Recently I wrote a column about me growing up gambling-wise at the Cavendish West, which was a gin and backgammon club in the West Hollywood part of greater Los Angeles. If you didn’t read it the first time, it may be found here.
I mentioned that I lost my bankroll and had to get a job — and I didn’t like it. I received this sarcastic response.
” . . . I had to go out and get a job to support myself. It was awful.” Really? What was awful, not being top dog, or having to work for a living? I can dig it, having to support myself and a family really is a drag!
First of all, as Richard says every week on the radio show, we welcome your comments. This particular comment, intentionally or not, brought up some subjects I don’t often write about, so thank you for giving me an idea for another column!
There are not many people who can make it as a professional gambler. For most players, gambling reality is that the house always wins.
If you are bright enough and have studied hard enough and have developed the other habits necessary to succeed at this obscure “profession,” there is a sense of pride about being able to do something that most people can’t.
I don’t believe this type of pride is unique to being a gambler. I believe most people believe they are better at something than are most other people. It could be that you are good enough to play in the National Football League, or have won the blue ribbon for best marinara sauce three years in a row at the county fair, or have never taken a sick day off, or all three of your kids graduated, or . . . something. And whatever this something is that makes you unique, you’re proud of it.
Sometimes it turns out that reality teaches you that you aren’t as good as you thought you were — or perhaps you once were. The football guy loses his job to a younger, stronger player; somebody figures out a more popular recipe for the sauce; you develop a tumor and need to take several sick days off. Something. Whatever it was that you were proud of — that was part of the core of what made you unique — is no longer there.
Coming to grips with this lack of uniqueness isn’t pleasant.
Having somebody who was never in the NFL sneer at you and say it’s no big deal not to be at that level anymore is somebody who simply doesn’t understand. There is a brotherhood among players that just doesn’t exist with non-players. Being forced to give that up sucks. Although I can’t speak from experience about being in the NFL, there is definitely a camaraderie among successful gamblers and I’d rather be on the inside looking out than the outside looking in.
Sometimes when this happens, you see the player work very, very hard to regain his abilities to play at that top level. Occasionally the player makes it back to the league, but eventually Father Time always wins. Sometimes the player shifts positions or becomes a coach to stay in the game. More often the player tries for a while to make it back and then eventually gives up that dream as unattainable.
In my case, I was able to make it back — sort of. With a great deal of work, my backgammon skills improved — but not enough to support myself against the really good players. I learned blackjack and became proficient enough to make money there — although I was kicked out of enough places that I finally gave up that career.
Eventually I found my niche in video poker. My fame, such as it is, is due more to being a writer and teacher than being a player. Inarguably, many of my player skills have been honed by helping others learn the game. The majority of my wealth, however, comes from being a player. I’m almost 70 years old and eventually Father Time is going to win this contest too. The house doesn’t always win, but Father Time does.
I’ve never questioned that I needed to make a living rather than have things handed to me. In Frank Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way,” he’s proud that he got to succeed under his own terms. That’s the way I feel as well.
It’s not a feeling that I’m better than others. It’s a feeling that eventually I was able to find the right small pond where I could be a big fish. It was neither a short nor an easy journey. Perhaps it’s better described as a feeling of relief than a feeling of pride.
For my readers, I wish they can each find their own small pond where they can be a big fish. It’s a good feeling.
Hi Bob, I really enjoy your column every week. I’m not sure why you get the nasty comments. Jealousy, I suppose. Thank you for you insight and advice every week.
I guess Rob Singer plays the part of the Snapping Turtle in your pond all these years, Bob. Keeps a Big Fish on his toes(or fins). lol
Just for info though I think you are a Whale of a Big Fish.
Rob Singer? Is he still alive? LOL – Anthony C & GT broomed him years ago . .
All i can say is a resounding “YUP!”.
Thanks for this column, Bob. I read your columns each week and I enjoy almost every one of them. I have also enjoyed one of your classes when I was in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. Having read two of your books I can only admire what it takes to become a video poker player who can earn a living at it. I love the game but have decided that I will never become good enough to make a living from it. But I keep trying to improve. Onward and upward! And keep the great columns coming.
Who the heck is Rob Singer???
You make an interesting point. Whether you are the best at something,i.e.”A Game of Pool” Twilight Zone or are the Best Video Poker Player / Best Blackjack Player, it has its’ own burden to carry. You are held to a higher standard by yourself and/or peers. But you also get to reap the self-realization rewards that it is NOT easily obtainable. So enjoy yourself Bob. I have been to your classes and you are uniquely qualified in your area of expertise. Quite a valuable lesson. In Las Vegas or anywhere…
I also would like to thank Bob for all the pearls in his book “Million Dollar Video Poker”. I think Bob is a straight shooter, so he does offend people sometimes. However Bob does not spare himself as he politically incorrectly ascribed his frugality to his ethnic background! He is a professional most of us are not!
I’ve learned a lot from Bob’s columns, articles & books. I’m only a recreational video poker player, but it’s still fun coming out ahead the end of the day.
Mary in Reno
As a blogger myself, I fully understand the importance–and even the gift–of negative comments for stirring creative juices; however, from this side of the keyboard, I have to ask the commenter why in your world is making consistent profits in any form of gambling, and paying one’s bills with the money made, not considered working for a living? The term “get a job” as used by Mr. Dancer in this context is universally understood to mean punching a time clock and in essence doing something one would rather not do in order to temporarily (hopefully) make ends meet. Down-on-their-luck musicians call it getting a “day gig” but that doesn’t mean that getting paid to play music is not working for a living.
Most people consider what I do to be a real job, but I love what I do. So if I wasn’t able to do it, and was forced to do something else, I wouldn’t like that. I would call that getting a real job.
Thank you, Bob.
I started studying with you 13 years ago. I have some vintage 8″x10″ publications. I am very conservative. I have had to pay taxes on my winnings for the last 10 years. I have followed every bit of your advice, including bankroll vs. increase denominations.
Your advice has been invaluable. I still carry your laminated cards with me when I sit down at a machine. I have played in the high limit room at Palms often and I always look for you. But, I would probably be a bit timid about approaching you.
I hit my first $10.00 royal this year (Laughlin, NV).
You have helped me understand math and I would call myself a dunce when it comes to that subject. I can memorize!
I follow you with the intensity of a stalker. I am grateful for all your advice. I have sent you questions on a few occasions and you answered promptly.
Just — thanks for the pleasure, the profit and the experience.
Bob, I really appreciate your columns but know that I can never be a “professional”. I have three casinos within 25 minutes of my house here in Omaha (two Harrah’s properties and an Ameristar). All three places have crappy payoffs so I usually save my money for Vegas unless my wife wants to go gamble for the evening.
I really would have loved to live in Las Vegas before the casinos understood payoff percentages like they do now. “Full pay” machines are non-existent on the Strip now. I stayed at the Sunset Station last summer and even they only had few full pay machines.
Quick story about how I bought my first video poked simulator (your first one, I believe): I was at the Gold Coast many years ago and knew enough to know that once an 8/5 Bonus progressive machine went over a certain amount it was in “positive” territory. I sat down at a bank of 10 machines and started banging away. Shortly thereafter all the seats were taken up and everybody was banging away. It was very exciting! And then…most of them got up, cashed out and walked away. I was puzzled and asked one of the remaining players what happened. He pointed to the jackpot total and it was slightly over $1,200. He explained that you had to pay taxes right away when a jackpot was over that much so the payoff was much less.
When I got back home after that trip I bought your simulator and some of your books because I realized that I needed to know a lot more about the subject before I put more money in the machines.
And you have been helping me make the right plays ever since! Thanks for the great columns and software over the years!
To those who don’t think Bob or any professional gambler is working, let me give you a unique and personal perspective. I was a math major in college, but had to drop out due to financial reasons (needed to help parents). I ended up owning my own business and worked 70 to 80 hrs/wk and never regretted not going back. Most of my friends were in white collar jobs, but I never thought they didn’t work as hard as I did.
I also made sure both my sons finished getting their degrees. My oldest son ended up joining National Guard to help me with his tuition. He did 2 deployments to Iraq.. After getting his degree in finance he decided to join me out here in Vegas and along with me attended a few of Bob Dancer’s classes and bought the “Video Poker for Winners.”
He is now 35 and has been making a living as a successful professional video poker player for 10 years now, never having “worked” a day in a financial position or getting a W2 paycheck. But believe me, he puts in many hours of work, both in mastering successful strategy of the games he plays, and mapping out on a master calendar, a schedule of the casinos he has to visit each day which give him the best opportunities that day, along with visiting those where he needs to pick up his mailer play cash or food comps. Between homework and actual play I estimate he puts in a good 50 hrs/wk, and maybe takes at most 1 or 2 days off each month. Both he and I thank Bob, for his help and opening this window of opportunity, and knowing how much work it takes at becoming successful.
I think there is a missed point to this story. The commenter said “What was awful, not being top dog, or having to work for a living? I can dig it, having to support myself and a family really is a drag!”.
The great majority of people don’t get the point that when you work for someone else you are essentially a slave and many people do not enjoy nor even like being a slave to someone elses terms and conditions. So your choices are to find other avenues of income, some legal, some not, but whatever niche you find that meets your desires to live life your way is basically the best way to live. Working for yourself rather than someone else is more time consuming or harder work but far more rewarding in many ways. The slave route isn’t bad, just someone seeking comfort rather than the rewards of self sufficiency. I say comfort as everything is taken care of for you while you work an easy 40 hour week with weekends off, paid vacations, insurance, etc., etc., COMFORT! Many a pro fails to plan for these comfort items and discover a miserable old age, the smart ones do plan for their future, take vacations, provide themselves with insurance, etc., etc.
SO, whatcha gonna do?