VIDEO POKER
 Bob Dancer writes a video poker column for beginners to experts. He also writes a column each week with Jeffrey Compton titled Player's Edge, which features information on promotions at various Las Vegas Hotel. Player's Edge is published each Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Click here to send Bob Dancer an e-mail.
Aug 13, 2002
Advantage Play in Colorado
Shirley and I just returned from several days in the Denver, Colorado area, and (to nobody's surprise) decided to check out the casinos while we were there. Thirty-five miles west of downtown Denver you can find Black Hawk and Central City, which contain the largest casinos in the state. We knew going in that the biggest bet allowed by Colorado law was $5 and the casinos all had to close between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. every day. Further, we had heard that having games over 100% was against state law. We weren't optimistic about finding good playing conditions.
We were pleasantly surprised to discover several very playable games for the quarter and dollar player. In fact, it's quite possible for a 4-times-a-week dollar player to profit more than $30,000 a year by playing the games there, and we saw some knowledgeable players attempting to do just this. This certainly isn't a major amount of money, but if that is added to a pension or some Social Security, that could add up to a rather nice lifestyle for people who enjoy casinos.
When I started playing video poker in 1994, $30,000 was more that I made for my first two years put together.
You don't need a car to reach the casinos from anywhere in greater Denver as free-for-players buses are plentiful. And once you are up on the 8,000-foot mountain, the casinos are mostly within walking distance to each other and free shuttle buses are available for those who choose not to walk.
The best games found are often 9/7 Double Bonus (with and without progressives), 9/6 Double Double Bonus (also found with and without progressives), 9/6 Jacks or Better and NSU Deuces Wild. The slot clubs return either a quarter percent or a half percent in cash back --- with frequent double and triple point offers. Regular players receive bounce back cash in the mail. Each casino offers various promotions to boot, and seniors (usually 50+ but sometimes 55+) receive extra benefits as well.
The four most lucrative days to play would be Monday through Thursday --- as that's when the multiple point offers abound. The towns fill up on weekends and so the casinos don't offer the same player-incentives then. Probably the way to go would be to be an active player at several of the casinos, so you can reap the bounce back benefits from each, and the casinos don't all have double points on the same day.
Does this sound like Shirley and I are getting ready to move to Colorado? Not hardly! We can stand 110-degree summers in Las Vegas but winters in the Rockies wouldn't be comfortable at all for us. Not everybody has the same internal thermometer as we do and Denver undoubtedly scores high on many quality-of-life measures, but we're happier where we are. Also, the gambling opportunities are significantly better in Nevada.
But what this trip did show us was another part of the country where it is possible for low-level professional players to prosper. And there are far more of these locations than most people realize. Gambling in general and video poker in specific is not a "you must be in Vegas to do well at it" activity. There is room for winning play in many other places.
Can a high percentage of people do it? No, of course not. That doesn't happen in Vegas either. Each winning player must be surrounded by at least ten losing players for the system to be in equilibrium. Casinos are in business to make money after all, and if too many players succeed, casinos will make adjustments to make the games tighter. But the POTENTIAL FOR WINNING is there for players who have some ability and are willing to work hard to improve. And it's there in locations all across the country.
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