Bankroll management
Playing casino games with real money can be very exciting, especially when you are on a winning roll. But the golden rule is “hope for the best, prepare for the worst”. Which, in this case, simply means “play with money you can afford”.
Make a hard separation of your gambling bankroll from the money you need in your life. Never try to get even using money which were meant for essential life needs.
Bet less play more
Let’s say you want to have some fun by playing online slots at home and you have €50 available to start with. You want to spend a couple of hours before going to bed, so you don’t want to risk it all in a few large bets. Sure, you might win big on your first bets and have even more fun throughout the night, but in the case you get unlucky at the start, you will be left with nothing pretty soon.
By making it €0.50 per spin you are guaranteed to get a lengthy and entertaining evening for your money, even if you don’t get an early big win. You are limiting the anxiety of losing a lot fast and you are giving yourself the best chance to stay in the game when others would be long gone.
Ride the wave
If you are on a winning streak, ride it until it’s over. Increase your bets as you go, but not by a lot, so you don’t get hit hard when your streak is over, as it will take a few lost bets for you to realize that. Don’t be overconfident when luck is on your side. Keep your bankroll management principles at all times, which means that you should keep your bets within the range you decided before you started. There is nothing worse than winning a signifficant amount after some time of play, feel (over)confident and start making huge bets, only to realize that your streak is over, resulting in you giving it all back in just a couple of minutes. Stay calm and keep riding the wave.
Play with a set amount of money for every session
Professional financial traders never buy a stock without a stop loss limit. They analyse the odds before making the move and decide how much are they willing to lose if things go south. When they see the price moving close to that limit, they never stretch it just to “stay in the game”. They keep their stop loss limit and if it hits, it’s still business as usual for them. All they say is, “let’s move on to our next trade”, which for a player simply means “it’s time to call it a day”.
Set the amount of money you are willing to gamble with every time you start playing. Keep playing as long as you are still above that limit. This is especially helpful if you often find yourself doing one of the following:
- If you haven’t won for a while you start losing your temper, betting way more than you usually do and playing irrationally.
You need to follow your initial plan and stop when you reach your stop loss limit. This way you can live to fight another day.
- You find it very hard to stop playing when you are down. You haven’t lost your temper, you feel calm and composed, but you just can’t quit.
You want to keep playing to win your money back. You will reach a point when fatigue will catch up and blur your judgement even further. Again, you must follow your initial plan and quit if your set amount is out, or if you feel tired.
Set your deposit limits
Every online casino is obliged by regulation to offer the feature of self imposed limits on daily, weekly and monthly deposits. This is a very useful feature, especially if you often find yourself losing more than you can afford in certain periods.
This feature is usually found under the section “My Profile” and it’s something that works well for both players and casinos, as it helps players manage their funds well and that makes it more likely to keep playing in the future. Casinos don’t want to lose players because they got “burned” fast.
Conclusion
Before you start playing:
- Set how much you want to play with and stop if you hit that mark.
- Set a minimum and a maximum betting amount
- Be prepared to ride the wave cautiously when luck is on your side
- Hope for the best, but also follow your bankroll management rules, so you are prepared for any outcome.
Good bankroll management will do very little to improve your game by itself. But it surely helps you remain calm and enjoy your time playing to the full.
Enjoy!
