Money Management
Last update: January 10, 2001
Everything about the atmosphere in the casino is designed to part you from your money. There are no clocks to remind you how much time you're wasting, there is an endless supply of alcohol to confuse your judgement, you play with chips which seem deceptively unlike real money, and all paths lead to the casino and anything else is difficult to find.
The successful gambler must not be fooled by these distractions. Everything you bet is real money and anything in front of you is your money. Even the most cynical gambler is still bucking against the house edge. Over the long term you just can't win. The objective of gambling should be to have fun and to stretch the bankroll as far as possible. A lot of viewers have asked me to provide specific winning and losing markers to step away from the table. I'm not going to do that. Everything I have to say about money management can be summarized with this rule: stop playing when it isn't fun any more.
There are numerous ways to betting money. If you don't want to deviate far from your starting point then I would recommend flat betting. If you want a high probability of a modest win, at the cost of occasional big losses, then you should bet more after each loss until you win. If you want the opposite, an occasional big win at the cost of many small losses, then you should bet more after each win until you lose. If you just want a roller coaster experience then fly by the seat of your pants, although this can happen regardless of what you do.
For those who sometimes lose too much and later regret their actions, some self-constraints may be in order. I would suggest setting a specific loss point in these cases, for example $200. Personally, I don't set such limits on myself. If I've lost too much it won't be fun any more and I'll step away for that reason. I also recommend moderation in terms of time spent at the table. When I turned 21 I overdosed on gambling every trip to Nevada and came home totally burned out. To prevent this from happening to you I would suggest gambling in small doses. For example no more than two hours at once and no more than eight hours in one day. Gambling is something that is easily abused in excess, so take it in moderation.
Finally, I recognize the problem of compulsive gambling. This is not my area of expertise so I am including the testimony of a viewer of my web site. His story speaks for itself.
I become a compulsive gambler through the Internet, which was quite a shock to me. I was once a successful, smart, ambitious and productive young medical researcher. Now I am humiliated, feel stupid and have seen my productivity and ambition disappear. I have destroyed my financial security, hurt my wife, put my family at risk and overall seriously jeopardized my future for the game of Blackjack.
It began harmlessly enough with a few dollars that passed my lunch hour and gave me a break from work. I became more interested and discovered how to better my odds at the game. I began winning. I found myself thousands of dollars in front. What I did not yet realize, however, was that the game had gotten a serious grip on my psyche. Everything else had stopped. I spent four, six, eight and then ten and twelve hours a day pushing buttons on my computer. Mindless, idiotic, boring behavior but I did it day after day. No loss was ever too small not to chase; no win was ever too big not to better. I was in trouble.
Inevitably I began to lose. I turned a $10,000 win into dust. I chased this with several thousand more before I realized I might have a problem. I wrote to each of the casinos I was gambling at and asked them to close my accounts because I was a compulsive gambler. They complied but one of them wrote back wishing me a happy holidays (it was around thanksgiving) and another offered me a holiday bonus of $300 for my loyal patronage.
Two weeks later I dropped off the wagon and opened several new accounts with new casinos. This time the insanity had me totally. I was determined to win back my losses, which I did, but then I gambled it all away. I turned over more than $50,000 in less than a week. Suicidal and frantic I poured more money into gambling. I won back my losses and again frittered it away. Three times I had won and three times I had destroyed what I had. At this point I wrote to the casinos once more and told them my problem. They shrugged and continued to accept my money.
I am now struggling with recovery. Financially I am in a bad state but it is salvageable. My gambling is still not fully under control but I believe I can make it with the support of GA and my infinitely patient wife. I am not of the opinion that casinos are responsible for problem gamblers. I made the decision to gamble and even though it became obsessive I still have to face the fact that I was the one responsible. Nobody held a gun to my head. Nevertheless I have been to many real casinos and never found myself in the grip of an obsession. Online is different, it is totally anonymous and private. There is nobody to raise an eyebrow when you place down a large bet. The money you put down is not cash but cybermoney; it feels unreal. The online casinos would be well advised to be aware of these problems for their own PR and ultimate survival. Mercy clauses, safety nets and red flags should be high on their agenda as mechanisms to protect themselves as well as their customers.
-Stuart D., Jan 8, 2001
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