This week I formulated a theory about gambling. Gamblers lose for three reasons:
- They don’t understand the game.
- They have no limits.
- They have no money management scheme.
Regardless if it is slots, table games, or something else, gamblers lose because they really don’t understand the “rules”. Both the published rules, the implied rules, and the common sense ones. For example, on slot machines, do you even know what the bonus that you (me) are chasing will pay. Dropping big bucks chasing what turns out to be a small bonus is a losing gamble. You have to understand what you can take away. I see hunch players at the Let It Ride game chasing everything, even low hands with no reasonable expectation. Pumping bills into a slot machine where the expectation is low is also demonstrating not understanding what you are doing.
People often have no limits other than when they are “tapped out”. Very early in my gambling career, I learned about limits. Lots of limits. I divide my trip limit stake into day, session, and game limits. We used to use envelopes, but they are NOT needed now. With the envelopes, I used to actually put all the change back into the envelope and total up at the end of the trip. Using that system, I was surprised at how it averaged out well.
Gamblers lose becasue they have no money management scheme. For example, yesterday, I met a lady who hit a straight flush earlier in the day with one five dollar bet (An example of flaw number one!) who won $1,000. She had played it ALL back. Did she think she was going to get another one? You have to play with a way to get YOUR money out of the game, off the table, back to your pocket, wallet, or envelope. I use a money management schme with Let It Ride that sets a game stake that will allow me to pay for six losing hands in a row. When my “front row” is full, any winnings go to my “back row”. Once in the back row, they are never risked again. Frau plays roulette with her game stake on the table. When she wins, she carves out her original stake. If she’s doing really well and they pay here in “real chips”, those go right into her pocket never to be seen again.
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