Sep
06
2011
By John Grochowski on Tuesday September 6, 2011
bankrolls, gaming, gaming-strategy, table-games, tourism, tunica
There are no guarantees in gambling, so when a player named George asked me how much money he should bring to play for a while without fear of an early exit, I had to put all kinds of conditions on it.
For one thing, there are no guarantees in gambling. I can tell you that if you bet $5 a hand while playing basic strategy in a moderately paced blackjack game, a bankroll of $100 gives you a 90 percent chance of lasting for an hour. But it is possible to go through the money much faster. Sometimes, you’re going to win, sometimes you’re just going to hang in there, and 10 percent of the time you’ll either be reaching for more money or on your way out the door.
The house edge makes a difference. So does the speed of play. Roulette has a higher house edge than blackjack, but it’s also a slower-paced game. If you make one $5 wager on a combination with an even-money payoff such as red/black or odd/even, a mere $60 bankroll gives you a 90 percent chance of lasting an hour. Of course, few roulette players really stick to one bet per spin. If you’re going to make more bets, you need more cash.
Same deal at craps. I can tell you that $50 gives you that 90 percent chance at an hour’s play if you stick to the pass line with no other wagers, but I don’t remember the last craps player I actually saw do that. Craps players like to have action on several numbers at once, and that affects the necessary bankroll size.
My recommendation remains to size your casino bankroll so that it’s within your comfort zone for entertainment spending. If that means a shorter stay than you’d planned, so be it.