path to AP

[sagefr0g]

as a kid at a pool party cookout at friends of my parents, i was snooping around in the peoples house. the guy had a slot machine in there that took nickles, and a saucer full of nickles. i stuck a nickle in the machine and it poured out nickles like crazy, lol. i'll never forget that......
so but until i was well into my fifties i never really had much more than the slightest inclination to gamble or any interest in it.
then while on a cruise, i saw a guy hit a really nice jackpot on a slot machine.
so there yah go, i started playing slot machines. made money too...... for a full year. it wasn't much, about a grand and a half. finally i lost it all in one night, lol.
that's when i started seeking knowledge about gambling and discovered AP stuff.
whatever, the thing that fascinates me most about casinos is all the money flowing. just always figured there had to be a way to tap into some of that.
so really, for me, gambling holds little or no interest, but money? hell yeah.

 

[B Jack Trash]

I spent years in the desert outside of Vegas searching for the aliens.
One day I hiked into the south end of the strip and into the Luxor. There it was. My game.

AP from day one until the day they throw my ashes into the fountains at the Bellagio.

:angel:

 

[Coyote]

Started as a ploppy at the Mirage three years ago. Felt the rush of it, got my azz handed to me and knew I wanted to start counting. I've been buying books, downloading tutorials, and bought Casino Verite since. Oh yea... been lurking on this site for three years also.

Thanks,
Coyote

 

[blackriver]

I think there's a lot of truth in this statement. I think being a successful AP requires the possession and absence of various personality traits. I also think that APs that gamble "for fun" are almost always going to be recreational players, at best. That's not a criticism, mind you—I just think that the type of player that can "turn off" to play a few hands of a strictly -EV game are not the type that will be able to thrive in today's playing climate.

Side note: this probably doesn't apply to high-stakes poker pros, who all appear to be massive degenerates!

ooo, i was about to chime in about this but i treat poker more like a business than many of them. its hard to explain but their actions (playing outsie of their kelly criterion and craps, etc) are not as -EV as you might think and +EV for many. im sure you can imagine why.

i never played Bj or casino games as a ploppy but i put in a good bit of action with micro edge and beyond my kelly. i also gamble a bit on other games for research and camo. i would never just hangout and drink and play roulette for an evening. i also suspect my craps play is where my blackjack play was a few years ago

 

[zengrifter]

I was a pathological gambler for the 1st half of my life.

You are the proverbial 'exception' to the rule.
But there is another proverbial exception -
-- "The foll who persists in his folly shall become wise."

 

[moo321]

ooo, i was about to chime in about this but i treat poker more like a business than many of them. its hard to explain but their actions (playing outsie of their kelly criterion and craps, etc) are not as -EV as you might think and +EV for many. im sure you can imagine why.

I know the theory is to "give action to get it". But these guys give way too much action. They're mostly just degenerates, especially the tournament "pros".

 

[zengrifter]

I spent years in the desert outside of Vegas searching for the aliens.

Don't give that up! Sent you an important link via PM. zg

 

[steiner]

this year i visited for the first time of my life a casino, and yeah it was in las vegas. played for an hour on a table, made a $150 loss- left the table. i wasn't that angry with myself because i didn't know anything about BJ, so it was an expected loss.
back in austria i learnt the BS, played a few sessions- no loss, but no big wins either. finally decided to learn counting cards...

 

[Shoofly]

First BJ trip to Las Vegas

I was about to leave for my second trip to Las Vegas. My interests were mainly seeing some shows and horse racing. I had discovered on my first LV trip that good racing was available only on certain days and limited times of day. To fill the time, I decided to try another game. Having read "Bringing Down the House" I googled blackjack. The first day, I discovered what BS was, and learned the basics of counting. It amazes me that so many ploppies that have been playing the game for years don't know BS, when I discovered it the first day I looked.

In LV I stayed at Harrah's. All 6:5. Went next door to O'Sheas. All 6:5. Across the street, Mirage had an early AM $5 BJ game - 6:5. I assumed all BJ was now 6:5, and was elated when I returned home to find 3:2 BJ.

 

[Sharky]

always AP here, Dad is a counter, first trip to Vegas was about 30 years ago...played underage..still remember to this day ...stayed at the Riviera, and that was one of the nicer places back then..thx for bringing back those memories

 

[tthree]

How to answer this question

I wasnt quite sure how to answer this. I started as a dice controller and had quite a knack for it from the get go. I also played blackjack without a counting system but knew the effect from lack of replacement of cards opened a window of opportunity from my math ability and used it intuitively. It was quite profitable but the rules were so much more favorable in those days it is hard to say my good fortune came from that. I played enough -EV expectation along the way before i started using HIOP I (and after) that I thought one of you would think ploppy was the appropriate choice. I chose ploppy/neg EV. But I dont throw money away and was always trying to play where I at least thought I had an edge.

 

[Machinist]

For me it was luck....Right place at the right time. The electronic age had started for machines. The biggest factor was linking machines together, and then that whole bank of machines played for a "small bonus". My first machines were vp, linked not for a royal flush progressive but for a regular flush progressive. FLUSH ATTACK was the name of the game.
Then they started linking up slots, my favorite of all time was Bonus Run. AC had them in 3 joints, best store was Resorts. Had the whole town to myself and a friend.
Anyways, VP plays were quite big for promo's. Big learning curve as far as fluxuations, when you jump from quarters to dollar stuff. Try not hitting a royal flush for 3 or 4 cycles.......yikes. But ya get used to it.
Have never looked back or regretted my choice to be an AP.
Did I ever gamble before......? I saw my first casino at 26. Played some craps for fun with one of my brothers. Played some poker, 1 to 3 stud!!!!!LOL. Those were the days!! Just wanted to grind 40 bucks a day and I was happy.
Never did get the "Fever" to gamble and to this day I can walk into and out of a store without playin a dime. I mean if the store has nothing +EV,,,,,,what's the point!!!
I joined this site to broaden my AP skills. It's one of the very best AP moves i have done yet .
Take Care all

Machinist

 

[blackjackomaha]

I began as a lowly ploppy the year I turned 21, but after a few months of playing and hearing what I now call "ploppyisms", I decided to find out if there was truly a correct way to play.

Next came the books (Beat the Dealer, Blackbelt in Blackjack, etc). Then came endless amounts of practice, sims, more reading, and lurking around this wonderful forum. I finally joined a couple years later after moving back "home" where I could visit casinos anytime I pleased.

Funny looking back and seeing how inexperienced I was and unaware of the implications of actual AP play!

 

[paddywhack]

Would love to say it wasn't so - but I was one of those that helped pay the bills too. Won't go as far saying I was a degenerate but I was certainly losing way more than a sane person would find acceptable.

Then the sun shone and the world of AP was shown to me. Well, not shown exactly, I'm the one that searched it out. Devoured it would be more descriptive. Months of reading and practicing before the dawn of this new life.

Seek and ye shall find. And find I did, all my lost money and a whole lot more of theirs :laugh::laugh:

 

[paddywhack]

...stayed at the Riviera, and that was one of the nicer places back then..

That really WAS A LONG TIME AGO.

 

[kewljason]

Well this is interesting. I really didn't expect a lot of stories of just how people got started. I thought there would be a lot of anonymous, silent votes, but I am glad to hear these stories. I really enjoy hearing the beginning for different players. I wish a couple more of the big names would have felt compelled to share their beginnings, but they generally like to keep to themselves. :sad: Maybe I'll learn that when I get to the big league.

With a fairly large young population on this site, I would have thought more would have been inspired by MIT stories, books or movie. Only Mr Dye, mentioned that. Probably most of the young bucks that got in because of that, looking for fast road to riches, didn't have the brains and discipline and have already fizzled out.

 

[johndoe]

Regarding the ploppies turned AP, I always wondered if becoming a proficient AP "scratched the same itch" that earlier made them (sometimes degenerate) gamblers, a la Flash.

 

[blackchipjim]

Drunken ploppy

I went to casino's to sit and drink for free when I started going many years ago. People would tell me to get a strategy card and learn after the first trip. I did and kept drinking too I'd win a hundred and put it back into the slots looking for a big win. It didn't take long before I wised up and quit being a loser and learned the angle to the game. We all have to start some where just look at Warren buffet!:laugh:

 

[Gamblor]

Once I mastered Keno and Big 6 Wheel, I decided to give BJ a try.

 

[21forme]

Once I mastered Keno and Big 6 Wheel, I decided to give BJ a try.

Either you know something about Keno I don't, or I know something about the Big 6 wheel you don't :grin: