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Bob Dancer writes a video poker column for beginners to experts. He also writes a column with Jeffrey Compton, "Player's Edge", featuring information on promotions at various Las Vegas casinos. Player's Edge is published each Friday in the Neon section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Click here to send Bob Dancer an e-mail.

For more details and a schedule of Bob's free classes, visit www.bobdancer.com.

March 31, 2009

We are All Students

I was leaving Green Valley Ranch after playing some and ran into "Hank," who has taken a lot of classes from me in the past at the South Point. We chatted a bit, and he asked a question about Double Double Bonus Poker, which I answered.

He apologized for not knowing, explaining that he was still a student of the game. I told him not to worry about it. Being a student was a good thing. None of us know everything about all of the games, and those who are attempting to learn more are on the correct path. "I'm still a student," I told him. "I've been examining the game for 15 years and I still find new games to try to master, new promotions to beat, and I continually address the question of what I want to do when I grow up."

Hank thought this was scary. Since I knew so much more than he did about video poker, it was inconceivable to him that I still had more to learn. I guess he figured that there was a fixed amount of knowledge to learn and once you've learned it, you're done studying. This is very opposite to my approach.

I remember a similar eye-opening experience back in graduate school. I was studying economics at UCLA, but it could have been almost any major at any school where research is being done. When you spoke to the professors, it became clear that the professors studied more than the students did! Anyone who wished to master the subject at hand was in for a lifetime of being a student. You were never going to reach the goal of knowing everything about the subject. At best you could only get closer and closer.

I always looked at studying new things as a fun thing to do --- almost akin to reading a novel. Finding a type of hand where 'QJT' would be played differently than 'KQJ' would be is fun. I don't particularly look forward to the memorizing part of the game (although I do it), but I do look forward to figuring out where all of the exceptions are. And the more I do it, of course, the better I get at it.

Hank, on the other hand, seemed to feel that studying video poker was a form of tedium. He wanted to do as little as possible of it until he was "good enough," at which time he'd stop. Presumably he felt that once he reached this "good enough" level, he'd be able to stay at that level indefinitely.

I suppose that's the way I feel about cooking. Right now I'm handy enough in the kitchen. Not great, but I can get by. If our food comps dried up, Shirley and I wouldn't starve. I'm a "good enough" cook and I haven't glanced at a cookbook or watched a television show on the subject for more than a decade. The mastery of this subject simply isn't one of my priorities. If my life circumstances change significantly it's possible I'll readdress how important this subject is to me, but for now I'm content with my current knowledge level about cooking. But not my current knowledge level about video poker. A friend of mine works as a sous chef at one of the casino restaurants. His priorities are opposite mine. He doesn't give a damn about studying video poker, but he is always looking at recipes and experimenting with how to make a better product.

The fact that I am always studying and/or practicing video poker isn't something that I'm bragging about or feel is particularly worthy of admiration. This is just part of the routine of what I do because my goal is to be a top video poker expert. This certainly doesn't mean that Hank (or you) should do the same. Each of us has to decide what our goals are.

Becoming good at video poker isn't that much different than becoming good at anything else. Study, practice, review, discuss with others, etc. Some people actively seek to constantly improve. Others don't. Generally speaking, the people who work the hardest at anything become the most successful. You're the one who gets to decide how hard you are going to work.