VIDEO POKER

Thank You Mike Sexton

I'm sure this is true for video poker as well, but until I saw Sexton's article, I never isolated this one factor as being particularly important. In my "Secrets of a Video Poker Winner" class, I list the attributes that winning players have. "You have to love to play the game." was not on my list, but it will be the next time I teach the class. Before I continue this discussion, let me digress a bit.

I owe "Sam" $600 from a few months ago. I had collected the money from a third party and haven't seen Sam since. Neither Sam nor I are worried the money. He figures I'm good for it. There have been times that Sam and I have played at the same casino for the same promotion and have seen each other daily for weeks, and other time we haven't run across each other for six months. No big deal.

Sam was playing at Green Valley Ranch Station recently when my wife Shirley went there to have lunch with a girlfriend. Shirley saw him while walking to the buffet and went over to say hi. They chatted for a little bit and then Sam asked Shirley if he could have the $600. Shirley said, "And just why should I give you $600?"

Sam explained that I owed it to him, and explained the circumstances behind the debt. This was news to Shirley, but there was no doubt in her mind that Sam was telling the truth. She explained to him that she never carried that kind of money. If she had the money on her and it wasn't reserved for something else, she would have given it to him. But she didn't, so she couldn't. "But you're in a casino," Sam replied. "What do you use to play with?"

Shirley looked at him funny; because having money to play in a casino was not something she ever concerned herself with. Shirley explained that she NEVER went into a casino to play, unless it was with me, and at those times usually I was the one who carried the money. She had about $80 on her and some credit cards, but that was it. Sam said fine and that he'd catch up with me later.

Shirley told me about this incident with Sam the same day I read the article by Mike. I had a sudden epiphany! [I don't think I've ever used that word before in print. It means, I think, a sudden realization about something important brought about by seeing something simple in a different light.] The reason Shirley doesn't play more video poker, and isn't particularly good at the game, is that she doesn't love the game! She LIKES the game, to be sure, but it isn't something she dreams about. Or even thinks about unless she is in front of the machine.

Why this realization was important to me was that I now understand why Shirley has such a hard time memorizing strategies. I always wondered why we'd have to go over and over a strategy again and again and it would take several dozen repetitions before she'd have a strategy down tolerably well. And if we hadn't played the game for a month or more, we'd have to essentially start all over again. To me, retention of strategy is fairly easy. But I LOVE the game, and memorizing strategy is just one facet of playing well. To her, retention of strategy is difficult. But that's because she only TOLERATES the game.

Don't get me wrong. It's not a bad thing overall that Shirley doesn't love the game. When she does play, she plays according to MY strategies and MY determination of whether this is a good promotion or not. Many players who love the game aren't disciplined and you can't tell them what to do. Having a wife who insisted on gambling with community property funds in a way I thought irresponsible would be tough for me to take. Everything considered, I'll take Shirley just as she is.