Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson View Post
I know several people who make playing in the WSOP a part of their career. They rent a house for the month. It costs a lot less than the $8,000 it costs to become a 7 Stars player.

If his goal is to have lower costs for the WSOP I think reaching 7 Stars is not the way to do it.

First off, you are correct that I am a net loser in video poker. But could I have predicted that I would hit zero Royals on my path to Seven Stars? No. That's just how it fell for me. Giving me a hard time for losing more than expected on the way to Seven Stars would be like me giving you a hard time for taking a specific trip to Rincon and losing that night. I could ask, "Why did you go there if you were going to lose?", and your (valid) response would be, "I had no way to tell whether it was going to be a losing night or a winning night until I played."

I can only go by the expected loss to get to Seven Stars. I might beat it and actually win (like if I had hit even one royal), or I might go the other way and lose more than expected. But the only basis I can use as to whether or not it's worth it is by the amount it costs me versus the amount I then get out of it.

Second, I prefer to stay at the Rio during the WSOP. It is WAY more convenient.

Third, I don't know where you're getting $8000.

On a 99.17% expectation bonus poker machine, you can reach Seven Stars with an average loss of $4150.

On a higher expectation machine such as ACE$, your average loss expectation is $3000.

There is admittedly a lot of variance, but that's the average house take on 150,000 tier credits (if bonus tiers are acquired optimally) with perfect play.

Some of this loss is also negated by freeplay and RCs earned during the play.

Also, based upon the trick I recently realized, I can get TWO years of Seven Stars out of it, rather than just one.

Given that I use the cruise, the annual trips (including 2 in 2013), the GGWU, the freeplay, the gas card promotions, and many hotel rooms (often when I'm not playing at all), I am getting plenty out of my "investment" in earning Seven Stars. Indeed, I was told that I am "overcomped" and way past what a player of my activity level would normally be entitled to.

Also, Alan, just because I don't enjoy VP as much as you doesn't mean that I don't enjoy it at all. Like you, I enjoy the excitement of trying to hit those big payouts, and the anticipation of drawing that elusive 5th card to the royal. It's something I wouldn't want to do every day, or for many hours straight, but I enjoy it enough to where I have a good time doing it.

It is possible to both be an advantage player AND enjoy what you're doing at the same time.

Of course it would have been nice to have run better and hit a royal during my play, but I chalk that up to the same bad luck as when I lose badly at regular poker. Sometimes you run better than expected, and other times you run worse.