Divide and maybe conquer
Dear Mark,
When on a gambling trip, do you have any suggestions regarding how I
should handle my bankroll? Robbie P.
Known as a “wad” or a “roll,” a bankroll is the total amount of money
that the player has on hand to finance all of his or her wagering
activities. Your question describes a traveling bankroll, which is cash
specifically set aside to support all gambling activities on your trip.
Your traveling bankroll, Robbie, should always be divided into specific
lesser amounts for each day of the trip, and into even smaller amounts
called table sitting stakes. This predetermines how much will be risked
during any given gambling session. You do this by dividing your
bankroll by the number of days you'll be gambling, then divide your
daily bankroll into the number of sessions you will be playing each
day. This is now your single-session bankroll. You never want to bring
your entire bankroll with you to one gambling session. With just your
daily, or better yet session gambling budget in hand, you won’t be
betting tomorrow's money until tomorrow comes.
Besides properly divvying up your bankroll, you will need to employ
sound money management strategies; otherwise you can still end up going
home broke, no matter how large a wad you were originally carrying.
One technique that I recommend is that you set a goal of winning
between 50 to 100% of a single-session bankroll. If you reach that
goal, set aside your original session bankroll plus half your winnings.
Now play with the remainder and continue to set aside additional
winnings.
You will quickly notice that your modest bankroll cannot weather the
bad streaks that will eventually come your way. The casino can, and
will, grind away at your wad of cash, because not only is every game
set in their favor, their bankroll is enormous compared to yours. So,
Robbie, you must always set loss limits. If half of your session
bankroll is lost, think about taking a break.
Another strategy is to use a winning progressive method of betting. You
do this by setting a predetermined percentage increase for each winning
bet. An example of this would be increasing your winning bets by 50%
after each win: $5, $5, $7, $10, $15, $22, etc., then continuously
flat-betting at the table minimum when losing. Never, ever increase
your bet when losing. A double-up-to-catch-up strategy, the Martingale
System, is probably, no, check that,.... IS THE WORST money management
system you can use.
Finally, Robbie, if you do turn your bankroll into chips, take a moment
and carefully think about the exchange. You must always treat chips as
hard-earned cash. The casino's goal is to create a fantasy-land
experience for its patrons. One wily way is to devalue your money by
having you bet chips instead of legal tender. The gambling industry has
deceptive nicknames for these chips. A $5 chip is a "nickel," a $25
chip a "quarter." Betting with your own greenbacks is your best
self-defensive scheme for keeping in mind their genuine value.
Gambling quote of the week: "Casinos are delightful hosts. They ply
their customers--we players--with free booze, great entertainment,
delicious food, and almost every form of sensual pleasure known to man
in order to get you to or keep you at their tables. They do this
because they plan to beat you. More important, they almost always do."
--Bill Jones
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