| The
fundamentals of sound money management
by Mark Pilarski
Anyone
can walk into a casino and make the right bets and know
how to play them, but without sound money management
techniques, you can still end up going home broke.
Money management is your
life-line to getting home with some semblance of your
starting bankroll. Otherwise, you’ll be hanging out in
the lounge, tapped out, trying to score free drinks.
Therefore, below are money management rules I live by
when I’m out trying to procure a little from the big
guys. They will work if you rigorously apply them.
• First, never bring
your entire bankroll with you to one gambling session.
You need to have a daily gambling budget. Start 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. Don’t bet tomorrow’s
money until tomorrow comes.
• Set a goal of winning
between 50 to 100% of a single-session bankroll. Then
set aside your original bankroll plus half your
winnings. Now play with the remainder and continue to
set aside additional winnings.
• Use a winning
progressive method of betting by setting a predetermined
percentage increase for each winning bet and sticking to
it. For example, I increase my winning bets by 50% after
the second win: $5, $5, $7, $10, $15, $22, etc. I
continuously flat bet (table minimum) when losing.
• The casino’s goal
is to create a fantasyland experience for its patrons.
One wily way is to devalue your money by having you bet
chips instead of legal tender. Think of the deceptive
nicknames chips have. A $5 chip is a "nickel"
and a $25 chip a "quarter." Your best
self-defense is to continue to bet with your own
greenback. This way you’ll always realize its genuine
value.
• 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—like the money you save for your
child’s college tuition, mortgage payments or your
retirement.
• Never increase your
bet when losing. A double-up-to-catch-up strategy
simulates a lamb being led to slaughter.
• Discipline is not
only a significant part of being a successful gambler
but probably the most important element of money
management. You must set loss limits and win goals.
Example: When losing half your session bankroll (loss
limits) you walk, and when doubling your money (win
goals), consider doing the same.
• Identify the
profitable opportunities in gambling by shopping for the
best odds, rules and playing conditions for the casino
games you will be playing. Don’t waste your time on
games in which the casino has more than a 2% house
advantage.
• Never gamble with
money you can’t afford to lose. Need I say more?
• Credit card gambling
is nothing more than a desperate measure to stay in
action. Leave your credit and bank teller cards at home
so you won’t be tempted with the easy convenience of
getting cash.
• Never quit a hand
when you’re on a winning streak. Why tempt fate? You
could be walking around lucky and not even know it.
Magical gambling moments do happen. Fifteen, 18, even 20
hands in a row is possible. When it ends on a loss, make
a mad dash to the cashier’s cage.
• Finally, money
management will not affect the house advantage nor
guarantee that you will win more money. If the house has
an advantage before money management, it still has that
same advantage even after you apply money management
techniques. What good money management principals will
do is minimize your losses and in most cases protect
your winnings.
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