How Much Do You Need to Play Each Game Without Going Broke? Part 3 by Frank Scoblete

Roulette

On the outside even-money bets (Red/Black, Odd/Even, High/Low), you’d need 40 times your unit bet to assure that you can’t possibly go broke. Roulette will have approximately 40 decisions per hour so a $5 player would need $200. However, a more realistic figure would be 23 times your bet. Why 23? Because that is the most any outside bet ever came up in a row (if memory serves me well, it was black) and I doubt if the next time you play roulette you’ll see such a record broken. So $5 bettors could be reasonably assured that they could last one hour with $115. The inside bets are another thing entirely as 38 numbers make it hard to guarantee that you’ll win even one bet in an hour of play. In fact, it is not unusual for someone to lose 40 decisions in a row betting one inside number. So here you’d have to go with 40 units and pray that the dealer doesn’t spin any more decisions than that!

Here’s a game with a low house edge that can be wonderful or awful depending on how your luck is running. Generally it is awful until it becomes wonderful. Here’s why: The win frequency is approximately 25 percent. That’s right -- you win only one in four decisions, and you can gallop a long, long, long time on the losing end of this pony. Recall Ms. Cartwright who lost 30 straight decisions and you can see why you need some bucks behind you to guarantee you can’t possibly get wiped out. So how much is enough? About 60 times your minimum bet. Since Let It Ride allows you to take down two of your three initial bets, you tend to lose only on the third bet -- the "$" bet -- when you lose. With some exceptions, you will not let that first bet ("1") or the second bet ("2") ride unless you are assured a winner (10s or better). So if you play for $5 bring $300 with you and you shouldn’t have any fear of being stampeded.

This game can be fast or slow or in-between depending on how fast the dealer deals and how fast (or slow) the players make their decisions. On average 40-50 decisions an hour are common so bring 50 times your minimum bet and you should be able to last one hour if a hurricane of bad fortune slams your way.

Baccarat is a slow game and mini-baccarat is a fast game. The former will have 30-50 decisions an hour at a full table, the latter will have upwards of a 150 decisions an hour. If you can afford it, play baccarat (even if you have to play for slightly more money) as the speed of mini-bac can really rip through a bankroll.

Use the same formula as regular blackjack but don’t use the same basic strategy. Use the Armada Strategy as Spanish 21 is a different ship than its sister vessel.

This is a very fast game so bring about 80 times your bet and you should have no fear of being wiped out. Learnt he correct strategy so you keep the house edge as low as possible.

Most slot machines are programmed to "hit" about 15 percent of the time. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to win money when it hits as some hits simply return the coins you have just played. Slot machines have something that table games have not -- you control the pace. You determine the speed of the game. You could if you wanted (and were crazy) play one coin every year, or you could, if you wanted (and were even crazier) play as fast as your finger could hit the "Play Max Credits" button. So here, you be the judge. I’d say a nice pace that will give equal parts adrenaline rush and level-headedness would be about 240 spins an hour. Just multiply that by whatever you intend to dump into the machine per decision and you have how much you need to assure no possibility of the one-armed bandit holding you up for all your cash. (This advice is good for video poker as well. You determine the pace; you determine the number of decisions.)

Recall that the purpose of this article was not necessarily to tell you the best ways to play the above games, or which games to play and which to avoid. It just explained what you need to bring to assure yourself of not getting wiped out if Lady Luck wipes her feet on you.

Remember this too. Learn from my mistake. I know what it’s like to come home with empty pockets. It’s one of the worst feelings in the world.