Is it possible to win in the long term? - Bankroll Management I

The quick and dirty answer is yes.

The secret is not great bluffing skills, great bluff reading skills, horse selecting skills, or ESP. The real secret is bankroll management. Therefore, my first series of posts will be on this important topic.

Maybe you're asking, what is bankroll management? Your bankroll is money you have set aside specifically for gambling. This means you won't be gambling with the rent money or your kids' college funds. This is a responsible way to gamble. However, if you lose all of this money, your gambling will be done. Bankroll management is the way that a gambler can ensure that there will always be money available for gambling in the future.

For instance, my starting bankroll for this project will be only $250. I will need to practice very careful bankroll management to ensure that my $250 doesn't disappear. Sure, I could put all $250 down on the Pass Line at a craps table and hope that I walked away with $500. But were I to lose, I would be down my entire bankroll, and my gambling career would be over. To be successful in the long run, we must successfully manage our risk of run--the risk that we will lose our entire bankroll.

In my next post I will be discussing the mathematics of risk of ruin, and how we can select gambling options that expose us to the least possible risk of ruin.

Until then, happy gambling.