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D'ya Wanna Win, or
D'ya Wanna Gamble? A
professional Precision-Shooter goes to the casino with the INTENT
of MAKING MONEY. A
recreational player goes to the casino with the HOPE of
MAKING MONEY. Both
a Precision-Shooting pro and a serious recreational dicesetter can take in the all of the
free concerts, sporting events, comped food and room-nights that various casinos may
offer, but for the serious player; everything about the entire casino experience takes a
backseat to the fact that he is there to WIN MONEY and not merely PLAY. The
casino has the money, and I want it. Those
who are able to extract steady profits from this game have to don the same attitude. By
using disciplined Precision-Shooting and proper betting
we WILL get it! Frankie
Says, Relax
Now
some people may think that I take this game way too seriously. They
preach the gamblers mantra
Loosen
up buddy
have a few drinks
were here to have fun
so what if you lose
your money
were in a casino
youre supposed to lose
geesh,
its only money! If
you golf once in a while, you probably play it recreationally, and therefore, youd
never take the game too seriously. But if
golf was your chosen profession or career, or in the case of my professional
Precision-Shooting; my chosen lifestyle: then youd probably have to take it
somewhat more seriously if you had any intention and desire of making, or in my case, CONTINUING
to make the kind of lifestyle-changing money that some people aspire to. In
the grand scheme of things, I think I take this game as seriously as any other
non-suspended or non-indicted pro athlete or any other professional businessman worth his
salt takes his or her own career or profession. While
tossing a baseball around with your kids is fulfilling as a parent; doing so surely
doesnt give rise to any plans of your making it into the big-leagues. Likewise, I certainly understand when people look
at the game of craps in the same casual entertainment sort of way. In fact, I actively discourage
novice-to-intermediately skilled Precision-Shooters about having ANY thoughts of
turning pro or even semi-pro. Getting
good enough in order to make consistent money as a craps player is hard work. It takes tremendous amounts of dedication,
commitment, discipline and patience. As
I explained in The
Toughest Way to Make An Easy Living; the stress of using craps as your
sole source of income is often too much pressure for most people to make the jump from
being a serious recreational player into the pro ranks.
Its much tougher than it looks, and for most medium-skill craps players, it
makes a great second income stream; but remains a lousy primary source. While
the path that Ive chosen may be less traveled, and certainly isnt for
everyone; I think there are some valuable lessons and tips that are applicable to even the
most casual of dicesetters. Thats the
whole premise behind this series. Just
how serious you want to take or apply the advice is entirely up to you. Loss-Limit
Perspectives Irishsetter
started an excellent thread on his Message Board a while back. He
asked: Do
you have different Loss Limits based on your buy-in amount? I
want to reprint a portion of my response along with some additional thoughts that I have
on this subject. I
replied: Generally
NO. I usually buy-in for $1000 at mid-level casinos, and $500 at lower ranking
ones, but my Loss-Limit remains at $150 per session. Ø
At
top-rung casinos that are loss-tolerant (as in, more profit-tolerant of my winnings), I'll
buy-in with $2,000+ or better still, I'll draw down an equivalent Marker from either my
Line-of-Credit or Front Money account. In this case, I'll probably be playing at a
higher-denomination (higher minimum-bet) table, meaning that my Loss-Limit has to be
commensurately higher in relation to the base-bet amount for the table. Ø
Likewise,
at one of the lowest-rung casinos (and especially at a Mini-Tub or Crapshooter sit-down
craps game), I'll almost always use a smaller buy-in (~$200). In that case, my Loss-Limit
will be $100. Obviously that represents a much higher percentage of my buy-in, but it also
reflects the lower table-minimums that I'll often encounter on the mini-tubs or cheap
tables. Irishsetter
went on to ask:
To
my mind, it comes down to how I FEEL about the loss that just happened. Ø
If
my throwing isn't grooved in, and I don't feel it will correct itself immediately on the
next go-round; I'll often cut the session short after just one loss. The
reason I do that is because my dice-shooting is so sensitive to the way I feel; that a
quick exit is usually much cheaper than sticking around and re-confirming what I already
knew after just one loss. Simply
stated: I
no longer compound my losses. That
one Loss-Limit move has KEPT more bread on the table, more gas in the tank, and more cars
in the garage; than a quadruple parlay on a 20-cent base-bet Midnight could
generate...yes, THAT BIG of a difference (...you do the math). Continuing
that same train of though, Irishsetter inquired: Does
your loss limit change if you get ahead? Let's
say you buy in for $300 and your LL is $150 (50%). You get ahead $120. Is your Loss-Limit 50% of the total in your rack,
or do you have a new LL based only on the "excess" a la John Patrick? Thats
an important question, because well often be faced with the dilemma of try to figure
out how much is enough to KEEP, and how much is enough to give ourselves a fair chance
into growing our newly-won profit into something bigger (without giving too much of it
back). I
like to plateau my winnings. As
we've discussed in my How To Get THERE From HERE series, as well as the How
To GET It, and How To KEEP It series; I use certain profit-milestones to lock-in
additional profit. From that point onward during the remainder of the session, I refuse to
lose back even one dollar below that new level. Ø
Taking
Irishsetters example where I have $120 in current winnings; I would lock-up my original
buy-in, plus $50 of that new revenue. I'll work with the unencumbered balance of $70 to
see if I can spin it into more gold. Once I build it up by another $50, I'll lock-in that
amount as well. Once that $70 "excess" is gone...so am I. Ø
I
won't even make any bet or combination of bets that would see me having to dig into that
new level of locked-in profit. Why? All
of these questions and their accompanying answers are leading us somewhere very important. Lets continue: Irishsetter
posed the following: You're
planning a trip to the casino. You've got three sessions planned for the day, with three
$300 buy ins ($900 stake), with a $150 LL. After your first session, you're up $200, what
is your buy-in and Loss-Limit for session two? Ahh,
that's an easy one for me... Same
buy-in...same Loss-Limit...same discipline is required...so the same L-L and Win-Plateau
rules apply for me. He
then asked:
Ahh,
that's a not-so-easy one for me... I'll
use the same buy-in, however my Loss-Limit is now MUCH lower. In
this case, I'll allow myself just ONE losing hand, and permit myself a grand total of $50
to be put at risk in doing so. If things haven't been working for me in both the
shooting-department AND the discipline-department; then I have to force an early exit if
that disturbing trend continues. After
sufficient rest and some obviously much-needed practice; I'll return to the tables, but my
L-L will now be one-half of what it normally is ($75 instead of $150). My
Loss-Limit only rises back to its normal level AFTER I've had a winning session. Why? I
want to re-validate my advantage over the house BEFORE I bet like I still have one. That's
series of questions and answers led to even more thought-provoking queries: If
your loss limit is set at $150 whether you buy-in for $500 or $1000; then what do you do
since you like a big Steep Regression, if you bet say $110-Inside and you go
Point-then-Seven-out? At that point you are nearly at the $150 Loss-Limit. Do you leave?
Do you give it one more try at a lower level? Those
are all excellent questions. All
of my answers assume a $5 minimum-bet table. If I am playing at a $10 table, my L-L will
be double ($300), and at a $25 table it will be $750, but of course my buy-in will be
commensurately higher (although not in a linear 5-times amount). If
I am at or near my $150 Loss-Limit at a $5 table, I won't make ANY bets that would put me
below that figure. In the case of a $110-Inside plus PL w/Full Odds loss, that IS the end
of that particular session for me. No,
I'm not very accommodating or forgiving when it comes to losses, but that is all the more
reason why I warm up before I get to a table (see First
Throw, First Session, First Day), and it is also why tight Loss-Limits
like that prevent subsequent downward spiral (out of control) losses. Now,
I'll be the first to tell you that I STILL battle with discipline on a daily basis.
Although I'm getting better in fighting that particular war, some skirmishes still result
in my self-control (and session-bankroll) taking a bit of a beating. One
Precision-Shooting axiom that I live by is: My
SKILL determines my winnings, and my DISCIPLINE determines my losses. That
reply led to the inevitable question related to my Choppy-Table/Short-Leash Method: Since
your loss limit is $150, how do you prepare for the likelihood of a random-roller taking
you for the $285 while using your Choppy-Table Short-Leash Method? Do you separate your chips in the rail to reflect
your shooting and those of a random-roller? If
so, how? Ah,
that's two different things. If
I'm using my Choppy-Table/Short-Leash
Method against random-rollers, then that money is separate and distinct from
my Precision-Shooting bankroll. In that case, I have a Loss-Limit of EXACTLY $285 (when
used on a $5 base-bet level). I
keep those chips separated from my Precision-Shooting bankroll (by using a couple of $1
cheques, or using the second rail-slot), as it helps me to keep track of how my shooting
is doing, in total isolation to how I'm doing when betting against R-R's with the C-T/S-L. To
read about my Choppy-Table/Short-Leash Method, I would invite you to read the following
articles:
Ø
Dodging Bullets As A
Darksider Part One
Ø
Dodging
Bullets As A Darksider Part Two
and
the Frequently Asked Questions about the C-T/S-L is here:
Ø
FAQs
About
The Choppy-Table/Short-Leash Method Part One
Ø
FAQs
About
The Choppy-Table/Short-Leash Method Part Two
If
it's a $2 or $3 table, then I'll start with $66 Inside.
If it's a $5 table at a low-tolerance casino, then I'll start at $88 Inside
before regressing. I
get a lot of e-mail asking why I take such a hard line on Loss-Limits and discipline and
why Im always harping about playing with an adequate bankroll and why I am so
dead-set against encouraging fellow dice-setters from betting with scared money
or inadequate bankrolls. Im
going to keep this one simple: I
take such a hard line on Loss-Limits, discipline and properly-funded bankrolls because I
hate losing, and I hate to see others (who have earnestly asked for advice) lose too. Listen,
my Precision-Shooting is good (its actually freakin outstanding, but
since Im not promoting any books or video sales, I can afford to be somewhat
modest), but if I dont hold the line on my losses, they tend to spiral out of
control during the session where my shooting ISNT so great. I
have absolutely no difficulty whatsoever admitting that my
dice-tossing isnt always world-class. In
fact, Ill plainly admit that sometimes it downright stinks. What
I have great difficulty doing, is allowing those losses to be so big,
that I need more mega-hand wins just to claw my way back up to the break-even surface, BEFORE
I can even start racking any net-profit for the day.
Thats
just plain stupid and it pisses me off when it happens.
It
doesnt take a genius to figure out how to stop it
but it DOES take strict
Loss-Limits and strict discipline to DO IT! Im
not some degenerate gambler who cant stem the flow of losses
Im a
professional Precision-Shooter, so I have to behave with self-control, willpower and
resolve. That
brings us right back to Loss-Limits and discipline.
I
need to impose and enforce those low, but ultra-strict loss-limits in order to KEEP
them low. That way, I can use my small-win
sessions to offset them, instead of needing huge-win sessions to do
the same. That way, I use the medium, long
and mega-roll wins as net-profit RETAINED-earnings, and not as an offset just to
get back to break-even. Again,
you always have to be asking yourself the same question: Dya
Wanna Win, or Dya Wanna Gamble? I
go into the casino with the intention of WINNING. The
casino has the money, and I want it. By
using Precision-Shooting, tailored-to-skill betting, strictly enforced LOW Loss-Limits,
and iron-clad discipline
I WILL get it! Good
Luck & Good Skill at the Tables
and in Life. Sincerely, The
Mad Professor
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