Stop Loss Limits
Dominator posts

Hi All,
Someone asked about stop loss limits on an earlier post so we should start a new discussion on it.

To me this is one of the most difficult questions to answer as well as one of the biggest reasons of failure at the tables. It takes discipline and more discipline to honor your stop loss.

First as Frank says during the classroom everyone needs a G401, that is a gambling account or BR that is used ONLY for gambling and is money you don’t need to pay the car payment. Even if you are making enough money at your day job to be able to afford to go to the casinos with money you can take out of your checking account DON’T! Do yourself a favor, instead of taking the money out and going to a casino, take the money out and OPEN a G401 account today and then take it out from that account. Now, once this account is opened, you can take out monies, but make a pact with yourself, only take out a % of it. What ever that percentage is your business. Yes, we know the rule of thumb is 10%, but for some of us, because of our skill level we use more. Just be honest with yourself as far as this percentage is concerned and STICK to it. Let this G401 build it self up thru winnings and thru your deposits into it. You all know that I believe that this game of craps is 80% mental, and there is nothing that is worse for your mental state at the tables to loss more than you can.

We have all been guilty of reaching into our pocket for more money, I have! Is this crazy or what? It really doesn’t matter if you say to yourself that I will only loss 1/2 of my buy in or all of my buy in. Some of us buy in for more than they want to loss just because of comps, and some of us buy in for what they totally want to loss, and some of us, don’t buy in for the total they want to loss at one session. I do this, I like to buy in for less, it makes me more disciplined. Heck, last weekend I only bought in for $200 at Potawanami Casino and left with $332. I wanted to see if I could have the discipline at a casino that takes forever to get the dice, if I could stick to the best bets on other shooters. It was a form of practice for me in DISCIPLINE.

I ask each of you to dig down deep into your mind pocket and:

1. Start a G401 account this week
2. Make a pact with yourself that you will ad hear to your percentage of withdrawals for a period of two months. See if you don’t become a better player by doing this

Dominator

Willie Johnson responds

I opened an account just for gambling and it has helped me psychologically because I don’t worry about the money being used for other things. The money in that account is just for gambling. It makes the losses easier, and keeps me calm so that I can win more. Very good advice, Dominator.

DJ responds

Dom,
Thank you for starting this thread, I had originally asked the question of HNArtist about his philosophy on stop loss.

I started a 401g some time ago, based upon info in one of Frank’s books, I believe. It helps keep everything more organized and separate and easier to keep track of wins and losses.

Howard’s response of a 50% stop loss makes sense to me, but I guess some of that is based upon your confidence in coming back. I know in the past you have said that you practice with chips and see if you can make a come back from a low point.

Do you have any ideas on a set stop loss versus one’s level of skill or confidence?

Thanks
DJ

Dominator responds

Hi DJ,

As I said above, first and foremost you need discipline, so the answer is two fold. I by in for more than I expect to loss on a 50% loss limit because I will sometimes play the comp game and by buying in for a bigger amount it shows the pit that I am willing to loss more.

So here is what I say. Look at your 401G and for any casino trip that is extended,i. e. a trip to Vegas, AC, or something like that, and take 10 to 20% for that trip. Break that amount down in session amounts, and DO NOT PLAY WITH ANY MORE for any session. Now if you want to play for some comps, HAVE DISCIPLINE, that is only loss what you have positioned yourself to loss,

As far as positioning yourself against your skill level, this takes documentation at the tables. Tenor and I used to chart our throws at the tables. Then we would do a calculation for regression betting. Now this was over a 6 month period before we started this regression betting. We found that we could hit a box number 90+ % of the time, within 4 throws of the dice. We then bet a little more than we should on the 6 and 8 so we could regress down to a VERY small amount. WE built up of BR this way.

I hope this helps, if not ask more!
Dominator

Double Down Dave responds

I don’t put caps on my wins as Frank suggested, why limit yourself, but I do put a stop on what I can lose. My buyin is the total sum I am willing to gamble with. That goes, I go.

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