Society has taught us unhealthy false beliefs and values about our attachments to and misuse of money, to the point that it becomes shaming. We are taught not to talk about money: it’s personal business. We have been taught beliefs and values about money since childhood from those close to us, often without fully comprehending how that shapes our relationship with it. Compulsive gambling takes money and causes impacted individuals to lose any respect or connection to it.

One’s relationship to money can change over the course of his or her life and when problem gambling is a factor, this is an understatement. Money can be emotionally uncomfortable, which in turn can cause problem gamblers to get rid of it as fast as they can by betting it away, which over time can set off a chain reaction of financial issues, relationship problems, anxiety, depression, legal problems, and even suicidal ideation.

For someone suffering from problem gambling, money is just a vehicle to get the excitement he or she needs from gambling. Many compulsive gamblers explain this as having “no attachment to the money” while gambling. They don’t know how much has been spent, won, or lost, and it’s not about the money or even winning anymore – it’s only about staying in the action. Problem gamblers also experience cognitive distortions (“magical thinking”), which set unrealistic expectations for gambling such as believing they have control over gambling outcomes or looking at gambling as a way to solve financial problems.

Having access to money is a trigger to gamble, so putting up barriers to money can help on the path to recovery from compulsive gambling. Finding ways to block yourself when you are in the middle of a craving can be effective, and referrals to Access to Cash Self-Exclusion Programs available through the 888-ADMIT-IT HelpLine can be instrumental in succeeding. Here are some things to think about:

• What is your access to money at any moment?
• When do you get paid next? Is it automatically deposited?
• What can be a safety plan to block yourself from access?
• How much do you really need in a day? For coffee? Lunch? Dinner?
• What is the least amount of money it would take for you to gamble?

Find an amount that covers your needs for the day while still remaining below the least amount to gamble. That is the amount you should carry with you. No one needs more than one credit card with them at any time, even for emergencies. Remember that the less access you have to money on you at one time will help block your ability to act on urges to gamble. The free self-help literature packets available through the 888-ADMIT-IT HelpLine, which include the FCCG’s A Chance for Change Workbooks, are just one of many powerful resources that can help you set and stick to a realistic plan for problem gambling recovery.

Did you know that there is a second, especially dangerous “high” associated with compulsive gambling? Known as “the art of digging yourself out of the hole”, this phenomenon represents the challenge and thrill of getting out of a situation brought about by problem gambling. Emotions and dopamine, the “feel-good” hormone that’s part of the brain’s reward system, rush until the problem gambler gets themselves “out of the hole”, whether by chasing losses, getting a financial bailout from a friend or family member, or committing a crime like fraud or theft. This high can also trigger another gambling episode, and the dangerous cycle begins again.

Can You Walk Away?

Can you walk away? Can a loved one? Confidential and multilingual help and hope is available 24/7 in Florida through the 888-ADMIT-IT Problem Gambling HelpLine. Getting connected to free resources is as easy as calling or texting the HelpLine number, opening a live chat at gamblinghelp.org, or emailing us at [email protected]. Recovery is possible, and treatment is available.

This post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.

AC Says: For a change of pace, this article delves into game design; specifically, the origins and functions of several slot machine symbols. With many of today’s slots, you can play for a long time without even knowing what you’re trying to line up. This article provides some clues as to which symbols to root for and in what combinations they trigger jackpots. There’s also something of a nostalgic component present, with references to a few of the former greats of the casino floor. Do you remember Double Diamond, Blazing Sevens, and Red, White and Blue? You don’t find those classics very often anymore among the mazes of movie-themed and celebrity-named slot machines.

This article was written by John Grochowski in association with 888Casino.

THE POWER OF SLOT SYMBOLS IN CASINO ENTERTAINMENT

When it comes to entertainment on slot machines, the symbols are part of the fun. Far from just a backdrop, they’re important in enabling game designers to give us an exciting experience that leaves us wanting to come back for more.

There are many different types of symbols. Let’s compile our own slot symbol dictionary.

A-K-Q-J-10: These symbols suggest playing card denominations, but aren’t depicted on playing cards. Instead, they’re used to make frequent low-paying combinations on games where the less frequent but higher-paying combinations use themed symbols.

Bars: Consisting of elongated rectangles, bars, like fruit symbols have been with us since they early days of slots and are said to derive from the logo of the Bell Fruit Gum company. Machines that use bars usually also use double bars and triple bars, with two or three bars stacked on top of each other.

Bonus symbols: These are the symbols everyone wants to see on modern video and online slots. Bonus symbols trigger a bonus event. When they show up, you might get free spins, you might get to spin a prize wheel and you might get to touch icons on a screen, playing a game within a game to collect bonus credits and build your bankroll.

Click to continue reading …

When we think of codependency, many relate it to an addiction like drugs and alcohol. Problem gambling is another addiction that can lead to codependency, and a family may find themselves behaving in ways to support the gambler and pushing their own wants and needs aside. It is important to know that the 888-ADMIT-IT Problem Gambling HelpLine in Florida is there not only for the problem gambler, but also for loved ones.

A key difference from an addiction to drugs or alcohol is that gambling disorder is a hidden addiction. The household knows if someone comes home high or drunk by sight and smell. With compulsive gambling, these physical signs are not present, so not only are any associated mood changes misunderstood – the addiction may have progressed to damaging levels by the time anyone knows there is a problem. Part of co-dependency and enabling is when a spouse, parent, child, or friend may find himself or herself keeping the secret as well, hoping not to anger the gambler and start a fight. They may cover for the time lost or any financial problems that arise to keep the family together.

Codependency, also known as relationship addiction, takes place when one person believes it’s their job to “save” another person by attending to all their needs. A codependent person builds their identity around this purpose and takes on a self-sacrificial role in the relationship.[1] Enmeshment is the inappropriate closeness of family members. In an enmeshed and over-involved relationship, individuals get lost in the relationship. There is a clear lack of boundaries, thus each individual has difficulty developing a clear sense of self.[2]

Common signs of co-dependency include:

• A deep-seated need for approval from others
• Self-worth that depends on what others think about you
• A habit of taking on more work emotionally and physically than you can realistically handle, in an effort to earn praise or lighten a loved one’s burden
• Avoiding conflict
• A tendency to apologize or take blame in order to keep the peace and minimize or ignore your own desires
• Overwhelming fear of rejection or abandonment

You are Not Alone

You are not alone in your feelings and actions and since pathological lying can be a side effect of the addiction, trust is broken, and it may seem impossible to make any changes. Rebuilding trust may take months or years, or it may never happen. Creating a healthy emotional distance from a troubled loved one is necessary and beneficial for the codependent partner. It is a way to expose the compulsive gambler to the negative consequences of their behaviors. Before any change can happen in the relationship, the codependent person needs to change their patterns and behaviors. Here’s how to start healthy dependence for yourself:

• Set and maintain healthy boundaries
• Validate and protect yourself emotionally and financially
• Give thought to the fact that codependency may be rooted in childhood relationships with parents or other caregivers
• Contact the 888-ADMIT-IT HelpLine to get connected to free resources like the FCCG’s A Chance for Change Recovery Workbooks series for loved ones, self-help support groups specifically for loved ones of problem gamblers, and many more

Can You Walk Away?

Have a loved one who can’t walk away from gambling? Don’t know how to break the cycle of codependency? If you are a family member looking for answers and support, call or text the FCCG’s 24/7, Confidential, and Multilingual 888-ADMIT-IT Problem Gambling HelpLine today to take the first step on the path to recovery.

[1] The 5 Core Issues of Codependency. PRIORY, 2023.
https://www.priorygroup.com/blog/the-five-core-issues-of-co-dependence.

[2] Raypole, Crystal. What Are the Signs of Codependency? PsychCentral, June 10, 2021.
https://psychcentral.com/lib/symptoms-signs-of-codependency

Cuando pensamos en la codependencia, muchas personas la asocian con adicciones como las drogas y el alcohol. Sin embargo, el juego problemático es otra adicción que puede llevar a la codependencia, donde una familia puede encontrarse actuando de maneras que apoyan al jugador y dejando de lado sus propios deseos y necesidades. Es importante saber que la Línea de Ayuda para el Juego Problemático 888-ADMIT-IT en la Florida está disponible no solo para el jugador compulsivo, sino también para los seres queridos.

Una diferencia clave con respecto a una adicción a las drogas o el alcohol es que el trastorno del juego es una adicción oculta. Mientras que con las drogas o el alcohol se pueden identificar signos físicos como llegar a casa bajo los efectos o estar ebrio por su apariencia y olor, estos signos no están presentes cuando se trata del juego compulsivo. Por lo tanto, no solo se malinterpretan los cambios de humor asociados: la adicción puede haber progresado a niveles perjudiciales antes de que alguien se dé cuenta de que hay un problema. Parte de la codependencia y la habilitación ocurre cuando un cónyuge, padre, hijo o amigo se encuentra manteniendo el secreto también, esperando no enfurecer al jugador y provocar una pelea. Pueden encubrir el tiempo perdido o cualquier problema financiero que surja para mantener unida a la familia.

La codependencia, también conocida como adicción a las relaciones, ocurre cuando una persona cree que es su deber “salvar” a otra persona atendiendo todas sus necesidades. Una persona codependiente construye su identidad en torno a este propósito y asume un papel de sacrificio en la relación[1]. El enmarañamiento familiar se refiere a la cercanía inapropiada entre los miembros de la familia. En una relación enredada y excesivamente involucrada, los individuos se pierden en la relación. Existe una clara falta de límites, por lo que cada individuo tiene dificultades para desarrollar un claro sentido de sí mismo[2].

Algunos signos comunes de codependencia incluyen:

• Una necesidad arraigada de obtener aprobación de los demás.
• La autoestima depende completamente de lo que piensen los demás acerca de ti.
• Una costumbre de asumir más carga emocional y física de la que puedes manejar de manera realista, en un esfuerzo por obtener elogios o aliviar la carga del ser querido.
• Evitar conflictos.
• Tener tendencia a disculparte o asumir la culpa para mantener la paz y minimizar o ignorar tus propios deseos.
• Tener un temor abrumador al rechazo o al abandono.

No Estás Solo

No estás solo en tus sentimientos y acciones, y dado que mentir patológicamente puede ser un efecto secundario de la adicción, la confianza se rompe y puede parecer imposible realizar cambios. Reconstruir la confianza puede llevar meses o años, o tal vez nunca ocurra. Es necesario y beneficioso para el compañero codependiente crear una distancia emocional saludable con un ser querido problemático. Esta es una manera de exponer al jugador compulsivo a las consecuencias negativas de sus comportamientos. Antes de que cualquier cambio pueda ocurrir en la relación, la persona codependiente necesita cambiar sus patrones y comportamientos. Aquí te mostramos cómo comenzar una dependencia saludable para ti:

• Establecer y mantener límites saludables.
• Validarte y protegerte emocional y financieramente.
• Reflexionar sobre la posibilidad de que la codependencia pueda tener sus raíces en relaciones de la infancia con padres u otros cuidadores.
• Comunícate con la Línea de Ayuda 888-ADMIT-IT para acceder a recursos gratuitos como la serie de Cuadernos de Recuperación para seres queridos “A Chance for Change” del FCCG, grupos de apoyo de autoayuda específicos para seres queridos de jugadores problemáticos y muchos más.

¿Puedes escapar?

¿Tienes un ser querido que no puede alejarse del juego? ¿No sabes cómo romper el ciclo de la codependencia? Si eres un miembro de la familia que busca respuestas y apoyo, llama o envía un mensaje de texto hoy mismo a la Línea de Ayuda 888-ADMIT-IT del FCCG, confidencial y multilingüe, disponible las 24 horas, 7 días a la semana, para dar el primer paso en el camino hacia la recuperación.

[1] The 5 Core Issues of Codependency. PRIORY, 2023.
https://www.priorygroup.com/blog/the-five-core-issues-of-co-dependence

[2] Raypole, Crystal. What Are the Signs of Codependency? PsychCentral, June 10, 2021.
https://psychcentral.com/lib/symptoms-signs-of-codependency

[Editor’s Note: We continue to receive tributes to blackjack expert, writer extraordinaire, and friend of many Arnold Snyder, who passed away after succumbing to an infection in early June. This one is from Rick Blaine, author of our book Blackjack Blueprint.]

After receiving the sad news that Arnold Snyder passed away, I’m reflecting on the friendship we had since the 1990s. Those of us who’ve acquired the skills of playing a winning game and extracting money from casinos worldwide owe much to The Bishop, as he was known in this circle. The wisdom he shared in his books and Blackjack Forum publication has catapulted numerous budding blackjack players to higher skill levels as far back as 1981.

Arnold’s analytical expertise was universally recognized, especially when he developed two card-counting systems, Red Seven and Zen. He wasn’t all about numbers, though. Arnold knew how to stay under the radar and was able to play high-stakes blackjack without getting picked off by casino surveillance. He was clever enough to outsmart them and stay several steps ahead of the technology casinos used.

When casinos eventually learned how to quickly identify card counters, Arnold found other ways to win at blackjack. He learned that most casinos had a uniform and predictable method of shuffling decks that could be exploited for profit. He studied this intensely and devised methods of tracking specific shuffles that totally baffled casino surveillance. Generous as he was in sharing his knowledge, he published The Shuffle Tracker’s Cookbook, the most comprehensive book for learning this skill.

Under his RGE Publishing label, Arnold authored and published several books, with one of his most popular being Blackbelt in Blackjack. After exiting the publishing business, he continued to write, analyze games, and play high-stakes blackjack while staying under the radar.

A true legend of the game, Arnold Snyder was one of the seven inductees named to the Blackjack Hall of Fame in its first year.

The words here are merely the tip of the iceberg of what can be said of The Bishop. There is much more that many of us can say of the accomplishments of this talented, trustworthy, and most interesting individual. I feel blessed to have had him as a mentor, teammate, confidante, and friend. I certainly miss him.

I recently posted a few blogs concerning some fine points for the strategy of 9-5 Triple Bonus Poker Plus. They discussed somewhat complicated decisions with relatively small financial impacts. After the second blog came out, a reader posted the following:

I have read posts from you before that refer to getting the best value from your time. Sometimes travel time is considered, sometimes how fast the machines are is considered and more. Have you ever considered the time to create and memorize these detailed parts of a strategy compared to the return for your time invested? Perhaps there is a game nearby that would return more per hour than the detailed strategy does or ever could.

Dollars per hour is one consideration. There are a lot of other considerations as well. Different players will have different conclusions about this subject. I’ll explain as best as I can why and when I learn every last penalty card situation — and when I don’t. In the end, no matter how I do it, you’ll have to decide for yourself how you’re going to address this subject.

I’ve had a lot of education, and enjoy studying for tests. Preparing to play video poker correctly has a lot in common with getting ready to take a test. On most tests I took in school, my goal was to score 100% on that test. That goal continues today. I understand many students/players don’t share that goal.

Currently I’m able to create and master a strategy relatively easily — partly because I’ve been doing this with video poker for almost three decades, following doing  this with other games for almost that long. Someone starting from the beginning today would need to work a lot harder and longer to master a strategy than I would. 

I’ve been hired to teach a player this game and several times he has said something like, “Your brain works differently than mine does.” Probably true. Everybody addresses problems in a slightly different way. The strategies I create make sense to somebody who thinks like I do. It’s not a big struggle for me to consider straight and flush penalties to a suited JT in the same five cards as one or more straight and/or flush penalties to holding a solitary ace. For some people, that’s too confusing. 

I’ve been told that your brain is like a muscle — if you don’t use it today, you lose the ability to use it in the future. I’m currently 76 years old, and my brain is slowly deteriorating as I age. If I have to exercise my brain for something to ward off senility —why not this? 

Age, combined with bankroll, also matters. If I were 22 years old with a relatively small bankroll, it might be worthwhile to take some risks to build up my bankroll. I would play every opportunity I can find returning more than 100% up to 16 hours a day, even if I don’t know the strategies for some or all the games perfectly. If I go broke at age 22, there are a lot of ways to recover. 

At almost 3½ times that age, with a sizeable bankroll already amassed, if I go broke today it’s a lot more serious. I can’t move in with Mom and Dad. There are limited ways to re-accumulate bankroll as a senior citizen. It’s hard to directly measure how much reducing or eliminating the chance of going broke is actually worth, but it’s not trivial. 

Triple Bonus Poker Plus is a game where mastering a strategy at the 100% accuracy level is feasible. NSU Deuces Wild is not such a game. There are so many exceptions in the latter game that virtually nobody, including me, plays perfectly. Playing that game at the 99.9% accuracy level is within my capabilities — and I can live with that. On games like Ultimate X, even playing at the 99.9% accuracy level is impossible — for me at least. Still the rewards from this game can be high enough that it can make sense to play this game at a lesser level.

A friend’s daughter is a high school sophomore, and she competes on her school track team in the shot put.  In a meet, they heave 8-pound hunks of metal (four kilograms, actually, which means 8.8 pounds).  In practice, she regularly tosses 12-pound shots (I think this is six kilograms, meaning 13.2 pounds) which is what the high school boys throw.  Since she’s practicing at a more difficult level than what she is competing at, when it comes to the actual meet, she does better than most of the girls she’s up against. One of her goals is to get a college athletic scholarship at a good school. I see her over-preparation as similar to what I do in video poker strategy. For essentially the same reasons.

In general, if I’m going to be playing a particular game for several hundred hours over the next year or so, mastering it is relatively important. If I’m going to be playing this game for one two-hour promotion, and then probably never playing it again, I’m not going to be spending so much time on it.

Also, in general, if a game is found for low stakes only, I’m not going to concentrate on mastering it as much as I would if I were playing it for higher stakes. Phrased differently, mistakes are a lot more costly when you’re playing a $25 game than when you’re playing a 25¢ version of the same game.

Using the wizardofodds.com video poker strategy calculator, you can get a figure for many games showing how much a basic strategy is worth and how much an advanced strategy is worth. This gives you a measure of the potential gain from learning an advanced strategy over using the basic strategy.

The problem is, however, that most players don’t even play the basic strategy completely correctly. Practicing the advanced hands gives you practice on the lesser hands as well, assuming you’re using a computer to help you. 

In addition to the two types of hands discussed in recent blogposts, here are the hands I practice:

1. Every possible combination of 3-card straight flush and two high cards — suited or not.
2. Every possible combination of 3-card straight flush and 4-card inside straight.
3. Every possible combination of 3-card royal flush versus a high pair.
4. Every possible combination of 3-card royal flush and 4-card flush.
5. Every possible combination of low pair versus 4-card open-ended straight.
6. Every possible combination of low pair versus 3-card straight flush.

These aren’t very interesting hands to practice, but they are the meat and potatoes of playing video poker well. In the TBPP game I’m playing, for a single coin, flush=5 and straight flush=100. This affects the value of every 3-card and 4-card straight flush, and the correct answers in this game are different than they are in any other game I’ve played.

A lot of players argue that they’ll just take the strategy with them and when they come across a hand they don’t know, they’ll look it up. That’s all well and good if you can read a strategy correctly. You also have to know the strategy very well to know where the problem hands lie, so you can look them up. I know from my experience as a teacher, when every class ends with a quiz consisting of 20-or-so different hands, that even though it’s an open-book quiz, almost no player gets all the answers correct. Just having a strategy in your hand is no guarantee that you will play the way the strategy demands.

This might not be true for you, but I get paid for studying! Sometimes as a tutor. Sometimes as a blogpost writer. This is in addition to earning a higher return on the game because I know all the plays.

I’ve borrowed the late Merle Haggard’s 1981 song title to describe a conversation video poker players have heard hundreds of times. It’s often expressed as an argument where the premises go something like the following:

1. Video poker pay schedules aren’t nearly as good as they used to be.
2. Casinos have slashed their slot club benefits.
3. Casinos do not offer promotions as lucrative as they used to.

From those premises, the conclusion usually becomes: Might as well hang it up. Video poker is simply not worth playing anymore.

It’s hard to argue with those premises. On average they are quite true. Occasionally a casino will add a looser-than-normal game for a while, (sometimes by mistake!), but the usual situation goes the other direction.

The thing is, I’ve been hearing this same argument for almost 30 years. And every time, players have been longing for the “Good Old Days.” But a number of video poker players continue to prosper. My entire video poker career has occurred after I first heard that the game isn’t very good anymore.

The argument is especially valid if they want to go to the same casinos they always have gone to, play the same game, and receive the same benefits. If they’ve been playing for more than a little while, that situation is basically impossible. 

Sportsbook players say that if you only have one out (i.e., one place to bet), you can’t win. The lines have enough built-in cushion, and the bookmakers are good enough, that a player won’t have the edge. To win in that game, you have to have a variety of outs where there are different odds at different places. The same is true in video poker. 

If you only know one game, and can’t or won’t learn another, you run out of options fast. If you know a variety of games, and are willing to play in a number of places, you can still find opportunities.

You might want to consider some or all of the following:

1. Visit other casinos than you’re used to. Out of town or out of state, if necessary. (For me, I play more coin-in outside of greater Las Vegas, where I live, than I do close to home.) 

2. Learn other gambling games. (For me, this has been advantage slots. Your mileage may vary.)

3. Increase and utilize your network of other successful gamblers. Nobody knows everything. If you have information that is useful to me, I might well have information that is useful to you. I’m not interested in a one-way sort of communication unless I’m getting paid well for it.

4. Consider changing stakes. Sometimes better games exist for higher or lower stakes than you normally play. Playing for lower stakes than you’re used to isn’t as exciting, but it can make sense. 

5. Consider non-gambling activities. I certainly am not doing all of the same things as I was ten years ago. Are you? There are myriads of things you could be doing. 

Finally, if it’s time to quit…quit. Not because somebody else thinks you should, but because you think you should. (Well, spouses can have a pretty big vote in these things.) At different times, I fancied myself as a backgammon player and as a blackjack player. I quit both of those because I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to be a financial success at either game. I’ve dabbled at sports betting and live poker and am convinced that they are not the games for me either. I’ve also quit various organizations through the years when I felt I had outgrown them, or they had outgrown me.

A quitting strategy actually makes sense. Decide what would have to happen for you to no longer be a profitable video poker player — and if and when those conditions arise, quit. Go do something else with your life.

I’ve recently written some more-complicated-than-normal (for me) articles concerning playing strategies. Today won’t be one of those!

One of my regular posters, Boris from Switzerland, posted (paraphrasing): “This is fine for the advanced players. Recreational players can use a phone app to get the same information. And they’ll probably get away with it.”

The reason I’ve never recommended this is because in Nevada and several other jurisdictions as well, using an electronic device to tell you how to play the hands is a felony. I’ve never heard of a player being arrested for this, but there’s always a first time. On Gambling with an Edge, attorney Bob Nersessian said several times that if a player were arrested for this, Nersessian would not be interested in defending him. “It’s against the law,” Nersessian said. “Don’t do it.”

It’s easy to make the argument that so many people use their cell phones for a variety of purposes in a casino, a player using a video poker app probably won’t be caught. And that’s true. You probably won’t be.

But what if you are? A small chance of being convicted for this is a LOT worse than no chance at all. When I started my video poker career, I did a number of things that weren’t completely on the up and up. I wrote about several of them in my Million Dollar Video Poker. So, I’m hardly in position to take the high moral ground on this.

But when I was starting, I believed I was a “nobody” gambler. I believed the worst a casino would do is to kick me out and say don’t come back. And it probably wouldn’t come to that. It was at least possible that I’d get off with just a warning.

I now am not in the same position. I am moderately famous in the gambling world, and a “fall from grace” today would be a lot more severe. Plus, I always assume, rightly or wrongly, that in casinos that do allow me to play, I have a much shorter rope than an unknown player would have. Receiving a warning instead of being prosecuted is much less likely for me today than it was 30 years ago.

Another factor that is true for me that isn’t universally true for other players is that I have the ability to figure out and master strategies, and I enjoy doing so. Thinking about, writing about, studying, and playing video poker occupies a much larger part of my waking hours, even after about 30 years of doing this, than these things occupy in the lives of most other players. 

Other players have enough responsibilities and chosen activities that they simply do not have the time and ability to do what I do.  

Legality and ability aside, it takes time to look up a hand. I like to play at 1,000 hands per hour or so, and getting out the app, turning it on, making sure you’re on the right game, and actually entering the five cards doesn’t happen instantaneously. Many players aren’t positive of the correct play but don’t want to slow down and take the time to look it up. If you have the game memorized, you don’t have these time delays.

So, I’m not going to commit this felony. I advise you not to. But I understand why the temptation to this might be strong for some players.