I agree. I think people who take x to the table and leave after losing x/2 are fooling themselves. If you are not going to lose more than $250, then you're playing with $250, not $500. The discipline is in not gambling with money you cannot afford to lose or that would make you feel really bad.
Based on past experience, I totally agree with your last sentence! Years ago, when I frequented Vegas, they didn't call me Mr. K because I was a disciplined gambler! But I do have a few fond memories of those times, on rare occasion, I owned the town....wine, women, and song!
Nope, too honest for that handle, but he did have a hefty set of.....never mind. Back then anyone that played regularly with green and blacks, was referred to as, Mr. (last initial). Their way of making a player feel some false sense of self importance there. Didn't hurt their toke box either.
Towards the beginning of my craps-playing career and during the first (of two lifetime, neither of which I threw) 90-minute monster hands, while I was turning $50 into over $1000, the base dealer asked me my last name and I became Mr. (last initial). A few decades later I wrote the following in an article for Casino City Times. The complete article is at http://midnightskulker.casinocityti...-has-all-my-money-gone-long-time-passing-6506.
Excellent article Van, we think much alike in this respect, and your article highlights a very important aspect that all players should be intimately aware of!
Great article as always, Skulker. It gives voice to an extremely important but seldom discussed aspect of the game. I'd like to tell some of of these guys," Hey man, do yourself and everybody close by a favor and take semi-regular breaks every so often." I've got student,(sort of), who is a backline player, knows the game well ( he's an accountant I think), bets strongly,($300 to $500 per Come out). I've clocked his play dozens of times. The issue is he quite often catches a cold streak initially, gets up 2 or 3K, screws around staying in action and pisses it all back. He's from the Bay area,( no dice...card craps) so doesn't play there, and I think he feels that he has to make hay the whole time he's here in NV. I'm goin' to suggest a regular break schedule...also maybe suggest a "win" limit, although I'm not crazy about them as basic strategy, but this guy's kind of a special case.
I definitely wouldn't recommend a "win" limit. What I would suggest is a NEW loss limit from the current bankroll. For example, if up 3k, quit when "down" to a 2k profit. This locks up a guaranteed profit and allows a trigger to walk away from the table.
Yeah right... good advice, I think a win limit is a chump move, honestly...like I say, quite often he'll jump out to a pretty good profit, but if he loses 3 or 4 bets running, laying the full odds allowable, he's right back into his buy-in pretty quick.
"Limit your losses, never your winnings." The Dice Doctor I limit my losses via my starting bankroll for a session. I never go to the ATM machine for more if that's gone. To the extent that the beginning bankroll affects my chances to 1) play for a certain time or 2) win a certain amount, that side of the equation is fixed. As far as a "win limit" goes, I may go into a session with a number in mind, but if I reach it, I will generally not stop on a win. At the very least, I'll take the last winnings and make the same bet; if I lose that, I walk. Or, I pocket 80% of my winnings and play with the rest. It's really a matter of setting a new win goal with a new loss limit ("floor"). Somewhere, here or on the Wizard's site, I posted about a program I wrote that handles this stuff; you input the bankroll, win goal, what percentage of the win goal to risk, once it's reached, and the percentage of the original win goal to use for the new win goal. Man, I've got to keep better track of where I post stuff.
Sometimes I wish I were more disciplined when it comes to gambling, but for me, it seems like it's always a utility thing. What does the money in my rack / pocket mean to me at the time. There are times that a small win is perfectly alright, I want to take the win and do something else, buy something, other entertainment, whatever. Other times, the small win means little to me monetarily, and I want to empty the tables "racks"...take the shot. The utility changes for me as the game unfolds, and that is how I set my loss or win limits, it's always my money, but the value of it at the time is different than other times. So when I go to the table, I never have any fixed goals, sometimes $50 wins are o.k., other times $1,000 + wins are what satisfies me. Same with the losses, I look at the money I have left, and decide if I want to walk away with it, or risk it, based on how attached to it I am at the time.
Can't go wrong with an attitude like that. Winning is always the best thing, the more the merrier, but I do like your style and thoughts on the matter onautopilot.
What about bankroll management when you're winning? Last week started with $300 and was up to about $550. I was tired, not paying attention and before I knew it was back to $300. Could have kicked myself! I keep forgetting can't win forever, eventually (usually earlier than later) the dice will turn on you and come back to bite you. I usually start well and end poorly, so it seems I should quit earlier! Question to those who while winning and can successfully stop while you're ahead, what kind of percentages do you use when you know "okay I'm winning, sure I might win some more, but it's time to stop, before I lose my winnings?"
i think bet selection is way more important example: you are winning only because the points are winning at an 80% success rate how long do you think that will continue? what is the average rate? maybe time to bet against a point instead of with it. i am just the opposite i still say you lose because you are making too many wrong bets at the wrong time that may be wrong thank you for asking I always play to double my starting bankroll if i cant do it, it is because i am betting on the wrong bets really i keep these things simple those that say stop when up 20-30% and come back another day need to start explaining "why another day" i say play by the hour and pay your taxes on your winnings the Dice Gods will cause you to be a lifetime loser if you do not pay your taxes that is in the Jimmy Page "How to play Craps in England and always win" book Sally
Constantly reassess your stop loss. I played Sunday. I was +$200, I planned to stop if I fell back to +$100... ...I kept playing, I became up +$300, I planned to stop at +$200... ...I kept playing, I fell back to +$200... ...colour coming in!
I agree completely. I have taken the walk of shame to the ATM twice in my life and I vowed never to do that again.
S The best thing to do is set a win limit and stick with it. Once you reach your win limit, color up and leave. If you don't have enough discipline to do that, chances are you will come out on the negative side majority of the time. To be successful at craps, you have to be disciplined
IMO, bankroll management is more important than the types of bets that are made. Once one starts disregarding self-imposed loss limits and going to the ATM machine or signing another marker for more funds, things can go downhill at an accelerated rate.
