If you’re a regular reader, you know that slots are designed with a house edge – meaning they will, over time, make money for the casino. That’s the sort of fact that makes questions like this difficult to answer:
If I go to the casino with $200 and want to leave with $400 or more… do you suggest playing just one machine with various bet levels or staying low bets and only give each machine $35 to $50?
Debbie R.
The one surefire way to arrive at the casino with $200 and leave with $400 is to go to the ATM and withdraw $200. Because outside of that, it’s up to chance.
We unfortunately don’t have advice to give because we don’t recommend the scenario of trying to double your money at the casino. Let’s say you get to $350 because things are going well. You keep playing, thinking it’s just $50 more, but then you get on a losing streak and lose it all.
Many players will look back at that scenario and kick themselves for not quitting while they’re ahead. Setting a target that requires more bets that have a house edge just means a higher likelihood things won’t go your way.
The least risky scenario might be the closest thing to a coin flip bet you can accomplish – one $200 hand of Blackjack, betting $200 on red or black on single zero roulette, something like that. But that’s not particularly satisfying to those who are looking to play slots or actually enjoy their time at the casino.
So we don’t have any suggestions on how to double your money other than to not make that your goal. Instead, set parameters for how you wish to enjoy that $200. If you happen to win, consider evolving your plan to factor going home with money.
Looking for more bankroll management tips? We’ve got you covered!
Here’s a recent example from our gambling. We went to the casino and put $100 into a machine. We happened to get a bonus quickly, and ultimately we won $150 on that machine. Then we went to another machine, caught another lucky break, and had a $200 bonus that time. Now we’re sitting on $450 from our original $100.
The odds of that aren’t great – we’ve had sessions where we haven’t caught a bonus on slots at all. After a couple of quick losses on other slots, we recalibrated, and decided to shift to a $3 Blackjack table, where we played for an additional 4 hours and won $50. We ended the day going home $300 ahead.
‘Normally that doesn’t happen, but we were able to take home some money by shifting gears when we wanted to lock in a gain by slowing down the risk of spending it all back. In that example, that bankrolled future trips that would have otherwise come out of our entertainment budget, as well as paid for an item we had looked to acquire and was able to use the extra money to get sooner.
For some players, that might mean putting money in a winners bank. For others, it may be shifting what they play to games that cost less to play for awhile. For others, it may be resetting the clock, starting with the $200 again, and locking in the rest as a guaranteed win regardless of how that $200 goes.
But ultimately, leaving the casino with money means being willing to review where you are, especially when ahead, and set new stop points. Otherwise, it can be tempting to set a target that’s too out of reach, have things go the other way, and leave with nothing to show for it. Sometimes it’s better to leave with money in your pocket, allowing another chance to have a casino outing without having to dip back into your wallet for more.
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