Million Dollar Video Poker Review
Million
Dollar Video Poker tells the story of
Bob Dancer's rise in the
video poker world. The story starts by describing Dancer's
Backgammon days in Las Angeles and ends with the tale of how he won
over $1 million in six months playing only video poker. The
book was published in 2003, although the events in the book span
from 1973 to 2001.
I've actually bought and read Million Dollar Video Poker, so this page is going to be a review on the book, and will contain my thoughts on the content, the current day relevancy, and if the book is worth the $18.95 they want for it. Let's get started.
The Story
It's important to note that Million Dollar Video Poker is a story, not a strategy guide. Although there is some strategy type content and there are a few additions with valuable tips (such as when to tip for hand pays), this book is 95% story and 5% strategy. That might turn off some of the hardcore video poker players, but trust me, the book is still a good read.
Bob begins the book by giving a quick introduction to video poker so that everyone knows the lingo and can understand what he describes later on. Then, he gets right into the meat of the story (as you read more, you'll realize Bob isn't one for fluff or wasted time). Dancer's gambling beginnings were in 1973 at the Cavendish West in Las Angeles, where he grinded backgammon to try to squeeze out a living without holding a job.
However, he didn't quite have the skills necessary to do this, so he had to pick up a job to pay the bills. This obviously took away from his gambling time, so he took a break at the Backgammon tables until 1989. However, at that time he lost his job and returned with an intense commitment to succeed.
Heading to Vegas
For the next few years Dancer learned basic Blackjack strategy and the arts of card counting, and made weekend trips down to Vegas to cash coupons and grind the Blackjack tables. Finally, in 1993 Dancer moved to Las Vegas and completely committed to becoming a professional gambler. The personal computer was finally widely available, and with a PC's calculations and Dancer's determination, he finally had the tools to succeed.
This was also the time that Dancer got involved with video poker. He read a few books and realized it was a beatable game, so he decided to learn the proper strategy and hit the machines. From there on out, Dancer was almost exclusively a video poker player as well as a full time coupon collector to (barely) pay the bills.
The next few years of his life, Dancer was involved with two women (Ginny, a three year relationship and Shirley, his current wife) while building his video poker bankroll from a meager $6,000 up to enough to play $1 machines, $5 machines, $25 machines, and finally, $100 machines at the height of his play.
The Million Dollar Stretch
The most thrilling part of Million Dollar Video Poker is when Dancer finally had his hard work pay off over a six month stretch in 2001. The MGM was running some ridiculous (and mistaken) promotions that made the high limit games way over 100% return. Dancer and Shirley hit them hard, and even took a few shots at the $100 machines. Their efforts were rewarded, as they hit a few $100,000 royals as well as a $400,000 royal.
Eventually the casino wised up and cut the promotions, but over the six months they ran Dancer and Shirley collected over $1 million in profit.
Memorable Moments
The book is not only great because of the video poker story, but also because of Dancer's memorable quotes and decisions. Some of the "hustles" he pulled over the years were not only crafty but sometimes borderline illegal.
A few of my favorite ones:
- After winning an Easter Egg promotion that allowed him to choose eggs with cash vouchers in them, Shirley would look through the slightly transparent eggs and find the ones with the most money, then point them out for Bob to pick.
- After realizing a high stakes video poker machine was paying out too many comp points, Dancer negotiated with other players to form a "team" that would take shifts so he could guarantee himself daily time on the machine.
- At one point the MGM was comping him so much food and booze that he was hauling out hundreds of dollars of alcohol a night and selling it to a friend.
The Verdict
Overall, Million Dollar Video Poker is one of my favorite video poker books because of both its entertainment value as well as its important lessons about thriftiness and commitment to succeed. I highly recommend the book for both casual and hardcore video poker players.
