Categories
Links
Ad
Money Management and the Mental Edge Redux -3
Ask yourself the question: How long do I want to play? Or, how many shots at Lady Luck do I want to take?
Let us say you want to play for four hours a day for three days. That’s 12 hours of total play. Assuming four hands a minute (one hand every 15 seconds—a rather moderate pace), you would play 2,880 hands of video poker in that three-day period.
Now, you have a choice to make. Do you play any credits during your sessions or do you stick to playing coins? Personally I never play any credits. I put my money through the machine once and once only. Thus, facing a three-day, 12 hour, 2,880 hand assault on Lady Luck, I would need 14,400 coins (2,880 hands x 5 coins = 14,400 coins). So does that mean that if I wanted to play a dollar machine, I would need $14,400 behind me? Not really.
Just take one day, which would be 4800 coins ($4,800 dollars for dollar machines, $1,200 for quarter machines, and $240 for nickel machines) and make that your trip-stake. This is the money you are going to risk. You will put the money through the machine that first day—once. However, do not put all your coins into the machine during one session. Instead, divide the day into two or more sessions and allot the requisite amount for each. Only play the money originally slated for each session and never play credits. If you wind up with more than 4,800 coins at the end of the first day, the excess is put away, not to be touched on this trip. That excess will go back into your gambling account when you get home.
The second day, you would again put 4,800 coins through the machine—just once—and again spread out the play amongst various sessions. On the third day, same procedure. Should your trip bankroll fall below 4,800 coins at any time, you would risk whatever you had by putting it through the machine once. So, on that first day, let us say that you took a beating and lost half your stake—a not impossible occurrence. On day two, you would put through 2,400 coins because that’s all you had left. And you would put them through during individual sessions, not all at once. You would have to cut down the length and/or number of sessions because of your shortened bankroll.
Using this method of play, it is impossible for you to lose every penny unless the unthinkable happens—every day is a losing day and you lose every single hand on the last day of your trip. If this horrible fate happens, you could still make money by selling your story (MEET THE UNLUCKIEST PERSON ON EARTH!) to the Guinness Book of World Records or Ripley’s Believe It or Not!