Betting with Casino Money

By Wild Bill

Have you ever heard a casino dealer state, “Great, we are playing with the customers' money now!”  Of course not, they are playing with customer money every day.  Why then do so many gamblers talk about how they are betting the casino's money when pressing bets?

The house money concept is one that needs to be eliminated from any player's vocabulary.  It is quite obvious to the unemotional person that the money you have in your stack or bankroll is not the house's money.  You must approach every dollar you have as yours and must be used wisely as a result, or else everything you have will be the house's money quickly.

Why does the house money concept find such widespread use?  House money players use it when betting with no real strategy.  Further it comes from someone who feels they must justify their reckless betting.  A rational person would just say they are betting more than they normally would and need no reason as to why they are doing so.

Pressing bets is usually not the best idea, but some games essentially beg for it.  Craps is built around the big roll and almost all bettors press bets for good reason.  If done in a methodical manner with some semblance of strategy behind it there isn\'t anything wrong with modest increases when you are hitting numbers.  However this is far different than getting a few bucks ahead and then radically pressing bets in hopes of taking down the casino for a monster score.

Most players know about blackjack basic strategy.  A simple chart that can be learned in a few hours, players wisely use basic strategy to make blackjack a close to even proposition with the house.  Players who hunt out good comps can even come out theoretically ahead as long as the house rules aren't too onerous and the comps are decent.  Even without the comps, basic strategy yields a method of play that costs $10 bettors from $5-15 an hour depending on the speed of the game and the player's ability.  Not too bad a price for Las Vegas-style entertainment.

Players should also create their own basic strategy, a chart with every possible move.  Bankroll and money management are a large part of this strategy chart, but it should also include a list of “what ifs” to guide the player through a session.  Nowhere on this strategy should a “play with the house's money” option be available.  Neither should chasing be part of it.

When it comes down to it for most gamblers pressed bets are usually a sign of one of two things.  Either they have no realistic limit to what they hope to win or they are behind and chasing.  Everyone should have a realistic expectation of what they might win in a given day at a casino to keep betting reasonable.  There is no rule saying you can't fantastically surpass those expectations, but those are rare days.  Chasing so rarely leads to happy endings I am surprised players still do it.  Chalk it up to human instincts when gambling that can't be overcome.

In any event, ever notice what happens to the guy who consistently bets the house's money?  Yep he\'s broke.  He plays with their money until it really is their money again.  Nothing wrong with going to a casino and losing all your money;  that is what lots of people expect to do every time they walk through the doors.  Then again I suspect those reading articles at this site expect a little more from their betting.

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