Bankroll amounts

[dbldbl scotty]

Happy holidays all - wanted to inquire about live casino session bankrolls.

What's typical at different denominations?

What can you expect for different games / denominations?

How much is enough if your running bad? Is it worth it to call it quits at a certain point or percentage and try again next time?

Thanks all!


Scotty

[Lucky Larry]

Happy Holidays back Scotty.

If playing multi-hand 5¢ we can usually get by on $2-$300. Starting with 10-15 hands and moving up based on wins. I might even give a 3/5 play 99% return machine a $100.

Several more knowledgable will probably give you the "formulas for each denomination".

Best wishes.

[dbldbl scotty]

As of late, I have been messing with .25 single line progressives DDB / TDB and $500 is gone like that.  Normally $100-$200 and i would hit something decent - at worst my $ back.  Last 2 months have been drastic though.
 
Guess the casinos are in lockdown mode with year end approaching - pad the bottomline (haha)
 
Since the progressive is usually hovering around $1100, it seems wasteful to go anymore than $500 as now i have to hit the royal to break even (or catch one heck of a run).  I would rather run $500 through $1 progressive or get into 3/5 play .25 machines...
 
still interested in others' thoughts, thanks!
 
 

[Tony Felder]

Hey Scotty,
 
What a loaded question, lol. There will be no right or wrong answer because each player's bankroll, skill level and time will be different.
 
I too play a lot of .25 single line progressives DDB/TDB with some 3 play mixed in. Usual bankroll is $300-$400 and when I lose that I AM GONE! I never take more than I am willing to lose.
 
Have had a great 3 month run turning 1K into 10K but smart enough to know that it can turn at any moment. That is why I continue to practice and learn from the much smarter players in this forum.

[dbldbl scotty]

thanks tony, i understand about bankroll / skill level dependant.  It's more of an open ended (pun) question based on those attributes.  Just curious to what others of all skill levels are doing. 
 
thanks!
 
 

[backsider]

For my bankroll when I go to a casino I just take whatever I can afford to lose without having any troubles because of it. Ive seen all those formulas and theories about whats purportedly required to play a certain vp game, and they have no truth or meaning to anyone. Who goes in with ten thousand dollars to play quarters or 4 times that to play dollars?  My skill level is pretty good but it doesnt have anything to do with how much my gambling bankroll is. This is supposed to be a fun entertaining game and for me it is. Breaking it down any further only undermines that.

[Frank Kneeland]

The way I do it should not be considered advice for you since I am a full time professional gambler. Having said that this is how I do it.I never play anything I don't have enough money to take a 1 in 1000 bad run on.For progressives this means keeping 6 times the cycle cost on hand for any play. If the cost to hit a $ progressive is 9,000 I don't sit down with less than $54,000 on hand.Only thrice in 23 years have I had worse than a 6 cycle runner. Since I have made about 3000+ plays in my career, I'm running about as expected.~FK

[Lucky Larry]

Scotty,
Curious about the pay tables on your TDB & DDB progressives.

[jim18]

ScottyI like your questions.  How much bankroll should a player have?  When to stop playing while losing?Since I am not a professional, nor a math wiz, I rely on others to help me with this kind of question.In “Strictly Slots, sometime in 2011, Basil Nestor wrote an article in which he said that if you were going to the casino for a few hours of entertainment, that a reasonable bank roll would be 150 times the cost of each deal.Playing JoB, for nickels, STP, 10 hands, that would require a cost per deal of 60 nickels, or $3.  So you would need a bank roll of $450, just to play for a few hours of entertainment.What bothers me about this idea is that the longer you play without hitting a RF, it seems the less likely that you will ever break even.  In the above example, you would need to hit to 2 RF, just to get back your original bank roll.  In my mind this is not likely to occur in a few hours, or even 24 hours of play.So, I wrote to Basil Nestor and asked him some follow up questions to his article.  One of the comments that he made to me was that, given I was playing JoB, at the nickle level, that I would need a bank roll of $32,000 in order to have a 99% chance of not going broke, over an extended period of play.  I just don’t get it.  I am expected to invest $32,000 for entertainment.  And, at the same time, have little chance of getting my money back, at $200 per RF, once I have lost thousands of dollars.So, when Frank says that he brings $54,000 to the casino in an effort to win $9,000 that seems kind of tame compared to what Basil Nestor has said.  Frank is playing machines at over 100% return, and is playing them perfectly.  As long as he has the time and bank roll , he has the RNG working in his favor.Now compare his situation to that of yours, mine, and most other VP players.  We are playing machines that return less that 100 %, we are playing at less that 100 % correctness, and we have to pay state income taxes on our winnings.  We will never make a profit at VP, except in the short run.What I would like to see is a chart, a matrix, which shows the results of play 1.  Using different skill levels.  2.  Using different pay back percentages.  And, at the intersection of these two variables, the player would see how much bank roll he needs in order to have a 99% change of not going broke over a specific period of time, such as 10 hours of gambling.There would be two good reasons for this chart.  One is to show the effect of playing a game in which the player is not very good at.  And the second reason is to show the effects on your bank roll of playing lousy games (poor pay back schedules), which seems to be the rule, not the exception, outside of NV, and at lower denominations.Once a player learns that he needs thousands of dollars to play for 10 hours at most denominations (using Franks rule of 6 times the jackpot, you would need roughly $6,000 to win a $1,000 jack pot), then the player can ask the next question.If a player takes $54,000 to the casino to have a 99% chance of not going broke before hitting the jackpot, then what percentage of the time will the player actually leave the casino a winner?  I can hear the experts even now.  They will say that what happens during a 10 hour session is meaningless.  They are playing for the long haul, such as when they turn 65 or 100 years old.Back to reality.  If you or I go to the casino with $54,000 and spend $18,000 before hitting the $9,000 jack pot, then we have only $45,000 to apply to our bank roll going forward.  And with each passing jackpot where we spend more money to win a jackpot, than the jackpot size is, you can see that our bankroll will continue to dwindle.  At some point our bankroll will be so small that our chances of going bankrupt before hitting the next jackpot are pretty good.Somehow this same math does not apply to gamblers in NV.  They begin with a $54,000 bankroll, spend $18,000 , win $9,000, and the next gaming session they still have $54,000 in their bankroll.  I think this is called “Vegas Math”, but don’t quote me on this.

[shadowman]

[quote=jim18]
Back to reality. If you or I go to the casino with $54,000 and spend $18,000 before hitting the $9,000 jack pot, then we have only $45,000 to apply to our bank roll going forward. And with each passing jackpot where we spend more money to win a jackpot, than the jackpot size is, you can see that our bankroll will continue to dwindle. At some point our bankroll will be so small that our chances of going bankrupt before hitting the next jackpot are pretty good.
[/quote]
 
Jim18, what you say is true is a gambler loses every time. But, let me throw out a problem with your logic. Gamblers do NOT lose every time they play. In fact, those who play with a positive edge tend to win more than they lose. Their bankroll actually increases over time.


 
 
I think you should consider your initial claims ... "Since I am not a professional, nor a math wiz" ... Please, don't try to do math again.