Many of my non-gambling friends have a hard time believing the success I've had in my trips to Vegas. I've tried articulating to them what I think my keys to success are. I'm curious as to what the rest of you think and what works for you.

In my gambling "career," I think success depends on 3 things (or at least it works for me!):

Education - Study the games you're going to play and know what the best games are, what the best strategies are, and practice as much as you can before you start playing for "real money" in the casinos. I have software packages on my computer which I practice on constantly. (My games are video poker, blackjack, and craps.)

Persistency and Discipline - In order to win, you have to persist, even in the face of adversity. Since the casino has the advantage for all games, you can't expect to win all the time. There are going to be losing sessions. But if you want to win, you have to play and not give up right away (on my most recent trip, I started out $300 in the hole but I persisted and eventually things started to turn around). The discipline part come in setting rules for yourself and knowing when to walk away. If you've lost your alotted bankroll for the day, then walk away and chalk the losses up to experience - and don't lose more than you can afford to lose. Determine ahead of time what your limit it. On the other hand, if you've made a nice profit for the session or the day, then walk away a winner and put that money away for another day. (I set upper and lower limits for myself. If I'm winning, I always keep an eye on exactly how much I'm up. I then determine how much I'm willing to give back - my lower limit. My lower limit will keep rising if I keep winning. But if I eventually hit that lower limit, I cash out and walk away with the profit that is left.)

Bankroll - In order to be persistent, you need a bankroll. I determine ahead of time exactly how much I can afford to lose for a session and for the day (the "worst case scenario") and stick to it. If I lose it all, I'm done for the day. There's always tomorrow. (I actually have a separate bank account for my gambling money. In order to build it up, I made small periodic deposits to it.). Just remember - don't gamble more than you can afford to lose!

I have an even more basic approach.
Be well rested, be in a good mood. I beleive attitude plays a bigger role then people want to admit. I've never won any amount of money, feeling tired or grumpy or sick.

Have fun...if your not enjoying yourself, stop and do something else. Remind yourself it's real money your loosing, not just credits on a meter. Vegas offers so much more then Gambling. Take time and enjoy an expencive dinner, a nice show, or just relax in the room. So often we rush past all Vegas has to offer, just to gamble.

I find I do better on short trips. I'm exposed to the house edge a lot less, and if I do catch some luck, there is less time to give it back.

Some of the best time spent inside a casino, has not been while gambling. It's when I relax, settle in and enjoy the momment. People watch, or just converse with the person/people I'm with.

Mike,

Your approach pretty much mirrors mine.

I will add that being good doesn't replace being lucky. I think that being good and being disciplined is what allows people like you to gamble frequently and not get killed. Being lucky is what creates trips like your most recent one.

I'd hate for people to thing thet if they practice their strategies, they'd have a winning trip every time.

Mike, did the friends in question also hear about your various losses? Some of them were pretty bad and had you in a gambling daze.

I moved here with a notion to always play full play, and the more I play the closer my odds will stabilize towards the advertised results. That was wrong. I keep these things in the back of my head.

Most alleged smart video poker players focus on their odds and the machine paytables. I think the machine has odds too. I think that a machine with a less inviting paytable might be more ripe than a stronger paytable.

I constantly set high and low limits while I play. This is my strongest gaming habit. I often deviate from this when playing with friends in situations where cashing out and walking away isn't the most friendly option. In those cases, I take a bankroll that I can afford to lose and play through highs and lows against my better judgement. Sometimes it pays off quite well, sometimes not.

I think playing on time limits is one of the worst things a player can do. Playing while you wait to meet someone, playing until dinner reservations time, or maybe playing until any event comes along is not a good judgement for me.

I've had the opportunity to go to some places in UNLV that had extensive gaming resources. There is a book by Larry Mak that lists the 11 most popular gaming mistakes. They are....


#1. Going to a casino with the idea of making money. Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts said, "The only way to make money in a casino is to own one. They don't build these ritzy megaresorts and cruise-to-nowhere riverboats on winners." Think of the casino as a place to get away and maybe have some fun...with winning as just a bonus. Only 4% of a casino's players actually go home winners.

#2. Taking checkbook, credit cards, and ATM cards to the casino. Take and play with only the money you can afford to lose. Tkae only one credit card for out-of-pocket expenses: meals, shows, shopping.

#3. Playing with money you don't have. If you run out of money, stop playing. Go home or do something different until its time to leave. Keep away from the convenient casino ATMs and other cash-advance machines. Playing with plastic will come back to haunt you when the bank statements start coming in.

#4. Forgetting you're playing with real money. Casinos encourage you to play with tokens, credits, vouchers, etc. When you do, you forgety you're playing with real money. And you tend to play faster and make bigger bets than you had planned on.

#5. Having little or no knowledge of the game you're playing. Learn all you can about your favorite game. The more you know about it, the more luck you're going to have. So check with your local bookstore, library, Amazon.com, or casino gift shop for a how-to book on your favorite game.

#6. Having no plan for spending your time and money. Plan each day's gaming activity. Start by splitting the day into playing sessions--with a set amount of money and time for each session. Two hours is the suggested maximum playing time for a session. If the money you allot for a session is going too fast, slow down, bet less, or take a break until the next session.

#7. Continuing to play when losing. The instant you feel you're on a losing streak, set a firm stop point. When you reach it, quit! Don't think the next spin of the reels or throw of the dice is going to do it. Odds are, it won't! When you're in a hole, stop digging!

#8. Playing off all winnings. Set aside some of each win, no matter how small. Betting down to the last dollar is why 96% of casino players go home broke. Always have something to show for your good fortune.

#9. Not joining the casino's player's club. The points you get for playing make you eligible for cash-back awards, free or discounted rooms, free meals and show tickets, and special mail offers not available to the general public.

#10. Playing a slot machine at lightning speed. The true secret of slot playing is to make your money and playing time last as long as possible. And this means playing s-l-o-w-l-y. Don't spin the reels the moment they stop. Pause between spins. By slowing down, you extend your playing time and the life of your bankroll.

#11. Not knowing when to quit. Don't keep playing when your luck runs out or when tired, upset, hungry, bored, or sleepy. When playing stops being fun, stop playing.

Final tip: During his 1798 expedition to Egypt, Napoleon approached the Great Sphinx and said, "I command thee, O Ancient One, to reveal to me the Wisdom of the Ages." The Sphinx replied, "Don't expect too much." Heed these words of wisdom from the Sphinx. Leave your expectations at the casino door. Then no matter what may happen inside the casino, you won't be surprised or disappointed.

I tend more to Lee's approach; my goal in any casino is to relax and have fun. Las Vegas trips are about a lot more than gambling; I could gamble a lot closer to home.

I've probably broken most of the discipline rules mentioned here and in every gaming publication<g>... except the most important one IMO... I don't play with money I can't afford to lose. I have an idea of what I'm willing to spend on a trip, but I don't set concrete session or daily limits, and I do carry checkbook, credit cards and ATM cards into the casino because I've pretty much been able to figure out when gambling stopped being entertainment and because I don't like carrying cash. The only limits I've set were "quit points" when a machine/table was paying off, and I quit if I get down to that level.

I do some VP and BJ practice before trips, just to knock the rust off, and I do look for the best odds in those games. I totally agree with the Senator that luck determines my successful trips, but a little skill and good odds give me a better chance to stretch my entertainment dollars long enough to get lucky. OTOH, I play penny video slots with terrible odds just because I kick back, relax and have fun watching all those flashing lights.

Excellent advise above - I thnk I will copy it and pass it out at the meet.

Ok, this is why I love this board! Everyone seems to enjoy the whole of Vegas, not just going there to "strike it rich."

I've managed to avoid most of the "don't"s listed, the hardest is not giving wins back.

But i certainly follow the cardinal rule of not gambling what you can't afford to lose! I also manage my playing budget by using travellers checks - its the only kind of trip I use them on anymore. I'll have a separate run of cheques that are specifically for playing, Helps me avoid the atm and helps me keep track of where I am in my playing budget.

Jeff - Yes, lucky certainly has something to do with it and I've been VERY lucky on some of the trips I've had!

Joe - It's funny how my friends DON'T remember some of the losing trips I've had - they only remember the winning ones! But I get tired of hearing them say, "you win all the time" and some of the are skeptical about it - like they don't believe me.

I agree with you that it's tough when you're playing with friends and you can't just cash out and walk away. I call this "social gambling" and it's hard to do that. I hate it when my friends say, "let me watch you for a while and see how you do it." I usually end up losing in situations like that. When I'm on my own, I feel much more in control of when I should and shouldn't walk away.

I think most of us here on TV have similar ways that we manage our money. It's probably a result of participating on boards like this and keeping ourselves educated!

Mike, I know that I don't advertise as loudly my losses as my wins - and I too have people at work saying "you are so lucky!" to the point of I sometimes avoid mentioning wins or losses at all.

Joe, you wrote: "I think playing on time limits is one of the worst things a player can do. Playing while you wait to meet someone, playing until dinner reservations time, or maybe playing until any event comes along is not a good judgement for me."

Can you elaborate on that a bit? Do you mean its not a good idea because you might keep playing longer than you should, waiting for the person or the dinner rezervaton? Or that you will not have long enough to play to ride out the ups and downs?