Money Management

Techniques used to limit losses and lock in profits when gambling, especially when playing slot machines.

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Money management is one of the chief strategies that slot machine experts advocate in their books on slots tips and slots advice. Because slot machines don't have an strategy which affects the odds of winning or losing (such as card counting in blackjack), good bankroll management is the next best way to affect the money won or lost on slots row. There are two components to slots money management.

Loss limits are the first component. Money management dictates that players should avoid losing their entire bankroll at one time, the so-called "risk of ruin" theory. Unfortunately, some slots players will get hard-headed and keep feeding coins into a slot machine, instead of walking away and keeping some money in their pocket. A loss limit sets up a predetermined amount of money the player is willing to lose. As soon as the player loses that money at the slot machine, the player walks away, no matter what. Loss limits supposedly take the decision out of the hands of the slot player, and gives him or her rules to play by.

The second half of money management is win goals. A win goal is the counterpart of the loss limit as applied to winning at slots. Before a slot machine session starts, a slots player sets a win goal, which is simply an amount of money that's the goal for that slots session. Whenever the player wins that amount of money at the slots, the player walks away from the slot machine. Once again, the player does this, no matter what. Once again, the win goal is meant to take the decision out of the hands of the player, or at least the player when he or she is in an agitated state inside the casino.

Win goals lock in profits. If you win a certain amount and walk away, you've assured yourself of a winning slots session. So money management limits the player's potential losses while locking in profits on those occasions the player actually wins. This might not be the most exciting way to play slots, but this is the way to ensure you stretch your bankroll and keep playing slots for the longest time possible.

Of course, there is a kind of fallacy in slots money management. Players read money management books and think they are learning slots strategy. In reality, there is no slots strategy, because the player cannot affect the outcome of the game by changing the odds in their favor. In blackjack, a card counter can bet larger amounts when their card count shows they are playing at a relative advantage. In poker, a player can choose to bet when they have good pot odds. There is no similar way to affect the outcome in slots.

Also, money management actually doesn't increase the amount of spins the player gets to see. It spreads out the spins over longer periods of time, so instead of a player losing their money on 300 spins today, the player might lose money on 100 spins a day for 3 days. This might have some value, if the player who loses all their money on the first day is likely to max out their credit card to go back into the casino for 300 more spins the next day.