The other day I met a man in the Player's Lounge at Augusta Pines named Mr. Money. Yes, that is his real name, he showed me his drivers license. Not because I didn't believe that his last name was Money but that he told me he was 80 years old when he looks to be around 50. He told me the secret to life is to not stress because the only thing stress brings is more stress and stress kills you early. That theory will be another article I will write later. As we continued to talk I found out that he and a buddy run an internet gambling site in Costa Rica. Since I have never met anyone who owned a legitimate gambling operation I asked as many questions I could about wagering on sports and a winning strategy to have when you gamble at a casino. Here is what I took from our conversation:
For wagering on sports he told me that there is not any strategy or mathmatical formula. Just go with the first pick that comes to your head. He told me that you get in trouble when you start analyzing and researching the sports match ups. I told him that in my brief career of sports wagering that's what I did and I was not very successful. He then reiterated that he ran an online wagering site and invited me to join. I politely declined the invitation. Basically there is no magical formula or system to win at sports wagering. When you see a match-up between two teams or competitors, just pick your first instinct into how you think the game will turn out. Whether it is the over/under, picking the line or even some long shot odds. Do what I did for most of my exams in my scholastic career, go with the first answer or instinct that comes to you, don't overanalyze it or you will drive yourself crazy second guessing and asking "what if".
Before you enter a casino you have to have a strategy. He explained that most people set a limit to stop gambling based on how much they will lose but not on how much they win. I piped in and told him that's what I usually do. I think he kept on answering my questions because he realized that if he ever gets me to wager on his site, I will be putting his children's grandkids through college.. Anyways, he told me that was my problem and that is why most people lose money who go to casinos. That was exactly my problem the last time I went. We had over an hour before we were going to go home and I had made enough money to pay for my food and still have a profit. Granted it was not a lot of money but I figured I could make a bigger profit. Well, an hour later I lost the profit and then some. I had a set amount I was willing to lose and not a set amount I was willing to win and walk away. Mr. Money told me that when you reach your limit on how much it will take for you to walk away. If you have extra over your set winning limit then put that down on some bet and if you hit it great, you've just doubled some of your money, if not, who cares you've already made a profit. Another aspect most people do not realize is the time factor.
The longer you are in the casino the great the odds are stacked against you. When you walk into a casino the odds are already against you. You cannot nickle and dime the casino with small bets when you are playing games like black jack and craps. In the long run the casino will win. You have to watch the table and see how the cards and dice are running. Then get in, test the water and make your move. Most people think that skill will overcome the casino's odds against you. That is not true. Yes, there are sucker bets you should avoid. For example, don't bet on the "Big 6" or "Big 8" in craps and never buy insurance in blackjack. You have to understand the game you are playing and leverage the odds to where they are not as much against you. Once you have done that then you have to have a couple of rolls of the dice and a couple of hands of black jack to pay you off when you make your move. That is when luck comes in. If you are going to win then luck will have to be involved. That's what it comes down to in the end, how lucky you are. You could make all the right moves and lose all your money or you could make all the wrong moves and win a ton of money. It just depends on luck or rather the outcomes that you have no control over.