Money Management Strategy for Recreational Players

[FloridaPhil]

I play at the Florida Indian casinos about once a week.  Tampa when I'm at home and Hollywood when I'm visiting our son in Ft. Lauderdale.  I play video poker at about 1,000 hands an hour and average about 3-4 thousand hands a week. I've been playing at the Hard Rocks ever since they went to Vegas style VP.  I wouldn't touch the place before that.  At that rate, I should get about 2-5 Royals a year and that is exactly what happens.  If they're rigging the games, it's OK with me. 

[backsider]

I play at the Florida Indian casinos about once a week.  Tampa when I'm at home and Hollywood when I'm visiting our son in Ft. Lauderdale.  I play video poker at about 1,000 hands an hour and average about 3-4 thousand hands a week. I've been playing at the Hard Rocks ever since they went to Vegas style VP.  I wouldn't touch the place before that.  At that rate, I should get about 2-5 Royals a year and that is exactly what happens.  If they're rigging the games, it's OK with me. 




2-5 is quite a range. Ive never heard of someone giving pretty specific details of the number of hands they play, then nonchalantly say their royals come exactly as theyre suppose to, within a range of 80,000 to 200,000 hands.The sharpies would never let me get away with that.

[FloridaPhil]

I can only tell you how much I play and the results. The hands per hour calculation comes directly from my Video Poker for Winners software.  Click on "Analyze Over All Play/Analyze Session/Time" and there it is.  In 2008, I hit 5 Royals (4 in one week).  I've had about 2-3 every year since then. So far this year, I've had 2 (both at the Tampa Hard Rock).   These days, I play mostly .25 Jacks or Bonus.  Since I've quit going on tilt and moving up in denomination, my play time is much longer.  I expect this to reflect in my number of Royals, but we'll see what happens.

[DaBurglar]

As I have mentioned before, I keep meticulous stats of most of my Video Poker play, the only times I dont are usually when i find myself playing impromptu/unexpected sessions, or if I am not feeling well and am playing just to distract myself or kill time.   But most (85-90%) of the time, I keep records.....and it really is NOT that difficult or cumbersome to do so.... Most places that have players cards will afford you the chance to electronically track your play, either yourself through simply reading the point totals at the beginning and end of your sessions, or if nothing else is available, you can always go to the players club desk and ASK for your stats. For the calendar year so far (2012) I am actually running a small profit of about 1,300 bucks, 60% of which is from the Dreamcard game at Caesars AC (of which I've played slightly more than 50,000 hands this year.) Altogether, including the 50K hands of dreamcard, I have played about 81,000 hands total of Video poker, almost all of which so far has been in AC, primarily 25 cent denomination and Mostly 8/5 JOB progressives, 9/6 JOB, 8/5 Bonus Poker (at Resorts AC), and DDBP.  I have hit 8 Royals and 1 Four Aces with a kicker for $1000.   SO I am way way WAY ahead of the curve, but 3 of those royals and the 4Aw/Kicker were on the dreamcard machine so that is a little weird and exceptional beyond the norm.... I can only hope the second half of this year is half as good as the first half has been, and I end the year with a profit.   Note:  My 1300 ytd profit does not include any and all card benefits, bonus play or perks or comps, so if you include all that I am definitely Far more in the black than 1300 bucks, but I generally do not think about all that too much....I do NOT play any slots at all, and very very little table games simply because I do not like to lose nor enjoy gambling enough to nonchalantly give these megacorporations my money without having a decent shot at winning just a little.... Once you overcome the idea of "winning big" or getting rich, and focus on avoiding big losses and concentrate on trying to, first and foremost, break even, you can start enjoying Video Poker without any stress (well, long term stress.....you will always feel a little short term angst after the inevitable bad session every now and then)

[FloridaPhil]

I agree totally.  I kept getting sucked into the casino scam of the big score and was losing my ass.  Now that I'm a committed quarter player and let things happen the way they do, I'm doing a whole lot better.  Once in a while, I make my cash-in early and get to play higher denominations.  Life is good.

[backsider]

Very good points from all.

Im a simple dollar player who sometimes sneaks up to triple or five play after my last visit if it was a winner. I dont think I should do that though, and as a result after a big win I had Im kind of afraid to play again and havent in months because of it.

I think people who win at their level of comfort, whether its quarters, dollars or more, should stick with their comfort level no matter how big a win theyve just experienced. Going higher is more thrills (and stress) but its the best way to give the casino their money back.

[onemoretry]

Very good points from all.

I think people who win at their level of comfort, whether its quarters, dollars or more, should stick with their comfort level no matter how big a win theyve just experienced. Going higher is more thrills (and stress) but its the best way to give the casino their money back.
 Other than a minor disagreement with the statement "its the best way to give the casino their money back" - it's not theirs once you've won it, it's yours, I totally agree with the main sentiment.  Playing at a higher denomination after a major (or minor) jackpot hit, means you have the opportunity to lose it much quicker than otherwise would be the case.   I don't change denominations after a jackpot, However, I do admit to, at times,  playing more lines (ten, instead of five) at the same denomination,  when I'm on a machine that allows for it.  I suppose some people would argue that it's the same thing as going up in denomination, but since it's the same bet per hand, I obviously disagree.