When you’re playing the odds and testing your powers of foresight and logic it’s important to have a plan. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing poker or blackjack, there are a number of core skills that all successful gamblers need to utilise in order to make money.
Although the links between poker and casino games might not always be clear, they are there if you’re willing to look for them. To help uncover these hidden gems and ensure that you’re always equipped to make a profit regardless of your particular persuasion.
Indeed, whether you’re grinding away at the tables on Betfair Poker, spinning slots on Gala, or bluffing Full Tilt, our collection of tips will help you turn the tables in your favour.
Make Variance Your Friend: In the gambling world, whether it’s at a poker table or any other game where the result can go either way, there will always be variance. Often mistaken for luck, variance is essentially the mathematical distribution of a set of results around the expected average.
For example, moving all-in with pocket aces against a pair of deuces has an expectation of around 83%, i.e. you’ll win with aces around 83% of the time. However, just because this is mathematically accurate in the long term, the short-term results can differ from this and you could lose five all-in in a row.
This is variance in action. Short-term results can vary wildly from the expected stats. However, in the long run things will always even out and move towards the 83% ratio as outlined in this scenario. Because of this, you should always make the move that has the best long-term expectation and not let short-term results cloud your judgement.
Learn to Balance the Books: Whenever you’re playing poker, blackjack, roulette or craps, you need to have a system for managing your money. In general, professional gamblers will have a set bankroll (money they can afford to lose) and they will use a small portion of it during a single session.
For example, a blackjack player might have $1,000 to gamble with. When this is the case they will use no more than 5% of this amount during a session. Therefore, in this situation, the player would risk no more than $50 at the blackjack tables. Naturally, as your bankroll fluctuates the actual amount of money you’re risking will change. However, the 5% rule will never change.
Stop, Start, Stop, Start: The final tip for gambling success is to take regular breaks. The human brain can’t concentrate efficiently for more than 30 minutes, so you should always take a break from playing any game to ensure you’re always performing at your best.
The start, stop, start method is a great way to help improve your overall enjoyment and profitability regardless of whether you’re bluffing in a game of poker or taking a chance at the blackjack tables on Betfair Casino.