Building a Bigger Bankroll

14 September 2021

By Frank Scoblete

It is no secret that many casino players wish they could play for bigger stakes. The $10 player might want to be a $25 player and the $25 player might want to be a $50 player and the $50 player might want to be a $100 player and so on up the line.

The motivation for such a desire could be many fold; the desire to be treated as a high roller, the desire to get better comps, the desire of having a host that caters to you. Perhaps other aspects of one’s ego can also be tied up in higher betting at casino games. Perhaps the desire to have other people see your betting levels and give a “wow” look.

But there is one extremely important aspect to higher betting; you need a bankroll that can take the “slings and arrows” of the downs in casino play. We all know the downs are inevitable.

You do not (ever!) want to go from $10 bets to $25 bets just because you feel like it. A bad session could cause severe damage to your bankroll. Worse, if you don’t actually have money set aside for playing, a bad session or two could hurt the money you use for real life. That would be truly awful.

The first thing you must do is set up a 401G account, my word for a gambling bank account as the “G” stands for (you guessed it!) gambling. This is the account from which you take money for casino play. You do not use the money for little Lulu’s braces or Jimmy’s math tutor in order to double down on your 11 at blackjack.

Assuming you are a $10 player how much money should you have backing your play? I guess you can scratch any gaming author and get advice about this aspect of bankrolling. So here is my advice. Have 100 times your average bet in that account. That should cover you from many bad sessions at the game you want to play.

However, if that game is craps and you are a multiple-bet player than you should take what your average spread at craps is and multiply that by 100. This same hold true for roulette.

Do not play two hands at any of the card games and definitely do not make the “bonus” bets in such games as those bets are really just bonuses for the casinos.

If you keep your betting contained, your 100=times bankroll should allow you to hang in there.

Now we are looking to bring our bankroll to $2,500 in order to be a $25 bettor, which is up from the $1,000 we needed to be a $10 bettor.

You do this in two ways: First any wins you have after your current visit immediately go into the account. But being rational we know that over time that 401G account will start to lose money so you must find another source for the account.

Here you have to practice real discipline. Take a small percentage of your income and regularly put this (small!) percentage in your account. This is exactly how you manage a regular investment account and it should be the way you handle your 401G. Doing this should see your account increase slowly over time even if you do have bad trips to the casinos.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete’s web site is www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books and at bookstores.