pay deuces which is 100.76% payback.. i predict in 10 years everything will be electronic with the best game in the casino having a 2% house edge, with card counting not possible

 

[Kasi]

you cannot say "in video poker" because there is a HUGE difference between the different variations of the game, whereas with blackjack, its all pretty much the same.. basically, the games that tie up more of the payback % in the jackpot hands, have a higher variance, but games like jacks or better which only have 1 huge jackpot, 95% of your payback is tied up in the hands easy to get, thus the low variance

Couldn't agree with u more on the generality of saying "video poker".

Except for the fact that I think the standard deviation in full-pay jacks or better video poker with standard pay table is more than BJ.

But, since u state it's less, perhaps u could share ur calculations with us on the variance of full-pay jacks-or-better, whether betting one coin, 2, 3, 4 or five, compared to any BJ game u want to pick.

Absent such calculations, I just don't see how u can pontificate that one is less than the other.

Not saying ur right or wrong, just back it up bobby.

 

[Kasi]

you cannot say "in video poker" because there is a HUGE difference between the different variations of the game, whereas with blackjack, its all pretty much the same.. basically, the games that tie up more of the payback % in the jackpot hands, have a higher variance, but games like jacks or better which only have 1 huge jackpot, 95% of your payback is tied up in the hands easy to get, thus the low variance

Couldn't agree with u more on the generality of saying "video poker".

Except for the fact that I think the standard deviation in full-pay jacks or better video poker with standard pay table is more than BJ.

But, since u state it's less, perhaps u could share ur calculations with us on the variance of full-pay jacks-or-better, whether betting one coin, 2, 3, 4 or five, compared to any BJ game u want to pick.

Absent such calculations, I just don't see how u can pontificate that one is less than the other.

Not saying ur right or wrong, just back it up bobby.