Dear Mark,
By far, my biggest problem in a casino is walking
away while ahead. I can double my money over the
course of play, but walking away satisfied is another
story. In the years you worked the business, is
this a common problem? Jim S.
No
casino game, Jim, is designed to favor the player. The
game rules are designed to give you some gambling pleasure
and to give the casino your money. But sometimes the
casino's BIGGEST advantage is not the built-in casino
edge, but PLAYER GREED. That's what keeps players from
quitting when they are ahead, and that's what builds
those casino high-rises. Winning can be the easy part,
but keeping your winnings depends on your ability to
walk. The casino gives
you this opportunity: take your best shot at their
money, and walk with it-if you've got iron self-discipline.
There is no gun to your head, forcing you to give
back all your winnings. The reason many people do
not quit gambling while they are ahead is that while
they are winning they convince themselves, on the
basis of an early win, that they're in the lap of
the Gambling Gods. They think they are infallible.
"Why stop now?" they ask themselves. Thomas
Adams could have defined greed best when he said,
"The covetous man pines in plenty, like Tantalus
up to the chin in water, and yet always thirsty."
The proper strategy, Jim, is to set "win goals."
For example, leaving when you are 50-100% ahead
is smart money management. It is tough to make that
big a return in the Stock Market in two years, so
how come you are not satisfied in the casino with
that type of gain after a mere two hours of play?
Over the 18 years I worked the business, I saw plenty
of winners every single night, but at the end of
their gambling session, most hit the door thirsty
losers. Losers because they did not know how to
get up and walk. They were just irrationally thirsty
for more.
