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POCKET ACES

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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

June 5, 2004

Double Your Money

"You never count your money when you're sitting at the table ..."
-- Kenny Rogers, "The Gambler"

Kenny Rogers seems like the kind of guy who should know something about poker so when he sang the words to that now legendary song, people tended to believe he was crooning truth, not just music.

And it does sound right, doesn't it?

I, for one, don't believe it! I think poker people should know exactly how much money they have at all times -- how much they brought to the game, how much they've won, how much they've lost. But before everyone starts hitting me with disagreements, I'll fend them off immediately.

"Poker is a mind game; it's a challenge to out-think and outwit your opponent. You just use cheques to keep score," some will argue.

This assertion made sense at one time and it still does -- but for only a certain segment of the poker population. There are flim-flam men and grifters and players who truly enjoy getting the best of it even more than they like the money, especially if their opponent holds a high opinion of himself. As a traveling player, for example, you go into a southern town (and this did happen a lot in the southern part of the U.S.) and get into a game with, say, the used car dealer who has deep, deep pockets. The primary purpose, of course, is to get into those pockets and empty them if possible because that's how you can afford that boat you call a convertible and those diamond-studded rings you wear. But the ego factor is to crush this guy and knock him down a few pegs for thinking he's better than you.

I don't know about you but I'm in this game to make a few bucks.

There also exist the compulsives who would rather play than cash. They show up in the casino or cardroom with their entire bankroll in hand and play until it's gone or until they are so tired they can't manage the effort of getting chips into the pot. Worse yet, they log on to their online account and watch hundreds of dollars gurgle down the cyber drain.

These unfortunates don't believe in counting their money at the table either so they're obviously not in the game to make a few bucks.

And now that poker has undergone a face lift so that it's hardly recognizable as the the old-fashioned version of the game, there's a new kind of player who, one who drawn by the mountains of money seen on TV in the championship games wants some of the bonanza and knows he can get it without paying dues.

These people are dangerous opponents in the tournament arena because they have no fear, but when you put them into a live-action game with a longterm goal of making a few bucks, they tend to wilt like the last rose of summer.

Basically, poker has a cast of characters as participants, each with different views about the game.

If you're one of the stars or one of the up-and-coming success stories whose business it is to earn a living by playing poker then you have to count your money when you're playing. And if you're counting your money, think about it in terms of money, not in terms of keeping score or in terms of mountains of chips or as a hundred pounds of clay.

The prevailing wisdom about how long to play, when to take a profit and when to swallow a loss just doesn't cut it when you think about poker in terms of your only income. If this is your job or your supplemental income, treat it as such and set yourself a paycheck goal. Base it on any method that suits your personality, but base it on something. And stick to it.

For example, let's say for the sake of a starting point that you should average one big bet an hour profit. (This, by the way, is prevailing wisdom.) If you are playing in a $3-$6 game, your goal could be higher but expect to profit that $6. If, based on that same information, you need a minimum of $60 a day to help maintain the lifestyle you're accustomed to, keep that figure uppermost in your mind.

Start with one figure as the basis of your profit-taking scenario. Add one big bet to that figure. In the example case, we're now looking at a goal of $66. By setting your sights one big bet higher, you can keep yourself in the game during the times when everything is going right and you soar past the averages.

Because just advising you to shoot for and take a profit doesn't help much without some hint about how you might do it, here's a scenario based on a blackjack article written more than a decade ago by Huey Mahl, one of the foremost gambling theorists of all time.

Divide your checks into two sections -- one for your buy-in and play, the other for your profits. As your session bankroll continues to climb beyond the original goal and you rake in a pot, slide an amount equal to one small bet ($3 in this case) in front of your profit pile. This is money you will be willing to risk in a good game where everything has been going your way. As you win, you are adding $3 to your profit stack and $3 to your risk stack.

Should you lose the risk stack, walk! You've profited not only your $60 but also the $3 increments you've added to your profit stack and you've had a very good day. Remembering that you have a goal of making money at poker you must be prepared to quit playing.

I recommended a similar method to someone who was living on a fixed income and wanted to try her hand at picking up some extra money at the poker table. She had great success with it. She counted her money at the table, kept track of profits with a stacking method, and managed take a profit regularly.

"You know," she said, "(as) people don't realize that when they double their money at poker, they've really done something spectacular. They can't do that with bank interest."

You still have to know when to hold'em and when to fold'em but now you also know the real secret to survivin'.