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How much is "enough"?

Discussion in 'Casino Gaming' started by BLNT, Oct 16, 2013.

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  1. BLNT

    BLNT High-Roller

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    Do you have a predetermined amount per session where, if you’re up, you’ll bank the win and walk away? Or do you look at that as found money and use it to try and climb further still?

    I usually buy in (blackjack) for $1,000. Once I get near the $10,000 point I become conflicted. I start asking myself if I should be happy getting a 10x return … or is this the start of “the big one”, and should I keep pushing it?

    Assuming you walk with the big win, does that have any bearing on your next session - do you go in bolder, do you dip into those winnings when you go through your buy in, or is every session an independent event?

    What’s your approach??

    Another title I considered for this thread was "you might be a degenerate if..." ;)
     
  2. WrongWayWade

    WrongWayWade VIP Whale

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    I'm always a little annoyed with a feature of many gambling stories. Everyone always tells us how much they bought in for but not how much they are betting. The buy-in is irrelevant, the bet level is all-important.

    To your point, if you're playing $100-$200 per hand and have won 100 or 50 of your average bets, you are WAY out on the tail of the bell curve and should be ecstatic. Remember, deciding when to quit ultimately has no effect on your long term results, but if I hit $10,000, I'd certainly be ready to 'declare victory' and cash out. However, if BECAUSE you are ahead in a session you decide to bet a LOT more, then you're probably over-betting your bankroll and that most likely will have a negative effect.

    Personally, If I have a $10,000 total bankroll I would average about $75/hand or something like that. If somehow I doubled that in one session, I would be justified to push the average bet up to $150 or so, but no more than that.

    I never think "I'm playing with the casino's money". As soon as I win any bet, those chips are MINE. When I lose the casino certainly doesn't think "this is really JimmyJohns money."
     
  3. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    Wow! If you are getting a 10x return on your money, you are doing fantastic!

    Personally, I think of it more as units than dollars. And with my bankroll management rules, a sessions is complete once I am up a predetermined number of units. But, if I go down a certain number of units during that session, the goal changes to just try and get back to an even number of units. Finally, there is another number where if I lose a certain number of units (ruin!), the session is over. The predetermined number of units I am trying to win, however, is very modest, so often times when I am at the table, it might appear that I am playing one lengthy session when in fact I have probably played numerous smaller sessions.
     
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  4. BLNT

    BLNT High-Roller

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    Right out of the gate I like to "test the waters". With a $1,000 buy in I'll bet two spots (my standard play) at $125 each. If I lose those, I'll bet the same again. If I lose those, then immediately I'll find myself with half my buy in GONE - and step down to $100/hand, then $75 hand if that goes *poof*. With this betting strategy, it's not uncommon to reach into my pocket again after a few minutes. On that same note, that betting philosophy can quickly see me getting up to $200-300/hand (times two).

    I'm not "the best" at loss control! :eek:
     
  5. jackincols

    jackincols Guest

    Sorry, but if you have to ask if walking away with 10x's your buy is the right move, I don't know what to tell you.

    Many, myself included, would be making tracks at 5x's buy in profit.

    But I agree, the level of buy in isn't as important as the bet level and what you do with it when winning is crucial.
     
  6. BLNT

    BLNT High-Roller

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    FWIW, I virtually always bank that level of win. In my case however, the fact that I am so "up" for the trip does play into subsequent sessions. I have been up nearly $50K after a few days, to only see a majority of it given back by the end of a trip. I've had a few trips where I left up (in the 25K) range - but that seems to be some type of wall for me. Sometimes one where I seem to make that a self fulfilling prophecy... :(
     
  7. Kickin

    Kickin Flea

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    Jeez you have some lofty goals. :poke: I completely think of it in units as well, especially since I'll play anything from $5 games to $200 games. I used to stay at tables for hours and hours but got pissed over snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. So now 10-20x units up and I'll likely walk. Even much less than that if getting there was a struggle or the table's no fun, etc.

    Pretty much the latter for me, I tend to think of each session as its own game. My feeling is, we're not playing slots or some type of progressive jackpot table. So how much can you really win where it will mean anything to you dollar wise? I know you hear of the rare story about the guy who came in with 10k and walked out with millions playing tables but that's a lottery winning type event. So to me its more of a game of inches, but I can understand people who would rather roll the dice and go for the huge payout. Its all the same at the end, just different journeys depending on how you get your kicks.
     
  8. DonnyC

    DonnyC VIP Whale

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    I'd be up away from the table and looking for something else to do for a bit.

    Nothing is more sobering than a few moments away from the table or machiene.

    A few years ago I took my brother to Vegas for his bachelor party (as most of his friends were young and broke) it was just another excuse for him and me to go to Vegas - I threw him another bachelor party back home.


    We were sitting at a penny machiene betting $0.30 or $0.50 (I'd have to check the picture). We hit the bonus and in the bonus spins almost covered the screen in 'wilds'. This made us about $400. We then decided to set a loss limit of $20 more to see if we were getting lucky again or if that was it.

    We played up and down within that $20 (still having the $400 in the machiene) and when $20 was gone we walked. The guy beside us hearing about making this pact of only spending that $20 to see what the machiene might do. He said, 'Yah right. I've heard that from people many times and they just loose it all'.

    When we got up, after we lost that $20, he congratulated us on our win and discipline. We went out, had some champagne and a cigar each and still have a bunch of that $400.


    I usually set a 'stop' for looses and for wins. This prevents me from loosing too much but also from winning a bunch.

    I call a 'session' and evening or an afternoon. So i don't want to blow my whole sessions money at the first table I sit at.


    Some of the winnings would go towards other days, but I certainly would take home at least $50 of anything small.
     
  9. topcard

    topcard Here's to $10 3:2 two-deck, $5 Craps, and $5 UTH!

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    Up anywhere from 20 to 30 units, and I color-up all but my initial buy-in (if the table is still winning for me).
    If the table has gone cold, I color-up everything and leave.

    On the down side, if I lose 20 units, I usually leave.

    (My base unit is usually $10)
     
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  10. BLNT

    BLNT High-Roller

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    Translated into units, given my initial $250 bet ($125/hand), it looks like I'd be leaving the table up 36 units at the $10,000 point ($9000 up plus $1,000 buy in).
     
  11. shifter

    shifter Degenerate Gambler

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    for me it all depends on how the session is going and what my timing is on playing that session. if the session was bad early and I was stuck, i'll often quit at break even and am really happy if i can make a 5k profit. if the session started good and has been going OK, i'll usually look for a 10k min profit. when I have a great session and start to get up into the 20, 30, 40k+ profit range, that's where I set a trailing stop loss. so I may be up 25 and will not go lower than 20, but if I keep winning, I may end up with a lot more. 20k is kind of my delimiter where a good session turns into a great session.
     
  12. silver-tls

    silver-tls Tourist

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    I'll usually buy in for $1000 and start with 2 hands of $50 and go from there. If I lose the $1000 in the blink of an eye, I'll move to another table. If I double up, I'll set my original buy in aside and get a little more aggressive with my winnings. If I win another $1000, I'll bank my original buy in so I won't have a losing session and increase the bets.

    My sessions never last more than an hour or two as I will get up after I lose my buy in or color up 3-5x.
     
  13. Max2589

    Max2589 Low-Roller

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    wow. I rarely make if ever make 10x return on my buy ins.
    Im happy to double my money, if that.

    I knew roulette was a stupid game but damn..
     
  14. The Furry One

    The Furry One Low-Roller

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    I tend to have a fairly conservative approach, if I get to a point where I have won 50% or more of my buy-in I'll then consider that my buy-in and 'bank' the original buy-in so at worst I will walk away even. From then on I'll play until either those winnings have been given back or I've managed to at least double them at which point I'll 'bank' half and start another cycle. I flat bet throughout unless I hit a nice bonus payout (I play Pai Gow Poker) which takes my new cycle bankroll after 'banking' half to a level where higher bets are inline with my usual play (i.e. if I'm playing $25/$5 on a $300 bankroll I need the cycle bankroll to be $550 before I'd step up to $50/$5 and then $800 before moving up to $75/$5).

    Hope that makes sense,
    Furry
     
  15. shifter

    shifter Degenerate Gambler

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    Damn if you've never made a huge winner at roulette you're doing it wrong. Yea it's a game you can lose a ton but every so often you hit the mother load and bank a huge winner. Without ever hitting that big winner why are you hooked on the wheel?
     
  16. casinoboy

    casinoboy Low-Roller

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    nope not if you bet on the outside or on a lot of numbers. one of my buddies plays a lot of numbers so wins something a lot of times but not big amounts. roullette is like slots,you cant play it wrong because all the bets have the same odds.

    for me if i double my buy in amount i put it in my pocket and play with the rest or color up. but i like putting it away in my pocket because then i am even at least if i loose the rest of my chips on the table. if i win 10 times my buy in i kiss the dealer on the face. :thumbsup:
     
  17. firstkill

    firstkill High-Roller

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    this is the toughest question, because if I knew id always be a winner!

    my best wins, are were limited by time.

    If I know I have dinner reservations/someone waiting I can usually play a session and leave up.

    My biggest wins are actually from overnight trips/day trips because I climb up quickly and need to take off for home.

    My biggest melt downs are the ones where I play, realize I have nothing else to do except to go back to the room.... so I play and play.

    maybe 1/10000000000000000000 ive done this and kept on winning. Many times ill grind it out, not sleep and be + or - 50% of by buy in. Feels like I battled for nothing.

    fk
     
  18. LV_Bound

    LV_Bound VIP Whale

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    A lot depends on how much I drank and how close is my wife.

    After a few drinks I tend to stay a bit too long.
    If my wife is there I tend to leave a bit too early at times. :peace:
     
  19. wrxrob

    wrxrob High-Roller

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    this thread proves how low of a roller I really am.. Last time I blew $800, I was very angry with self :vomit: . Usually I'm out the door if down $300-400, but I walk into the casino telling myself I'll leave if down $150.

    Usually if I get up $200-300 early, I'll chase my wins, which is my other downfall. Chasing wins can lead to losses, but on RARE occasions, that $200-300 can turn into $1,000-1200, and then I'll usually play more until I leave with $900-1000 in pocket.

    But a win is a win. I'm proud of myself if I can leave the building with even a $50 profit. Sometimes it takes just too much effort.
     
  20. heatherlovesvegas

    heatherlovesvegas VIP Whale

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    For me I only play slots, it's usually a $100 to walk away and go do something else. Anything under that I just keep playing.
     
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