Every once in a while, video poker enthusiasts who read my columns send in a question asking why there seems to be so many hypocrites of the game who write not only on the various forums, but also others who put their garbage in print for the purpose of selling it to an unsuspecting public. Obviously, these “authors” never expected to get caught – let alone exposed. And that’s exactly where I come in.

It’s easy enough to watch as the proverbial egg splatters all over the faces of the famous names who market anything and everything about the game. Since they give themselves a lot of exposure by constantly writing columns and books and posting all over the Internet under various aliases, common sense says they’ll trip themselves up every now and then. And BOY have they done that!

I’m not going to go over the brutal details of the thrashing I’ve given them over the years for each of their glaring hypocrisies, but I expect this one example will bring to light one of the MANY examples of how they’ve embarrassed themselves where I’ve been around to watch their antics. And it all has to do with Harrah’s.

As many of you know, in the past three years or so Harrah’s has been at the forefront in aggravating advantage players from coast to coast (to my delight of course!). Because of the slowing economy and their overly aggressive ambitions to build an even bigger gaming empire, video poker pay tables have been cut – sometimes more than once; Diamond Lounges have either had their hours of operation cut back, had hot foods removed from their complimentary services, or they’ve shut down some lounges altogether.

What this has done, naturally, has created all sorts of havoc on the video poker boards - as a starter. You see, people who post to those things are usually cheap, they rarely have the proper bankroll – or any bankroll at all – to be gambling in the first place, they always seem to want more than they’ve earned per the posted rules and policies of the casino slot clubs, they’ve apparently learned the art of whining long ago, and they are, by and large, big losers who feed their habit by feeding the corporate bank accounts like rats being led down the wrong path by a pack of pied-pipers.

But with all the bellyaching going on by Harrah’s loyal customers, do you think it has done anything to the corporate bottom line? Well, let’s take a look at what the video poker community has to deal with. Take two of the biggest names in video poker marketing: Jean Scott & Bob Dancer. Both regularly brag about their being big-shots in as many slot clubs as they can, and Harrah’s is one of them that’s always at the top of their boaster’s list.

For Harrah’s, that would be Seven Stars, and neither of these two personalities hide the fact that not only do THEY possess that oh-so-special stature – their partners do also! Just to enlighten everyone, the last I heard it took at least a million dollars a year played through the machines to attain that card. I don’t really have much of a problem with regular players who like to play at Harrah’s properties and can afford to put that much into the machines. What makes no sense and why I am good at exposing quacks, is when articles are written saying how Harrah’s has “nothing playable” and no advantage player would be caught dead at their machines, yet the authors are continuously caught in the pickle of never talking about actually playing at Harrah’s properties (unless they get a big win, that is...) while simultaneously bragging about their Seven Stars status! Can you spell H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y?

The famous names are easy to track down because they write so many articles, but nobodies also get their tit caught in the wringer at times. Here’s a good example: Recently I exposed a player from videopoker.com (damule...yes I know) blabbing incessantly about his Seven Stars status. At the same time he was proudly beating his chest about how he’s an “advantage player” who only goes after “playable” machines. And since he does much of his insatiable gambling at Harrah’s Ak-Chin Indian casino here in the Phoenix area and around Nevada – and since every poster on every vp forum knows there is nothing “playable” for AP’s in any of those casinos – just how stupid do you think he feels, now knowing that thousands of readers understand that what these AP’s CLAIM to be doing is a far cry from what they REALLY do!

Not wanting to pick on the same poor soul, but this guy makes it so easy to do….More recently damule made a post about how "his NSUD machines" in the Palms high limit room had their pay tables lowered a bit so that with cash back, they were in theory (yes, an AP’s favorite word) no longer just over the magic 100% plateau that AP’s like to make the rest of the world think means “winner” (while casino managers apparently are two steps down on the “understanding vp pay tables” list). OK we get it, so far. The guy wants us to believe he’s a video poker all-star who’s never lost at the Palms, no AP ever has, and no AP ever would if they only kept the right “playable” pay table. But we’ve heard that numbing BS a million times from AP’s all over the Internet. What’s so special this time?

Here’s what. With the lower pay tables, he claims he can’t and doesn’t play there any longer, and that the high limit room is virtually empty. He then asks: “Why would a casino alienate its best customers, especially in this economy, when the Palms is making plenty of money from tourists and unknowledgeable players on the < 100% games?” He’s apparently implying that all of their customers at this point in time are dummies who don’t understand the game of video poker, and that, conclusively via AP theory and with no known facts, they must all lose!

So what this hack is saying is that they’ve lowered pay tables, which in turn keeps away the Palm’s eh-em...”best “players” which he implies is a bad business decision, and which in turn he seems to be saying is a loser for the casino. Now let me get this straight. Out of one side of his mouth he’s claiming these “best players” were making a bundle off the place with those wonderful just-over-100% pay tables; but out of the OTHER side of his mouth he’s saying that by keeping these same all-stars away, the casino is LOSING more money than if they still had them as customers! Yes, this guy is a PERFECT match for videopoker.com....

For the record, I put in a LOT of play at the Palms in 2008 -- comparatively speaking of course because I only played a total of 25 hours the entire year. I don’t consider myself one of their “best players” even though I have their black slot club card (which has probably run out by now) but almost all my play last year was at their Mint High Limit Bar on their $1/$2/$5/$10/$25 machines with what AP’s would call atrocious pay tables. However, I made a consistent killing on the $10 & $25 machines – limits that you won’t find damule playing in this lifetime. I also received a letter from them in Feb. saying they would still invite me in but were cutting way back on my offered comps – which they have done. So who is it that they’re REALLY trying to keep out...

Hypocrisy, contradiction, and myths - on & on & on it goes in the world of video poker, and you won’t find it in any greater helpings than on videopoker.com. Yes the “gurus” also constantly put it into print in their books and articles and sometimes get away with it, but whenever that happens I attribute it to what I call Barrack Obama syndrome. This is where contradiction after contradiction and lie after lie can be preached in lecture after lecture, only the flock is so overcome by star-power that they give pass after pass after pass just so they don’t see their hero publicly embarrassed. Luckily, in the case of vp.com anyway, very few eyes see their BS, and even fewer care.