Divide and maybe conquer
6 June 2005
By Mark Pilarski
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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