February

Playing 4 Keeps™

Gaming Newsletter for Winners

Gaming Workshops Since 1995

Playing 4 Keeps™

A Gaming News Letter For Winners

February 2010

Volume 12 Issue 2

Copyright ©2010 Michael Vernon

"Luck Has Nothing To Do With It When You Are Playing 4 Keeps!"

==========================================

In This Issue:

Game Speed, Out of Control...

Who's Afraid of Virginia Dice?

Ask My Dog Mousse...

2010 Scheduled Events

Announcements

Recommended Links

==========================================

Colorado Dice

New gaming laws in the state of Colorado now allow casinos to offer craps games. The games are limited to a $100 maximum bet. Michael Vernon has "amped" up dice lessons for three different skill levels including lessons in dice setting. If you are in Colorado, look Michael up for help you with your game. The lessons are located in Pueblo, Colorado and you can find the schedule at Playing 4 Keeps.com

The Dice Busters are back. Join them in Las Vegas!

June 26th, 2010

==========================================

Game Speed, Out of Control…

In my younger days, I raced motorcycles. Twenty motocross bikes would line up at the starting line. To keep the boys from jumping the gun, a long section of surgical tubing was stretched across the starting line. The tubing was at throat level, deterring anyone’s early start. The race was on, with the snap of the rubber hose. With a roar of engines and a cloud of dust, the racers would speed shift, full throttle, into the first turn. Like lemmings swimming to their death, we’d race down the straight-a-way into a tight, right, hair pin turn. Blinded by a ton of dust, a majority of the bikes ended up on top of one another. The trick, of course, was to be first to the turn. Short of that, it took blind faith and double shifting down into second gear, so as to bully your way through the mangle of bikes. At sixteen, there was nothing else that could compete with my passion for racing. My riding buddy and I had a saying, “You ain’t going fast enough unless you’re out of control.” And, at sixteen, a guy could get away with that kind of philosophy. When it comes to table games, application of speed needs to be reconsidered.

In a game of blackjack, the dealer cannot play passed any player. In other words, the game cannot move any faster than a player’s ability to make a decision. No matter how quick the dealer may shuffle and pitch out the cards, the player is always in control of the pace of the game. You may play fast and you can also stall if you so desire.

I prefer blackjack games that move along. Here are my suggestions for moving the game along. After receiving my two cards I will flash the hand nonchalantly if playing with a partner or out of courtesy to a recognized counter. Masking the play, it either looks like I am disgusted with the hand or showing off a good one. Next, I focus on the dealer’s up card and any other exposed cards on the table. My decisions are fast and automatic. There are four choices and they are simple.

Do I have a hand to split?

Do I have a hand to double down?

Do I hit, draw a card?

Do I stand or stay with the hand?

Knowing the correct strategy allows me to use my decision time to focus on the card count rather than the decision of play. This allows me to make any adjustment to my play based on the exact card count at the time. The trick is to appear as though you are trying to figure out how you should play the hand. What to do with your ace/seven against a dealer’s up card is masking your play. It gives the impression that you are not that skilled and that you are not a card counter. With the exact count, you know automatically what decision you are going to make, then you can say something like, “I think the book says I should hit.” This also works when you modify a play, contrary to basic strategy, because of the exact count.

I discovered something about playing Texas Hold’em this past year. My Texas Hold’em game had slipped into my style of playing blackjack. When it was my turn to act, I was playing the hand too fast. There are many more things going on in a poker game than in a blackjack game. There is no need to rush playing poker and certainly no reason to give other players information about your hand.

A lot of what goes on in a poker game is affected by the metaphysical energy. By playing too fast, I was missing important subtleties, that I later discovered would have either saved me money or made me more money. Either way, playing too fast was costing me money. By slowing down and pausing, it enables me to evaluate more aspects of the game while not giving away information about my hand. For example, if I call too quickly, I appear overly eager to get money into the pot. The same applies when making a raise. With regard to the raise, by playing too fast, I would often get a call that I did not want, because I raised too quickly or it was not large enough to run off all the players. On the other hand, when I actually wanted action, I’d run everyone out of the hand because I was too quick or my bet was too large. Taking my time to assess the situation and to make the right move, would prove to be more beneficial. It was after reviewing my journal that I began to discover how I was mixing my poker habits with my blackjack game. By playing too quickly, I was missing important metaphysical information.

In both games, the player really has to be in control of their moment to play, but the pacing is so totally different. In the game of blackjack, it is more methodical and rote. But with Texas Hold’em, it is all about manipulation.

I know I have a ways to go with the adjustment of pacing my play. Recognition of any leak in a player’s game, at least begins the process of improvement. After all, it ain’t no race! You never want to be going so fast that you are out of control.

Well, that’s it for this edition of the Playing 4 Keeps™ Newsletter.

See you at the tables,

Michael Vernon

<Top>

=========================================

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Dice?

This lady of mystery is rapidly becoming the darling of the cyber wire.

She has her favorites, so I’m told, with casinos she does conspire.

Some say that she is loaded. Others claim she’s been shaved.

Still others say that she is unpredictable and will take you to your grave.

Call her by any name that you like, Virginia’s hardly pure.

No doubt she’s been altered, and that you can be sure.

Don’t misunderstand, I am not suggesting Miss Lucy Goosey.

In fact, Virginia is quite rigid, in her special way.

You have to remember all the facts and not what people say.

The answer to the question, is not so tough to see.

Is Virginia rigid, as in frigid, or hot as hell can be?

People will talk, and they will say, that Virginia’s not so nice.

Still, Virginia is a lady you can count on, no matter what her vice.

And subject to probabilities, just like any pair of dice.

No matter how you weigh her or change her personality.

The bottom line is obvious as to what her role (sic) will be.

She will either favor sevens, and steal away the line.

Or opt for something different, if given enough time.

Wait a minute fellers, is Virginia really such a bitch?

Or a misunderstood enigma, like a place that’s hard to itch.

I mean, come on now, if she’s rolling with the sevens,

Can’t you find a way to win?

If she favors other numbers,

Heck! That’s when the fun begins!

No, me thinks, Virginia’s just a dame made up, and not a made up dame.

If truly she did exist at all, craps wouldn’t be a game.

Virginia’s favors would be too good for any sharp shooter to miss.

And glory be the chips all night as we hear the boxman’s hiss.

So, if Virginia Dice would dare to show her pretty crooked face,

The fear instilled, in the hearts of men, is at the casino’s place.

The fix is in, as we all know, and certain to put us under.

So there’s no need for Virginia Dice, common sense dictates its blunder.

So, who’s afraid of Virginia Dice?

Not me and him or you!

With the odds assured…

And with fair dice,

The casino’s dreams come true.

©Copyright 2010 by Michael Vernon

=================================================================

Ask My Dog Mousse?

Dear Mousse,

I understand that you have been training at a dog agility school.

How's that going for you?

Trix E. Vaughan

Dear Trix,

Yes it is true. I enrolled in a six week training course with my dog cousin Capalina Papina. (hot little pepper) She is a gorgeous German Sheppard and belongs to the Professor's sister. Gosh, a week before she was to come into heat, Capy spent the weekend at my house. Talk about driving a dog wild. I knew something was up but could not lay my &#%@! on it. Turns out her boss is taking her to Denver to meet some pedigree German Sheppard to have puppies. What about me? I want puppies! Anyway, back to the agility training, I am learning to go through a tunnel, climb up and over an A-frame, jump over poles and hop through a hanging tire. The latest challenges were a teeter-totter and a bridge. The teeter-totter was lame, but from the bridge, there is a good view. So, yeah, it's been fun, but I have no idea why I doing all this stuff. Chasing rabbits is still number one next to %!@#^$% and eating hot dogs. Oh, did I tell you I get all the hot dogs I can eat at agility school?

Hope this helps,

Mousse

If you have a question for Mousse, you may email him at his address.

mousse@playing4keeps.com

Opinions expressed by the contributing authors (and especially Mousse)

are not necessarily shared or endorsed by the publisher.

<Top>

===========================================

2010 Schedule: Click Here

===========================================

Testimonials for Playing 4 Keeps

Blackjack Players Craps Players

===========================================

===========================================

Gaming Announcements!

The Dice Busters are back. Join them in Las Vegas!

June 26th, 2010

Do's and Don'ts of Dice Playbook - Order Now!

Blackjack for Winners Playbook - Up Dated and Revised

How to Win The Hilton Craps Tournament
Presented by ~ The Dice Coach & Pablo

Private Lessons by the Professor:

Recommended Gaming Sites!

"Dice Coach"

"Dice Setter"

"Dice Busters"

Click Here For More Gaming Links:

<Top>

==========================================

Referrals to my web site and my newsletter are appreciated. Help spread the word. There is more to the games than meets the eye. "You can win them all Playing 4 Keeps!"

Tell your friends about the FREE subscription to the Playing 4 Keeps™ Newsletter. Have them send a blank email to: playing4keeps@aweber.com

Thank you for your continued loyalty. Your comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome.

Email: professor@playing4keeps.com

==========================================

Michael Vernon

Playing 4 Keeps™ Seminars

P.O. Box 7791

Pueblo West, CO 81007

Email professor@playing4keeps.com

Playing 4 Keeps™ Newsletter written and published by Michael Vernon. It is intended to be informational and entertaining. Do not consider the information a guarantee for supplementing or replacing income. Casino games are adult entertainment and should be played for enjoyment. It is Michael’s intention to provide information so the reader may play with more satisfaction.

Copyright ©2009 All Rights Reserved Michael Vernon. Reproduction in whole or in part, without the consent of the publisher, Michael Vernon is prohibited.

Thanks to David Boufford and Positive News Network without whose help this publication would not have been possible.

www.positivenews.net

<Top>