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Nya, Nya, Mine Is Smaller Than Yours When
it comes to men, and being competitive, saying mine is SMALLER than yours is
NOT a phrase that you would usually want to brag about.
But in playing craps, it can mean the difference between winning and losing. I
guess it is part of the male psyche that we are competitive. We all want to be the lead alpha
male that lords over our own pride of female lions, or smaller cats of a
different name. Thats
all well and good, but the NEED to succeed sometimes puts us at a distinct disadvantage
when compared to women. Oh sure, they are
competitive too, but they are more nurturing and supportive, as long as it wont
jeopardize their own perceived standing in the group of brood-cats. If they are challenged by another female for
territory, or property, or breeding rights; then watch out, cause the
claws will be out and the fur will be flying. Okay,
putting pubescent fantasies aside, what can we learn from our female craps-playing
counterparts? One
of the main things that I have garnered from years at the tables, is that it is not a
competition between you and the casino. It is
not a competition between you and other players. But
it is certainly a competition against yourself. This
concept is not new. It isnt even new to
craps. The concept has been around since Noah
was cobbling together a little wooden boat with a big idea in mind. This is definitely where the ladies generally have
an advantage over the testosterone-enhanced guys. They
dont fool themselves into a grudge-type match in trying to beat the dice. They accept negative-outcomes with a
less-combative, and more learning-focused outlook. Please
understand that you will have losing sessions in the casino. I still have my share of them as well. But, as in life, if we use every experience,
especially every losing experience to our betterment; then we will improve as players. Just
because you lose, dont lose the lesson. Instead
of being set in our ways, like driving around, refusing to acknowledge that we are lost,
our ego prevents us from admitting defeat. Guys,
sometimes you have to stop and ask for directions. Sometimes
you have to admit that this is going to be a losing session. Im not talking about admitting this when you
are down to your last few $1 chips, Im talking about admitting it when you reach you
loss limit. Now
I have to tell you right now that I think most people set their loss-limit way too high. That is, I think that they allow themselves to
lose WAY too much money at a single session. Lets
say that your win-goal is 10% or 20% percent of your buy-in. Thats not an unrealistic number. In fact, its a darn reasonable number! Now
lets say that your loss-limit is 50% of your buy-in.
Unless your winning-rate is better than 3 to 5 winning sessions for every
losing one; then youve got a problem. Your
bankroll has a problem, and your theory of moneymanagement also has a problem. Youll have a most difficult time
breaking-even over even a short-to-medium term if you play that way. Think
about what I just said. Re-read that last
paragraph because there really is a golden nugget hiding in plain sight in there. Im
asking you to reduce your loss limit. It is a request based on sound business
management. If
your win-goal is 10%, and you reach it 4-times-out-of-5-sessions; and your loss-limit is
50% and you reach that in 1-out-of-5-sessions; then you will lose more money than you
make. Its simple math. Its simple truth, and its simple
common-sense. So lets use some of that
common-sense to put more money in your pocket. If
you dont change even one other thing about your game; if you only change your
loss-limit to more reasonable levels, you will win more money, and lose less. Thats common-sense, and I want to show you
how it will work for you. No
one wants to drive for two hours to the closest casino, reach their loss-limit after 20
minutes of play and turn around to face another two hour drive home. Thats the difference between being a
professional, and wanting to be a professional, but not having the discipline, strength of
character or resolve to actually act like a professional.
You
have to ask yourself how much you are REALLY committed to improving your game. Are you just paying lip-service to improving it
because you have a fantasy about adding substantial money to your income due to craps, or
are you dead-serious about it? In
a number of other articles, I have written about how I have reduced my loss-limit to
its barest minimum. It is still
sometimes difficult to walk away when I reach it, but it becomes easier and easier with
each winning session. Ive grown a lot,
and been a lot calmer even when things arent going my way, simply by reducing my
loss-limits this way. So
heres exactly what I want you to do. (i)
Start
recording the outcome of each casino session on paper. (ii)
You
dont have to change anything just yet. (iii)
Record
your buy-in, your win-goal and your loss-limit. (iv)
Record
the amount of time that you spend on each session. (v)
By
creating this playing-journal, you are committing your decisions to paper. Theres no sense cheating or rationalizing,
because you will only be short-changing yourself in the long run. (vi)
Once
you have ten (10) sessions recorded you can take a cold, sober look at what the numbers
are indicating. Just the fact that you are
committing all of this information to paper may permit you to realize what you have long
suspected about your craps-play. This may
confirm it, or it may open your eyes to a whole new chapter of wisdom about yourself. (vii)
Feel
free to add any further notes about each session. They
can include how you were feeling both before and after your session; what table positions
you were at. How many long and short hands
that you generated; any changes in betting methods, and so on. The idea is to accurately assess each session. (viii)
Remember,
this is about win-goals and loss-limits, it has nothing to do with your throwing technique
or your betting methods. This is
simply an exercise to improve your profit-retention.
Okay, lets take a look at those ten sessions that you
recorded. I made an imaginary list below so
that you could get an idea how this process should work.
Hey,
wait a minute. You won 7-out-of-ten sessions!
So why the hell did you still lose money? Simple: Your
loss limit is TOO freakin high! Lets
look at the exact same set of sessions, but
this time, lets impose a lower $150 loss-limit.
Okay,
what the hell happened here? NOTHING
We
only changed our loss-limit. Nothing else. Everything else remained the same. That one small change turned a $90 loss into a
$210 profit. Thats a $300 swing in
results just because we reduced the threshold of our permissible losses. Its that simple! So
when I tell you that mine is smaller than yours, its something that puts and KEEPS
more profit in my bankroll, and my masculinity stays intact. Sometimes smaller really is better. Good Luck & Good Skill at the Tables
and in
Life. The Mad Professor
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