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Bob Dancer writes a video poker column for beginners to experts. He also writes a column with Jeffrey Compton, "Player's Edge", featuring information on promotions at various Las Vegas casinos. Player's Edge is published each Friday in the Neon section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Click here to send Bob Dancer an e-mail.

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July 08, 2008

A Money Management Idea

When I read an article that inspires a column, I like to give credit to the author. Today's column was inspired like that, but unfortunately I don't remember the author. I do remember it was in a recent issue of CARD PLAYER (a magazine by and for live poker players), but I don't remember exactly which issue or the name of the writer.

The author was speaking about winning a sizeable amount in a tournament. What the author recommended was that you put the entire prize into the bank for at least a month and THEN decide what to do with it.

The reason to do this is that when you win a large amount, it feels like "found money" and people tend to spend this frivolously. (Think of how you spent your Christmas bonuses over the years --- or perhaps your tax refund checks. How often did they get put into savings, and how often were they spent immediately?) But when the money is sitting in your bank account for a month, and you get used to seeing your bank balance at the larger figure, then it is no longer found money. It is part of your wealth. It is part of your bankroll.

I have not heard this "strategy" previously expressed, but it makes a lot of sense to me. Maintaining a bankroll is an important part of long-term success at any gambling venture, including video poker. A lot of us aren't particularly good at it.

I remember playing for dollars several years ago and some players next to me were celebrating hitting a $4,000 royal flush. They were talking about all of the things they were going to buy. I suppose they were recreational players who set aside a certain amount to "lose in Vegas" and since they won, they were going on a spending spree.

I didn't say anything at the time (nor would I now), but I remember thinking that as a "professional player" (a pretty low-level one at the time) I couldn't afford to think that way. Wins were good but losses were coming. I knew that today's jackpot will be needed to subsidize tomorrow's play. And I certainly didn't want to play for dollars all my life. I could earn enough to live on playing like that, but it was a subsistence level of living and I wanted more than that if I could manage it.

One of my big assets is that Shirley understands this point. She LIKES to see our total amount in investment and savings grow. When it's lower than it was three months ago, she's upset by it --- never mind that it's higher than it was a year ago. But she didn't always look at it this way. In my MILLION DOLLAR VIDEO POKER autobiography, there is one small chapter about the first time I hit a $20,000 royal flush when Shirley was around. We weren't married at the time, but were dating exclusively. She immediately wanted to take a vacation to Hawaii to celebrate.

I explained that I needed to invest the money because I wanted to play bigger-stakes games. Just hitting a jackpot didn't create the need for an extra vacation. She understood my position and agreed with the logic. Had she not, we probably wouldn't be together today.

Money management isn't discussed often enough in video poker literature. A lot that is written about the subject is worthless, but I think the idea presented today is worth thinking about.

You may have your finances under control and don't need to "trick yourself" in order to have your bankroll grow. If so, congratulations, but you're in the minority. A high proportion of video poker players have money issues. Today's idea won't solve all of the issues, but it may help your jackpots last a little longer.