Playing 4 Keeps ™
A Gaming News
Letter For Winners
November 2005
Volume 7 Issue
11
Copyright
©2005 Michael Vernon
"Luck Has Nothing To Do With It When
You Are Playing 4 Keeps!"
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In This Issue:
What You Perceive is What You Get...
Dice Busters 2006
Chronicles of
Playing 4 Keeps
Click here to
read excerpts from Chronicles of Playing 4 Keeps
Coming Events
Recommended Links
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Make
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fabulous Las Vegas. You pick your date. Click the link or Call Beth and register now. Toll Free 866-342-3626
or go to
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Expires December 15th.
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What You Perceive is What You Get:
Judging from the positive comments from those individuals attending Craps
Fest in Las Vegas, the event was enjoyable, educational and a lot of fun. Plans
for the next program are already in the works for 2006.
During the Saturday workshop, I took a group of students to the Cannery
Casino for a craps session. The intended purpose of the trip was not just to
play, but to employ the techniques of perception. This is the part of the game
that I write and teach, "applied metaphysics".
Though there were numerous lessons during our two and half-hour outing, I
will stick to the highlights of the trip. The first thing I want to share is
that playing in a group, though sometimes favorable, is more difficult for you
as a player. It is not so easy to hold fast to your own game. The tendency, with
the group or team, is to act and react as a group rather than as empowered
individuals playing together. All it takes is one or two players to jump on a
table, and the rest of the team follows suit. Anything can happen, obviously.
The element of perceiving table conditions, checking in and feeling the energy,
can be ignored with a quick decision to play.
We arrived at the Cannery in separate cars. I corralled some of the group to
continue the classroom lecture that began back at Beau’s "Dice Pit". "This is
where we begin. This is where you start using the energy and metaphysics." I
instructed. "You prepare before you enter the casino. You switch on your
awareness like a bat sending sound vibrations that guide them through the
darkness."
After entering the Cannery, I instructed the students to find their way
around, and to take a short tour of the casino. I wanted them to locate the
cashier, find the bathrooms, the bar, the eating outlets and, most important,
the exits. You need to be comfortable in your playing environment, and know the
layout. We separated to allow for a look around and a bathroom break. Meanwhile,
others on the trip had already entered a game.
Reconvening at a mutually agreed location, I continued with the energy
lesson. I asked the students to share their feelings about the casino. I
clarified that I was not asking them for what they thought about the casino.
There is a huge difference. A feeling precedes a thought, just for one. A
feeling is most always true. A thought may have several factors influencing it,
good, bad, or otherwise. A thought is often based on stories about the past or
future and often is not based on a clear witness of the present.
When it comes to perception, there is not right or wrong of it. Each person
is going to perceive the same situation but not necessarily have the same
experience. My ol’ teacher, Stuart Wilde, use to teach this principle by saying,
"if you take 100 people out to look at and describe a tree, you will get 100
different descriptions for the same tree".
Three students shared similar feelings, while two others had much different
perceptions. Who is right? Again, it is not about right or wrong. Either way,
your awareness will be confirmed at the gaming table.
Before concluding my lecture, I wanted to drive home the lesson and asked the
students to look at something and to tell me what they saw. I pointed to the top
of a specific slot machine about twenty feet away. I received five different
answers that were arguably different. I asked, Who is right? We are all looking
at the same thing and we have six different descriptions." When it comes to
working with energy, you develop a trust with yourself through experience and
application. The more you practice working with energy, the more confident you
will feel about using it in your life.
I felt the anticipation and anxiousness of the students wanting to play.
After all, time is short and they want to get to the tables, not listen to me
lecture. When we got to the craps table most of the students followed my
instructions. "Check out the game to see if it coincides with your earlier
perceptions." By the way, the table exhibited exactly what I witnessed coming
through the casino door. Three students read it too. We had picked up on, dull,
sleepy, lazy energy. The other two said that they had an okay feeling about the
casino and about the game. They joined in with players already experiencing a
loss, while the rest of us watched.
After about twenty minutes of observing a grim game with our comrades losing,
one student asked when were we going to get in and play. This prompted more
lessons from me. The open position, where the student indicated she would play,
had dirty ashtrays, crumpled napkins, a water bottle and a few empty cocktail
glasses on the rail below. I pointed to the position and asked the student what
was wrong with playing there. She thought it was because it was "inside hook". I
asked her if we were in a restaurant would she sit there for lunch. She said,
"No, but I want to play, I want to win money". I asked, "Do you see that the
game is cold? Do you see the subtle sign (the trash) to keep out? I would not
play in a dirty mess on top of a cold table. It goes totally against everything
that I know and teach." There is a game out there worthy of play, and it is your
job to find it. Never settle for less than you deserve. Just wanting to play is
a poor qualifier.
I pointed out that we had been watching the others lose for twenty minutes
and that they had been playing at least twenty minutes before our arrival. The
table was a cold, losing table. I asked, "Do you want to lose or do you want to
stand here and keep your money? Do you need to pay for the lesson or would you
like your lesson for free?" She told me that she would hold on to her money,
thank you.
Your decision to play or not play should be free of judgment. Blaming or
guilt demoralizes an individual. What I am talking about addresses your
self-empowerment. Go with your decision, whatever it may be, following your
perception of how it feels to you. Then watch and observe. Whatever your
perception, trust that it is for your highest good and that you will learn
something valuable from it. You must learn to have the discipline to trust and
go the whole nine yards sticking to your guns. In this way, you can develop
confidence in your ability to perceive a correct course for yourself. This where
detachment comes in and working with discipline. You detach from the outcome and
accept the results in the flow with life’s lessons.
As difficult a task as it may be, you must have the discipline to keep
yourself out of the losing games. Entering a game without first checking out the
energy of the casino, the game, and especially your own energy, is failing to
take advantage of a powerful skill any player can develop. If you are going to
become an "advantage player", you must accept the fact that you have to employ
all of the strategies at your disposal. That is how you get to have an
advantage.
We left the Cannery and drove to the Texas Station Casino. We found similar
conditions there regarding the energy. Fewer students played at the Station
Casino. The rest watched as the players lost again. I answered their questions
and they held on to their money. Though perhaps disappointed in not playing,
they learned the lesson of discipline. They managed to keep themselves out of
the fray and held on to their bankroll. In essence, they kept themselves out of
two losing sessions. They did not get to play, but they learned a huge lesson.
They survived to play another time, a time when they find conditions more
favorable.
Let’s pretend that their next time out, that they find a good game and win 20
units. Let’s pretend that instead of staying out of the Cannery and Texas
Station games, that they played and suffered similar results as did those that
played. Now, instead of being up 20 units, they may still be down 20 or 25 units
even after the win. Yeah, who knows? It is a great example of what I teach.
Minimize your loses. That is how you manage to keep ahead of the casino. That is
Playing 4 Keeps™.
The best metaphor describing the energy of the two casinos came from one of
the students. He said that it felt like Saturday morning hangover. It was
Saturday morning and, from the looks of the clientele, their energy was
definitely in the toilet. It was the perfect metaphor for a perfect field trip,
demonstrating the use of perception.
How to apply what you feel to the game takes practice. However, it is not
nearly as complicated as card counting or some of the betting strategies out
there for craps. The great thing about it is you can practice all the time, and
you can practice for free. Where as, with gaming, you can only practice at the
table and, too often, you will pay for the lesson.
I had a lot of fun at Craps Fest. The lessons are always in the casino. That
microcosm of life never fails to provide me with demonstrations to show my
students. The energy is always there, enabling my students to learn and witness
first hand that what you perceive is what you get.
Well, that’s it for this edition of the Playing 4 Keeps™ Newsletter.
See you at the
tables Playing 4 Keeps™!
Michael Vernon
Author and Gaming Instructor
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