Wow! What were you feeling when you were up 530k? What about losing 418?

 

On top of the world.

Like jumping off a bridge.

 

What has helped me over last many years is something you said here Malibu.. I only use percentages (and units) in regards to my br, playing sessions, gains and losses. I always say you can't make 20% profit of your investment in the bank over an hour or two. Hell you can't make 20% in years and years in the bank. If you are good you can make 10% a year in the market or your 401k. If you are really good and lucky you can make 20% a year in the market. But that's a year! When we play in Las Vegas we have the potential to literally make 300% of our investment just like shifter said.. Now that is the lure of LV at least to most of us. Like Malibu said, If after a 30 minute to an hour session I look down and I'm up 15-25% of my BR I'm done for that session because I know I can't make that in the bank in a year let alone one hour. So I say to all of you play disciplined, smart, focused, sober and use the percentages mindset. It just might help you walk away a winner. But then again, what do I know... Lol

 

For me... Definitely less stressful to win early and use the house money to play during the trip. Any trip coming home with more cash than I went with is awesome and feels great. I am a small player, I bring my modest bankroll about even to what the RFB would cost if I paid for it out of pocket. But again, pretty modest, a nice room, some decent food, a little freeplay, etc. Then, no matter what happens, win or lose, it's all about the cost of entertainment. Status and perks afforded by the player loyalty clubs help along the way to enhance the experience. If I were to start making decisions that are going to bring stress or bad feelings, then I could ruin the wonderful playground of Vegas for myself and I certainly don't want that to happen. If I am lucky enough to book a predetermined win, I usually get greedy and just stop playing, especially if I know I have covered my comps. I love to book a win. It just makes the next trip that much more exciting.

 

It's interesting that you say winning big early ensures that you will be going home a winner because most people say that winning big early ensures that they will not be going home a winner because they tend to play back big early wins as they do not want to leave early(some woman said something like she won $1,000 within her first 30 minutes at the casino and played it all back as she didn't want to leave just 30 minutes after arriving at the casino, but definitely would have kept the money had she won the $1,000 very late in her casino session such as when she was getting ready to head out the casino anyways.

 

What's it like when you're winning at that level? For me, if I was up 530K I would probably shut it down and go buy a Ferrari while pocketing the rest. Do you ever splurge on some things you've been eyeing or what's the first thing you do when reality sets in and you realize that you've just won over half a million, which regardless is a lot of money.

 

I can't even imagine. I'd shit myself.

 

I think that you misunderstood what I tried to say. I was in town for three nights, and I had multiplied my bankroll by 5x within minutes of sitting down. At that instant -I- made the decision that I was going to go home ahead for the trip, pretty much no matter what. I did end up playing bigger than I would have normally at that time for the rest of the trip, but still with caution. I was buying in at a table for a few hundred at a time, instead of the hundred that I would have. I played green chips instead of red chips, but didn't get over $100 bets often. Color up when I would double up my buy ins and leave, leave if I was losing without going to the felt.

I never got below the initial money that I had brought, and I paid for everything that we did after that that wasn't comped, two shows and a couple of meals.

If I hit big early on a trip now I would still probably be cautious, but I would press harder to see if I was "walking around lucky and not even knowing it". Say I was to hit for $10k right away, where I normally bring $4k for three nights. I would increase my buy ins about the same proportion, but would press winning sessions harder, and still try to walk away from cold tables, dealers, etc.

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I believe that this is yet another advantage that the casino has over the majority of people, at least initially. People will shut it down when they are hot because they have won more than they thought that they would and dont want to give it back. Yet when they play and dont win, they will likely play until they are out of money, or have played through the amount that they had already accepted as a loss.

 

I've posted this before, but in the win early vs. late debate, it depends on how much you're winning. If you told me I was going to win 3X my bankroll, I would want it to happen early. The earlier the better in fact. Winning 3X my bankroll the first day (has only happened 1 time), allows me to book a win (that one time I took 2X my BR and put it away for home) and then spend the rest of the trip knowing that I'm going home a winner no matter what. At that point I still had my whole BR and then some to take more swings to see what would happen. The best part is that the rest of the trip the gambling was completely "stress-free". It really didn't matter if I lost as I was going home a winner anyways. I ended up breaking even on those funds as well, so I came home with 4x what I left with.

Now if I was only going to win say a JP equal to my bankroll, I'd probably rather hit it the last day or close to the end. I'd be more likely to be content locking up a small win or breaking even if I was running bad up to that point. If I hit that the first day, I'd end up burning through that and then some if I hit a cold streak.

 

That was my last trip in a nutshell. We had both been losing our daily budgets. The Last night my wife hit a few slot payouts and was up a small amount for the trip. I took a shot with a few hundred in a slot and hit one for a hand pay, and two others for wins just under the paperwork requirement. Gambling wise ended up pretty much even for the trip.