Money management is important

28 January 2017

By John Marchel

It has been said by some that money management techniques can be just as important to your game as learning the game itself. Picking up any good book about gambling, including games like craps, blackjack, slots, roulette, video poker and live poker, you should find a chapter or two about managing your bankroll.

You can’t bet unless you have the funds. Money management by itself will not make you win more hands, but will allow you to play more hands. Your bankroll determines what games you can play, what bets you can make. How high your bets can be, and the amount of time you can play.

One of the foundations of good money management is to play at a level equal to your bankroll. If you only have $100 you wouldn’t play at the $25 table, but stick to the $5 or $10 table. You would start to increase the size of your bets when winning, not playing catch up with big bets when you are losing. You would also set winning and losing limits when you first enter the casino.

Here are some additional tips you might want to follow to help you manage your funds:

(1) Budget your gambling funds for the entire trip, for each day and for each session.
(2) Don’t play when tired or had too much to drink.
(3) Gamble only with the money you can afford to lose.
(4) After reviewing five consecutive plays, decide to continue or move to another table, pit or casino.
(5) Don’t try to play the way a high roller might play. The fact is someone with a large bankroll does not automatically make them an expert player.
(6) Have fun, and try to quit while you’re ahead.


BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW

• The term “whales,” a synonym for gambling high rollers, was first used in the 1850s, when the Blanc brothers operated a casino in Homburg, Germany.

• Las Vegas “whales,” or very high rollers, play at different level than most other casino visitors. Some in-the-know people say the number of whales ranges from 250 to 500 individuals in the entire world.

• The size of bets for the so-called “whales” would be $50,000 per hand or roll at the low end; likewise, their line of credit might range from 2 to 5 million dollars for a single weekend of play.

• The Verona Suite in the former Las Vegas Hilton, reserved for the uniquely high rollers was 15,400 square feet and had 25 TV’s located throughout the suite.

• The El Rancho Vegas Resort in Las Vegas which opened in 1941 was the first casino to offer its high rollers the use of a yacht on Lake Mead.

• There is a glass enclosed section of the poker room in the Bellagio in Las Vegas reserved for high rollers. It’s called “Bobby’s Room”, named after Bobby Baldwin, winner of the 1978 World Series of Poker main event and Bellagio casino executive. Anyone can play in this special area; all you need $100,000 to get in.