Again you think I argue against the math and I don't. What I am talking about is the reality of playing in a casino with real money and pocketing the wins before the cold snap hits.
Now if I were playing quarters or dollars the cold snaps wouldn't hurt but I'm playing bigger denominations and so I am going to get out when the going is good. I am leveraging my bets for bigger returns.
Now I see the problem. If I were playing five-cent video poker there would be no need to employ a "quit when ahead" strategy because my bankroll could survive even the grand canyon of downturns. Well my bankroll might be too limited for play higher denoms and that's why a hit and run strategy makes sense -- because I am trying to leverage a smaller bankroll for a bigger return.
The key is knowing when to quit. If I were playing quarters only sleep or hunger would end my sessions.
Edited to add (since I wrote the above while in a parking lot):
Now, let's take a look at the advantage of playing "quit when you're ahead." You can play bigger denominations, and take advantage of the wins that come along without going through the long term "grind" and you can actually pocket more money. How can you pocket more money? Simply this-- and it's all according to your math, guys.
If you are playing a game with a return of 100.17% your long term is only going to be a gain of 0.17%.
But if you employ a strategy of quitting each session when you are ahead by 2% or 5% or 10% and you recognize those win goals and quit then, you will pocket more money.
Can you be be ahead 2% or 5% or 10% in a session? Of course you can be, if you stop to realize that you are. Can you play a session when you will never be ahead? Of course you can. The "skill" is having a loss limit on those losing sessions so that when you do have the winning sessions they will offset those losing sessions.
This kind of accounting goes on in all kinds of businesses and investing. But why do you APs think it can't apply to video poker? Explain it to me slowly.
Now, what Arc suggested above does not indicate any win goal, does it? So how are you defining your sessions Arc? How much are you winning? You are makign statements without definitions of a win -- and that, as we say in the business world -- is the bottom line.