bob dancer- Video Poker Extraordinaire
Dancer began his career as a professional gambler in 1994, with a $6000 bankroll. Six years later, he and his wife, Shirley won over 1 million dollar. Dancer is the best known video poker player and writer of video poker books in the United States today.
His book "Million Dollar Video Poker" attempts to teach to others the lessons that Dancer learned in the six years leading up to his big wins. The lessons that he teaches, among others, include:
- How to accumulate and manage a bankroll
- How to cope with losing and winning streaks
- How to negotiate with the casinos
- How to manage the other players
- How to evaluate promotions
- How to find and exploit opportunities
- How to maintain and improve playing skill
- When to take a pot-shot in a big game
- The benefits of losing
- How to find and win competitions
Besides for his book, Dancer is also well-known for the columns and articles that he writes. He writes a video poker column which is suitable for beginners to experts. He also writes a column with Jeffery Compton, which they titled "Player's Edge." It is published weekly in the Las Vegas Review Journal. It particularly features information regarding promotions at the various Las Vegas hotels.
His booklets are entitled "Video Poker Reports: deuces wild," " Video Poker Reports: 9/6 Jacks or Better" and "Video Poker Reports: 10/7 Double Bonus." They continue to be considered the most accurate strategies ever devised for the game of video poker.
Aside from the articles, columns, software and books that he writes, Dancer also runs seminars for beginners and intermediates.
Dancer began his gaming career as a 26-year old backgammon player in 1973. Backgammon, bridge and gin rummy were the games played at Cavendish West Bridge Club in Los Angeles where he started playing. He was a regular player at the club from 1973 until 1991. He played professional backgammon until 1979. In 1980, he took a job as Data Administrator, which he kept until 1989. During this time, he continued to study and play the game of backgammon. He also began playing blackjack and became a skilled card counter in the game.
From 1989-1994, Dancer began playing video poker. His chief pursuit remained backgammon and he continued to play blackjack, however he began spending more time learning the strategies involved in video poker. 1994 was the beginning of the big times for Dancer. In that year, he met his wife and he made his move into the casino world.
After much perseverance and practice, from September 2000-March 2001, Dancer and his wife earned their million dollars.
He is an inspiration to up and coming video poker players.
