Money Management

I am a strong proponent of betting conservatively and moderately. Set a limit on how much you are willing to lose both at a single sitting and over an entire vacation. When you hit your loss limit stop playing. Your loss limit should not be greater than money you can confortably lose. The motivation for gambling should be fun and excitement. While it is nice to win you shouldn't play if you must win to enjoy yourself. My rule of thumb is that you shouldn't bet more in one hand than it takes you half an hour to earn on the job.

Personally I bet very consistently. When I play blackjack in Atlantic City I usually bet the same amount every hand for hours at a time. In Las Vegas I vary my bets somewhat depending on the surplus of tens and aces left in the deck, but even then I never increase my bet by more than 100%, and that is only temporary and under ideal conditions. However, I realize that some people are not happy winning a few hundred dollars. I think this attitude is motivated by greed and if that is the case you shouldn't play in the first place. Winning a bundle requires three things: a long lucky streak, substantially increases in betting during the lucky streak, and stopping close to the end of the winning streak. The probability of all three of these happening is very low. Most people who do make a lot in a winning streak give it all right back because they didn't stop while they were up. Even if you do leave the casino a winner using this strategy you will probably give it all back the next day or the next trip. Your own greed that caused you to win in the first place will turn against you eventually. I remember playing next to a guy at the Las Vegas Club who was winning money hand over fist all evening. Finally I left and went to sleep. The following morning the same guy was still there in the same clothes but was down to a meager pile of $5 chips. I sat down and played a while and within 10 minutes he was broke. This happens all the time, if you can't stop on your own it will happen to you too, if you are lucky enough to ever be up in the first place. As they say in the beer commericials, "Know when to say when." Personally my rule of thumb is that once your winnings are down by 1/3 from their highest point the winning streak is probably over and it is time to walk away.

Finally, there is a mistaken notion that money won is the "casino's money." This leads to an attitude that it isn't really your money and that you should feel free to bet foolishly with it. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up when I hear people say they lost their winnings because they had to bet it because it was the "casino's money." No! Money won is your money. The casino doesn't give back money you lose. Nobody is going to stop you from getting up, walking to the cashier, and walking out with cold hard cash. Money is money. The money doesn't know who it belongs to. If it is in your pile it is yours!