The fundamentals of sound money management
Dear Mark,
The one problem I run in to every time I play blackjack is managing my money.
Would you please offer some money management tips for us novices so we donąt
part with our money so readily. I can never make it to day two of my weekend
trip to Las Vegas. Jason B.
This column, Jason, can teach you all the right bets to make, plus 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 to that second day. My goal
here is to help you make it through the weekend in lieu of hanging out in a keno
lounge, tapped out, trying to score free drinks. So, Jason, below are some money
management rules I live by when I'm out trying to score a little from the big
guys. They will work if you rigorously apply them. Otherwise, I can tell you up
front that casino security wonąt allow you to use the keno parlor as a hooch
hospice.
- 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. Now 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.
- 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.
Donąt waste your time on games in which the casino has more than a 2% house
advantage.
- Never gamble with money you canąt 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, 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, Jason,
is minimize your losses and in most cases protect your winnings.
Gambling thought of the week: "We got an education when in 1992 Wolfgang Puck
opened Spago in the Forum Shops in Caesars Palace and proved to us that people
will line up to get good food." -Steve Wynn
"But, Steve, if you bring back a $3.49 prime rib dinner buffet, you'll have
lines out the casino front door and down Las Vegas Blvd." -Mark Pilarski