I need a cash out warden.

[olds442jetaway]

One’s wife or girlfriend might work just fine. If not I need someone to sit by me and hit the cash out button when appropriate. Maybe I just created a new job category. Their pay would be say 10% of a jackpot amount. Even paying them 10% would have made me a winner Nearly every year if I could just get the discipline to cash out when ahead.

[FloridaPhil]

One’s wife or girlfriend might work just fine. If not I need someone to sit by me and hit the cash out button when appropriate. Maybe I just created a new job category. Their pay would be say 10% of a jackpot amount. Even paying them 10% would have made me a winner Nearly every year if I could just get the discipline to cash out when ahead.

I have thought this myself over the years. If you remember years back, I bought a casino lock box. I think some others tried it as well.

It was a small metal box you could carry in your pocket. The idea was you would put your winnings in the box and leave the key at home. I used it for about 3 months. At first it seemed to help me to go home with more money. It did this by cutting my play short. Limiting the number of hands you play is an superficial fix. Sooner or later your results will depend on the game and your accuracy. I abandoned the box, but I think I still have it somewhere.

There is a way the box or the "cash out warden" would help your results. If it kept you from taking big long shot risks, it would be beneficial. Part of my problem comes when I am ready to go home. I tend to look at my money as the cost to play that day, so I shove my profit back into the machine "chasing the dream". After my profit is gone, I may put the remainder in too.

That's one reason why playing small works for me. If I am going to waste my money, it's better for me to waste it in small portions that in big chunks.

[olds442jetaway]

I tried the lockbox too. One more thing I don't need to carry around.

[FAA]

Boxed out as well. A fine trio we are. Less hands is a superficial fix. We want action to justify the trip. Might as well chase the grand and play another three hours. I got hooked on the $4K chase. It usually has me scrambling for a quad to break even.

[billryan]

If you don't have discipline, the rest is just noise. Needing a crutch only gets you so far.

[Chicagoan]

There you have it. I'm finally agreeing with Bill Ryan. Two kinds of casino patrons in this world: those who go to play, and those who go to earn. Players provide the money to pay the earners.

Tips to improve discipline, or at least *enforce* discipline:

On jackpots, take it (or most of it) in a check. The casino will still be there tomorrow. If your discipline is so dicey that you might be tempted to later cash the check at the cashier's cage, simply write FOR DEPOSIT ONLY boldly in ink across the top of the back of the check the very minute the attendant hands it to you.

On cashing out: Look up at the cameras above you. Visualize a pair of very bored, very fat security types sitting in a stuffy dark room somewhere in the casino, watching you. "I bet you a dollar he doesn't cash in," says one to the other. "Another sucker. He's gonna play right thru 'til it goes down to zero!" The other guy laughs out loud. Prove them wrong --- cash out and, if you like, flip them the bird.

Keeping TITO tickets: So easy to run out of cash and, without thinking, stuff one of your TITO tickets back into the machine. Gone forever, a totally regretful action. To avoid this, rip the ticket --- not completely, but enough so the machine will not accept it. Then, when you leave, take the ticket to the cashier and they will cash it for you, when you explain how you accidently tore it. Or even tell them it came out of the machine ripped --- which, in fact, has actually happened to me.

When leaving: Walk to the exit as quickly as you can. Look straight ahead. When you get into your car, drive away without sitting in the car pondering a possible return to the casino. If there is someone sitting next to my machine that I strike up a conversation with, I always announce that I am leaving, going home, which makes it embarrassing if I come sheepishly wandering back in.

Count your winnings and be proud of yourself. Take it from me, a former casino loser, there is no feeling like the feeling of depositing your winnings into your bank the next morning. Best feeling in the world!!

[FloridaPhil]

I don't buy the "winning by cashing out" theory. Unless you never go back in a casino ever again, it doesn't work. Your long term results depend upon the game's odds plus your comps minus your errors. How does cashing out affect any of these things?

[billryan]

Two players. Same game, same pay table.
One player plays exactly ten hands and leaves, regardless of results.
Player two plays ten hands, and if he is up, plays five more.
Each player plays 100 days. Who can expect better results long term?

[Waiting4RF]

Player 1 if the pay table has a negative return.

[billryan]

When I played BJ on a larger scale, I traveled some with a few guys. One used to convert his daily winnings into a money order and mail it home.
Bring a couple of self addressed stamp envelopes with you. Mail home a TITO or three.
Just beware the expiration dates.