Gambling Bankroll Management (Part II)

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In addition to establishing a budget and portioning it out on a dally - and bet-size - basis, you can employ some simple strategies that help you stay within the framework of your budget. This article contains a few time-honored methods of limiting your losses.

Stop-loss limits: covering your own butt.
You may be familiar with stop-loss limits from the stock market. Stop-loss limits protect your shares from a severe downturn by instructing your broker to sell if a stock falls to a certain price.
You can apply the same rationale to gambling. An example is our earlier recommendation to decide in advance how much you're willing to risk per trip and per day. When you lose your preset amount, stop, head for the door, and spend the rest of the day golfing or sightseeing.
Big comebacks - erasing your gambling debt by winning big - are the stuff of legends. And that's where those stories belong. You're not gambling in the casino to make a living or pay off your bills. Treat gambling like a vacation, and leave the dreams of making a fortune in the casino for Hollywood movies.

Gambling Bankroll Management (Part I)

 

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For most people, gambling isn't a lifestyle. It's an escape from reality that has the same components of thrill, sizzle, and excitement as other forms of entertainment - well, maybe a little less than skydiving and a bit more than the opera.
A good starting point to determine your gambling bankroll is figuring out how much you spend on different types of entertainments and vacations, such as theme parks, ski resorts, or other sightseeing destinations. Knowing this information can help you compare your casino budget to the cost of last summer's beach vacation or that week in Paris.

Your gambling bankroll needs to reflect fiscal reality. If your other vacations cost $1,000, why should your gambling vacation cost two or three or even four times as much? Like all trips, hobbies, or flights of fancy, gambling is a form of entertainment. And, just like that Caribbean cruise, your gambling losses shouldn't affect your day-to-day lifestyle or your ability to pay bills for the rest of the month, after the vacation is over.

Blackjack: Basic Strategy (Part II)

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Refinements to Single Deck Basic Strategy: You do not have to incorporate the following into your basic strategy but for those of you who want a little extra edge:

  1. Hit 10-2 against the dealer's 4, but stand on any other hard 12 value hand.
  2. Hit 10-3 and 9-4 against the dealer's 2 but stand on any other hard 13 value hand.
  3. Stand on any three or four card total of 16 against a dealer's 10.
  4. Stand on 9-7 against a dealer's 10.

The following refinements to basic single deck strategy are for casinos that allow doubling after splitting pairs:

  1. Split 2,2 against a dealer's 2.
  2. Split 3,3 against a dealer's 2 or 3.
  3. Split 4,4 against a dealer's 5 or 6.

Blackjack: Basic Strategy (Part I)

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For every game of blackjack and for every set of rules, there are basic strategies for the play of every conceivable hand. To memorize every basic strategy for every game and set of rules would be a daunting enterprise for the novice or intermediate player. For example, in the single deck game when the dealer has a 10 value card showing and you have 7-7, the basic strategy is to stand. However, in a multiple deck game the basic strategy is to take a hit.

So the very first decision you have to make is which basic strategy you want to learn. If you intend to do most of your playing in Atlantic City or against multiple deck shoes, then your best bet is to memorize the strategy tables for multiple deck games. However, if you intend to play both single deck games and multiple deck games, which means you intend to play at least occasionally in Las Vegas, then you should memorize the single deck basic strategy. There are, however, more multiple deck games, even in Las Vegas, than single deck.

Blackjack: Splitting Cards

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You can split your first two cards into separate hands and receive new cards for each hand whenever your first two cards are a pair. The casino is always happy to see a player invest more money, and you're happy to double your money when the odds are in your favor.

The one splitting restriction is that if you split aces, you get only one extra card for each hand. In addition, if you make a natural, it pays only single odds. But splitting a pair of aces is still clearly the right play.
At most casinos, if you split a pair and then draw the same card to form another pair, you can split your new pair again to form three hands.

The general approach to splitting a pair goes along the following lines:

Bid Whist

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Bid Whist is a partnership trick-taking game, played with a deck of 52 cards plus two jokers, which should be clearly distinguishable from one another. The object of the game is to score 7 or more points, or to drive your opponents negative by more than 7 points.
You deal out the cards clockwise, one at a time, 12 to each player. You also deal out the remaining six cards during the deal, face-down to a kitty in the center of the table. (The timing of dealing to the kitty is up to the dealer.)

The bidding. Bid Whist has five possible trump suits; the regular four suits and no-trumps. Each suit can also be defined as uptown or downtown. At uptown trumps, the order of the cards goes from ace to 2 with the big joker and little joker the boss two trumps. At downtown trumps, the Jokers retain their pole position, but the other cards rank from ace to king - so the king is the least important card. At no-trump both uptown and downtown, the order is identical to the order trumps, but both jokers are irrelevant.

Blackjack: Rules For The Social Player

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This article describes a Simple Strategy that consists of only seven rules. It will help the social player lose less and is a good strategy to teach to non-blackjack-oriented friends, dates or spouses, so they can play blackjack with only a slight disadvantage to the house.

If the social player were playing $5 per hand, on average he would lose between $5 and $10 per hour playing this Simple Strategy. Many would view this as an acceptable charge for sitting at the table, enjoying the excitement of gambling and the casino environment, and receiving free alcoholic beverages or soft drinks.

Piquet

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Piquet is generally regarded as the best of card games for two players.
It is played with a pack of thirty-two cards, which is called a "piquet pack", all below the seven being excluded. The cards rank in Whist order - ace, king, queen, knave, ten, nine, eight, seven.
The score is made partly by combinations of cards held in the hand, and partly by points marked in the course of play.

The Deal.
The two players cut for deal, and in this cutting the ace ranks the highest. The player who cuts the higher card has the choice of first deal. After this the players deal alternately.
It is customary to use two packs of cards, and the first dealer has the choice which pack he will use. Each player has a right to shuffle both his own and the adversary's pack, the dealer shuffling last. After this the pack is "cut to the dealer" by the adversary, as at Whist.
It is customary to call the non-dealer the "elder hand".
The dealer must deal the cards by two at a time or by three at a time, giving the top cards to his adversary, the next to himself, and so on, until each has twelve cards.
The eight cards that remain (called the "stock") are placed face downwards between the players.
There are no trumps in this game.

What Are Your Chances of Playing Against a Pro?

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It you should find yourself in competition against a famous pro player, you need to adopt the right mental attitude, and then you need to play poker as usual. Well, almost as usual ... Playing against a pro will help you elevate your game (who doesn't want to play their best against the best), which, in the final analysis, is another reason why playing against professionals shouldn't scare you; it should be viewed as an opportunity for learning and earning.

The first thing you need to do when you recognize (or discover) a poker champion at your table is realize you're going to be in awe of this player. It's a natural reaction, nothing to be ashamed of. Don't be afraid to exhibit a bit of hero worship and even deferential behavior to this living legend when you first meet him or her.

No-Limit Holdem: Table Dynamics (Part II)

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Let's consider another example of table dynamics.