Review of Ramblin' and Gamblin' Thru Nevada
- Title:
- Ramblin' and Gamblin' Thru Nevada
- Author:
- Rob Singer
- Publisher:
- RK Press
- Date:
- 2004
- ISBN:
- --
- Pages:
- 115
- Price:
- $13.95
October 16, 2008
Rob Singer is well known as a video poker iconoclast. In summary,
he believes that VP pay tables are largely irrelevant and that one
can be a long term winner by setting modest session win goals and
progressing in stakes until one meets that goal. I, along with
the majority of the serious video poker community, believes his
strategy is fundamentally flawed. I gave a very negative review to his
first book, The Undeniable Truth About Video Poker.
His second book is Ramblin' and Gambling' Thru Nevada.
In Ramblin' and Gamblin" Thru Nevada, Singer makes a
video poker road trip through just about the entire state of Nevada.
He says his goal is to play using the "long run" strategies that
he perceives most serious video poker players advocate. It's unclear
why he plans to do this, since he derides those who advocate playing
this way, and he thinks these are losing strategies.
There are three major problems with his plan. First, serious video
poker players won't play any game in which they don't have an edge.
The author will basically play any video poker game he wants to,
regardless of the pay table. Second, it's rare for a serious video
poker player to just play as long as they feel like without taking
advantage of slot club benefits such as cash back, free play, or
bounce-back mailers. Singer doesn't give this much regard, and he
seems to deeply misunderstand what the advantage players are trying
to accomplish. Third, even though he almost seems to be trying
to lose as he plays, he actually makes a little bit of money on this
trip. If he's trying to convince us that his methods work and others
don't, this book doesn't provide a compelling argument for either
position.
I don't think he's trying to be deceptive, but he doesn't provide
enough information for someone to thoroughly evaluate his play on
this trip. We don't get hand counts and we aren't always told pay
tables for the games he's playing. Also, he messes up either his
arithmetic or his record keeping or possibly both, as in several
places his numbers just don't add up. I think it's fair to say
that math just isn't one of his strong points. Singer admits to
not always playing "perfect" strategies, but he doesn't tell us how
often and when he deviates from them. It seems to me like he may
not be able to specify what he's doing himself. All of this means
we really have no means to evaluate how he plays, except to say that
he isn't playing a +EV game, and that he doesn't show any signs of
understanding video poker "advantage play" methods at all.
Singer claims to have tried at one point in time to play the way the
advantage players do, but that he was a loser using those strategies.
If he played during that time anything like the way he played when
he says he's trying to mimic those strategies, it's no wonder why
this would be the case.
That said, there are actually two different ways in which this book
almost works. By providing some descriptions of the places
the author visits and the casinos he patronizes, Singer almost provides
an interesting Nevada video poker travelogue. In places, it's almost
a video-poker version of Barry Meadow's Blackjack Autumn.
Also, in talking to many of the people he meets, he provides occasional
insight into the psyche of video poker players. I think he's often
projecting onto those folks the "old Rob Singer" before he found his
own brand of "video poker religion", but that doesn't mean that he's
never correct in his evaluation of some of the folks he encounters.
He doesn't completely succeed on these marks for a few reasons.
First, the interesting information he provides is scant. The book
is short enough as it is, and the sidelights just aren't featured
enough to make the book worthwhile. Second, Singer's agenda rears
its head throughout the book. For me, this interfered with much
of the otherwise interesting narrative. Third, while the author
is a capable writer, at least enough so to get his point across,
in my opinion he's not skilled enough to make his adventure truly
come alive.
Even though I don't recommend Ramblin' and Gamblin' Thru
Nevada, I did enjoy this book more than Singer's first one
and more than I expected. In fact, if the author could suppress
his urge to address his silly video poker agenda, he might even have
a worthwhile book in him. This isn't it, though, so I recommend
that prospective readers pass again.
Capsule:
There are places where Ramblin' and Gamblin'
Thru Nevada almost works as either a travelogue
or an examination of the psychology of video poker players. However,
the few instances where something worthwhile shows through are drowned
out by a mess of illogic, bad math, and confused themes. This
book is better than Singer's first, but that's faint praise. I
still can't recommend it to anyone.
Note: I received a free review copy of this book from the author.
I have no other interest, financial or otherwise, in the success of
this book.
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