Online Casino Money Management

Budgeting and preserving your bankroll are the most important parts of winning money at an online casino. We’re going to give you a bit of advice on managing your casino bankroll that we hope will help you hold on to your money as long as possible. Because the longer you play, the better the chance of going on a hot streak and winning big.

Start an online casino budget

It’s always a smart idea to plan out your gambling budget before depositing at your favorite online casino. You know the state of your finances better than anyone. You keep track of your monthly expenses, and how much money you take in every week. You know how much to put away for the future, too. After all this money is accounted for, whatever is left over you can spend any way you want!

Most people use this leftover portion of their overall budget, called discretionary income, for entertainment. This can include a nice dinner at restaurants, movies, vacations, and yes, even gambling.

And since you’re playing from the comfort of your home, all of your budget goes to gaming. Instead of having to budget for accomadations, meals, gas or airfare, and other entertainment.

Play within your casino bankroll

So you’ve got your bankroll figured out and you know what games you’d like to play. Now’s the time to take a stroll through the casino floor and gauge the minimum bets at the tables and machines. If the minimum bet is between $3 and $5, you’ve got to figure that into your plan.

If slot machines are more style, quarter machines are your best bet with a $150 bankroll. Of course, how long you play and whether you’re willing to play high stakes is totally up to you. Just keep in mind that you’ll have to find something else to do when your money runs out. Always stop playing when the day’s bankroll is exhausted!

Breaking up your $150 into different playing sessions can help your bankroll stretch a little longer.

You could split it evenly, playing $50 at each session. You could split it up more creatively, taking into account your favorite online casino games, along the lines of $65 on slots, $50 on blackjack, and $35 on roulette. It’s up to you, so divvy it up in such a way that you’ll get the most entertainment for your gambling dollars!

Here’s a way to calculate how long you can play on your session bankroll:

First, decide which games you want to play and how much you want to bet. Next, find the house edge for casino games you plan to play. Now, multiply each bet you make by the amount of the house percentage.

Finally, multiply that result by the number of bets you think you will make during each session of play. The final amount should give you a ballpark range for how much playing a particular game will cost.

Here’s an example: Suppose you’re playing blackjack for $5 a hand against a house edge of 2 percent. You can play 60 hands each hour. The math looks like this: ($5 X .02) X 60 = $6. In other words, you can expect to lose about $6 an hour at this rate.

Naturally, your results most likely will differ greatly in wins or losses. This depends on your skill level, the conditions under which you’re playing and many other variables (that’s why we call it gambling, remember?).

Still, doing the math can give you some idea of how long your money should last. Plus, this little equation can help you determine how to set your minimum and maximum bets on any game based on your gambling budget.

You’ll probably have to manage a bit of winning if you want to play as long as you’ve planned. Since you’ve planned your trip so nicely, though, there’s really no problem with betting your winnings at the tables or machines. You made your plan and budget so you could have as much fun as possible!

Add your winnings to your daily bankroll if you don’t have or want to use them for anything else.

It’s not a bad idea to hold on to your winnings, either. You might just want to use them tomorrow or the next day. Or you can cash out a portion and keep playing with the rest.

Losing your casino bankroll

It happens to every player. You hit a losing streak and your bankroll disappears before you reach your gaming time limit. You may feel like it’s easy to quit and wait until the money is budgeted for again. Or you may feel determined to keep playing and try to find a way to replenish your lost bankroll.

Online casinos make it easy to do that, so you make it difficult for yourself! It’s easy to make another credit card deposit when the bill isn’t due until next month, but it’s important to resist this urge if it will put you in a bind. Also, if you can’t afford it, don’t fall victim to all the extra online casino bonuses that will be offered to you (unless they’re no deposit bonuses of course).

Keep in mind your own limits, because you can ask them to restrict your credit if they offer more than you want to spend, according to your budget. They’ll make a note that you’re worth more than you’re planning to wager, but they should follow your instructions.

Keep records of your online casino wins and losses

This will help you determine if you’re an overall winner for the year and what games yield the most winnings.

Keeping track of your gambling sessions doesn’t have to be a chore. Simply make a form with headings for you to write down the date, which game you’re playing, how long you’re playing it, how much you bet and how much cash is still in your pocket when you’re done. You can even figure out the amount you won or lost by subtracting your total wagers from the amount you left the game with. If it yields a positive number, you’re a winner! If it’s a negative number, your day wasn’t great and you should record the loss on your form in parentheses.

Your records will even let you keep track of your gambling budget for the whole year! Simply add up all your wins and losses from each gambling session and write down the number in a separate column. That number is your budget indicator—it will let you know how much you’ve won during the year, or when you’ve reached your set limit and should stop. That is, until next year rolls around and you’ve got a whole new bankroll!