The Candy Store Isn't Always Open

As the new year rolls around and it is time for you to make some resolutions, I want to share one of the most important truths about gambling and life that I have ever learned. Perhaps it will influence you to make some sensible choices in the coming years.

I have a friend, Howie B., who was the best stud player in several games on the Upper East Side of New York during the 1970s. He had played with Stu Ungar and Eric Drache when they were still on the East Coast. We called him Howie the Horse, both because of his size and the fact that he had the bad habit of going out to the Aqueduct or Belmont racetrack each day, and usually losing whatever he had won the night before. In fact, he occasionally lost more than he had won the night before, and came back in debt. For a while, it didn't matter. Every night, he'd win at the poker games.

But over time, the games got tougher. Some of the really horrendous players went broke or got tired of losing and quit. Their places were taken by guys who played reasonably well. And some of the other weak players got better. Finally, the inevitable happened. The Horse went on a losing streak in poker. And things at the track didn't get any better. He got an afternoon job tending bar at one of the local joints. This served the dual purpose of providing a little cash and keeping him away from the track.

One afternoon, I stopped in for a few beers. I gave him a lecture about money management and playing only when you have the best of it. (To this day, I continue to give similar lectures to talented games players who are periodically broke.)
He said, "When I used to win every night, I thought those games were a candy store. Now I realize, the candy store isn't always open."

I laughed, had a few more beers, and left. On the way home, it dawned on me that he had made a really profound comment on gambling, or perhaps even life in general. It is crucial to realize, the candy store isn't always open!

What do I mean? I mean that there are times when you get into a very good situation. When that happens, make your money and enjoy some of it. But don't make the mistake of thinking you can blow it all because the situation will never end. Let me give you some examples of times the candy store was open for me.

When Atlantic City casinos first went into operation, they dealt blackjack with early surrender (you could surrender before the dealer checked his holecard to see if he had blackjack). With that rule, basic-strategy players played even with the house and counters having a huge edge. On top of that, there were some very inexperienced dealers, whose mistakes in the players' favor were seldom corrected.

When Los Angeles poker clubs won their lawsuit and started dealing a variety of games, not just draw poker, and when Atlantic City put in poker, "candy stores" opened up. In both of these cases, there were suddenly a lot of inexperienced players gambling for high stakes in games they didn't really play that well.

There was a time before Bellagio when the "big game" was $400-$800 at the Mirage. Mixed games were generally half stud and half hold'em. I occasionally played in these games when the table looked very good. Suddenly, they decided to add the two eight-or-better games, stud and Omaha. I was very experienced in them, having played these types of games in the dealer's choice games in New York City. Overnight, I became one of the best players and biggest winners at the world's toughest table. I was actually playing better than Chip and Doyle. It didn't take long for that candy store to close. After a few weeks, they were playing those games as well as I did, and after a month or two, they were better than I was. That was the end of that.

When I first started sports betting, we had a great computer model, and some occasional injury information. The Internet didn't exist yet, and lines were very inaccurate and moved relatively slowly. By the time I quit betting, everyone had injury information and line moves were disseminated instantly online.

I could go on and on with examples of gambling candy stores, but let's look at some times in the financial arenas when this concept applied. The first option traders to apply the Black-Scholes model on the American Stock Exchange had a temporary candy store. For nearly 10 years, buying Las Vegas real estate was a candy store. Suddenly, the game of musical chairs ended, and those holding houses or condos were in big trouble.

In recent times, poker has been booming. It is spreading across the world, both live and online, both tournaments and cash games. Right now, the poker candy store is open. But don't be fooled. There will always be poker, but it won't always be this good. If you are making a lot of money playing poker, try to hang on to it or, better still, invest it. (The candy store for buying stocks and real estate is probably coming soon.) Don't blow it on craps or sports betting, or sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, thinking the poker candy store will always be open. It won't. Games will get tougher. Big losers will quit or go broke. The average player will become more knowledgeable and more skillful. And no one ever knows what idiocy the government will perpetrate next. If you catch yourself thinking, "I'm a great player, a big winner, and things are so good that it doesn't matter what I do with my winnings, as I can always win more," force the concept of the candy store being closed into your thinking. Make a New Year's resolution to do something constructive with your winnings.

Steve "Zee" Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful games player. He currently devotes most of his time to poker. He can be found at many major tournaments and playing on Full Tilt, as one of its pros. When escaping from poker, he hangs out in his bars on Avenue A - Nice Guy Eddie's on Houston and Doc Holliday's on 9th Street - in New York City.