TAKING CHARGE OF YOUR BANKROLL
Top 10 Tips For Maximum Money Management
BEFORE YOU PLAY
1. SET A BUDGET: Gambling is a form of entertainment that does not have a set price. The money you spend gambling should be considered an entertainment expense, and you should never take money to the casino that you can’t aord to lose. If you do come home a winner, you should be happy, but the reality is many players will lose money when they play. You know this up front and take your chances. That’s why the money you use to gamble with should be money that you budget for entertainment. Before you go to the casino, determine the amount you want to use for gambling and stick with it.
2. DIVIDE YOUR MONEY INTO PLAYING SESSIONS: If you were going camping for a week, you would not eat all your food the rst day of your trip. When you go to the casino for vacation, you don’t want to use all your money the rst day, either. If you have $400 that you will allocate for gambling and you are going to be at the casino for four days, divide the $400 by four and you have a daily bankroll of $100. Divide this into the sessions you want to play for the day. Don’t use it all in one sitting.
3. PLAN OTHER ACTIVITIES: Before you visit a casino for a vacation, you will have to make some decisions as to how much time and how much money you want to spend gambling. If you went to the beach for a vacation, you would not spend all your time in the water. When you go to a gaming destination, you should not spend all your time in the casino. You will want to plan other activities, in addition to your gambling. These are activities you would do if you were not at a casino resort. Some of these may include going to a show or having a nice dinner.
WHEN YOU PLAY
4. SET YOUR PLAYING LIMITS: Before you play, you need to decide on the limits of the games you will be playing. The size of your bankroll will be a determining factor in the limits you play. If your bankroll consists of $50, you would be foolish to sit down at a dollar slot. Stick with nickels or pennies. Your bankroll is not big enough for the higher limit games.
5. USE SMALLER DENOMINATION BILLS: When you go to the casino, take only the money you allocated for that gambling session. Feed smaller denomination bills into the machine. If you have $100 for your playing session, you should not put the $100 bill into the machine. Instead, it is better to go to the cage and get ve $20 bills, and use them one at a time. If you don’t have any luck with your rst $20, take a break or switch machines.
6. DON’T PLAY TWO MACHINES: Playing more than one machine just exposes you more to the house edge. In the long run, you will just lose your money faster. Playing two machines involves standing or leaning out of your chair to reach over to the adjacent machine. Like the lady caught up in the slot frenzy, this is not very relaxing. Sit down in the chair in front of your machine and relax.
7. DON’T PLAY OFF CREDITS: The ticket-out system was designed so you will be more inclined to play o a few credits rather than walking to the cage to collect a small amount of money. Keep in mind that playing o a dollar here and there adds up to a lot of money over the course of your casino visits.
WHEN YOU WIN
8. LOCK UP A PROFIT: If you do win during your playing session, don’t forget to lock up a prot. Take some of your winnings and set them aside. There is nothing worse than winning money and then giving it all back. Some players feel that when they win, they are playing with the casino’s money. However, once you win, it becomes your money. Don’t forget that!
9. DON’T GET GREEDY: Many players win and then get greedy. They will often take their winnings and start playing higher denomination machines in the hopes of winning more. In most instances, this results in losing all of their winnings. The one advantage players have over the casino is that they can quit playing anytime they want to. Winners know enough to quit and take a prot after winning.
IF YOU LOSE
10. DON’T BORROW MONEY: Don’t ever borrow money or take cash advances on your credit cards to use for gambling. The fees imposed when you use your credit card for a cash advance in the casino are huge. This is on top of the fee charged by your credit card company for a cash advance. Taking a cash advance to play a negative-expectation game is very costly, and you will lose more money than you planned to.
