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The GameMaster's Secrets
Guerrilla Gambling - Part 3

We left off last time where my friend had been gambling on a full-time basis for almost a month and she was doing fairly well. As things worked out, she got the call to go back to work, but ended up with about 7 weeks' of play. How did she do? Quite well, actually. Here's her daily diary, beginning where we left off in the last chapter:

Thursday, August 26
Went to Harrah's fairly late at night and was able to bounce around at the Blackjack tables fairly easily. Got good counts and good cards.

Time: 3.5 hours
Win/Loss: +$310

Friday, August 27
Asked the GM about Pick 'Em Poker and he gave me a training program and a strategy card. Wanted to have another game to play at Player's and that's the best they have in quarters. Lord, it's a boring game! What I made at Blackjack, I gave back at Pick 'Em.

Time: 6.0 hours
Win/Loss: -$20

Saturday, August 28
Figured I'd go late to Casino Station St. Charles to hit some of the beatable slots, then play a little Blackjack. Well, the slot gods were smiling, because I made $300 on a dollar Wild Cherry Pie machine, so I called it a night.

Time: 1 hour
Win/Loss: +$300

Sunday, August 29
I went to a very crowded Harrah's and wasn't able to get in a lot of Blackjack hands, so put my effort into Video Poker. All American can kill you in the short term, but it has a way of working out. I was down $400 at one point, but then hit a straight flush, so I made a nice comeback.

Time: 7 hours
Win/Loss: $+110

Monday, August 30
I have to admit that going to the casinos everyday isn't a whole lot of fun, but knowing that I'll probably win makes it worthwhile. Since Video Poker has been treating me pretty well lately, I thought I'd stick with that. Spent about 4 hours at Pick' Em and made a bit, then switched over to All American where I lost a bunch.

Time: 6.5 hours
Win/Loss: -$160

Tuesday, August 31
I've been ignoring BJ for a while, so back at it. Glad I did. The cards just flowed like it was my casino; it's amazing how that works, sometimes. Hey, I'm making some money at this! With a nice win today, I'm up over $1700 for the month. It's certainly not enough to retire on, but it's thrilling to think I've done this well as a 'pro'.

Time: 4.5 hours
Win/Loss: +$425

GM Note: For the month, she's about on target from a $$$ point of view, although her hours are a bit short. My friend is averaging over $12 per hour profit.

Wednesday, September 1
Blackjack gave me a small loss for the day, but good ol' Video Poker gave me a profit.

Time: 5.5 hours
Win/Loss: $+110

Thursday, Sept 2 to Saturday, Sept 4
Had friends in from out of town for the holiday, so no play.

Sunday, September 5
What a great day! I hit a Royal Flush on All American and does that ever feel good! It dealt me the 10, J, Q of spades and I got the other two on the draw. How sweet it is!

Time: 3.5 hours
Win/Loss: +$960

Monday, September 6
I want another Royal Flush. As good as it was yesterday, it was terrible today. I understand what the GM says about All American being the best game to play, but it's a hard strategy to follow and a very streaky game. I saw nothing resembling a Royal Flush today.

Time: 4.0 hours
Win/Loss: -$380

Tuesday, September 7
Now, this is more like it. Kept hitting 4Ks at All American so the time passed quickly, I racked up a bunch of slot club points and made a profit.

Time: 8.0 hours
Win/Loss: +$120

Wednesday, September 8
Played a lot of Pick 'Em today booorrring! Of course it would probably be more exciting if I could just win....

Time: 5.0 hours
Win/Loss: -$160

Thursday, September 9
Back to the tables. Conditions were somewhat crowded, so I wasn't able to get in a lot of BJ hands, but it was a good thing I couldn't, because the cards sucked. I will say this, though; I have gotten to the point where I can 'shrug off' a $400 loss. Is that confidence or stupidity?

Time: 4.0 hours
Win/Loss: -$400
GM Note: It's confidence.

Friday, September 10
Went to the Admiral (GM note The President Casino on the Admiral) since they have a decent BJ game and All American VP. It wasn't too crowded, so got in some good Blackjack, including some at the $25 table. Learned a neat trick here act like you're waiting for a seat at the (full) $10 table, but count at the $25 table. It seems like you're impatient when you sit down at the $25 table; of course I only did it because the count was up. No one paid the slightest attention to me. It's a shame this is so far from my house.

Time: 3.0 hours
Win/Loss: +$75

Saturday, September 11
Got word today that I'll be going back to work in a few weeks, so the adventure will have to end soon. But, I've learned a lot and now I have the skill and confidence to spend some vacations in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, etc. and probably pay for the trip with my winnings. Should have stayed home today, though. The BJ gods weren't very friendly to me.

Time: 4.5 hours
Win/Loss: -$260

Sunday, September 12
Still would like to get another Royal; heaven knows I tried hard enough today. But it wasn't to be, though a straight flush got me out of the hole I was digging.

Time: 8 hours
Win/Loss: -$60

Monday, September 13
Took a day off to take the old cat to the vet.
GM Note: Cats and gambling don't mix.

Tuesday, September 14
Well, crashed my computer this morning, hope that's not a 'sign'. It wasn't; made a few bucks at BJ at Casino Station St. Charles and then went after the beatable slots. The only plays I found were quarter games and it wasn't very profitable.

Time: 3 hours
Win/Loss: +$20

Wednesday, September 15
Travel day. Have a friend in Kansas City who just had a baby, so I'll go see her and check out the BJ there.

Thursday, September 16 to Monday, September 20
Visited several of the casinos in K.C. and all I can say is that I feel a lot better about the games we have in St. Louis, both BJ and Video Poker. I did find some All American, though and did okay at it. Blackjack is hardly worth the effort, in my opinion.

Time: 9 hours
Win/Loss: +$120

Tuesday, September 21
On the way back from K.C., I thought I'd stop at Station Casino St. Charles to see if I could find some slot action. It was a good move, since I found some profitable plays on the "Diamond Mine" machines.

Time: 1.5 hours
Win/Loss: +$100

Wednesday, September 22
I hate BJ again. Every big bet I put out was a loser! Even when I got a 'blackjack', the dealer would tie me. Lousy cards, lousy time.

Time: 4.0 hours
Win/Loss: -$443

Thursday, September 23
Video Poker day; it's really more my 'speed'. Nothing special happened, but all-in-all, it was a good session.

Time: 6.0 hours
Win/Loss: +$105

Friday, September 24
Concentrated on Pick 'Em Poker; sure aren't going to get rich doing this. I guess it's dumb to play it, since the profit possibilities are so slim.

Time: 3.5 hours
Win/Loss: -$200

GM Note: Pick 'Em returns only 99.95% for perfect play, so any long term profit must come from the slot club which is about 0.28% at Player's Casino. Slim is the right word.

Saturday, September 25
This weekend will wrap it up for me, so I can get ready for my new job. Really played aggressively at Blackjack.

Time: 6 hours
Win/Loss: +$225

Sunday, September 26
My last day as a 'pro'. Figured I could get another Royal at VP, so really went at it. As you can see, it never showed up, but it wasn't all bad

Time: 8 hours
Win/Loss: +$285

This was fun, but now I understand what the GM means when he says this is a boring way to make a living. If I was depending upon the money to pay my bills, I think my emotions would have gotten the best of me at some point. The swings in both emotion and bankroll are very big and sometimes tough to deal with. I found the discipline part to be easy, and I never took a 'shot', nor did I overbet or stay at a table when the count dropped, so there may be hope for me yet. The nice thing about this was learning how to effectively count cards and learning how to play All American VP. I'll keep practicing and playing, but probably just once a week or so.

GM Note: My friend actually did quite well and ended astonishingly close to expectation. In her 7 or so weeks' of play, she put in 226.5 hours , made $1936 in playing profits and about another $180 in slot club cash back for a total return of $9.34/hour. Good thing that she hit a Royal, but she had put in the time, so it was no surprise to me that she got one; that's how this works.

I want to thank my friend for sharing this with all of you. I hope it gave you some insight into making a living at the casinos.

See you here next time.