Poker Chasing Losses
The twin evils of gambling are negative expected values and chasing losses. Negative expected values may be casino odds, rakes or commissions. Another way of describing chasing losses is “I will get it back ” syndrome. Gamblers are not just losers. They are big losers. The majority suffers from the human inborn instinct of “chasing lossses” . In other words, you want to get it back.
If you compare casino odds with the interest you earn from the bank saving account, you will realize how powerful casino odds are on the players.
Let’s say the casino odds is 3%. Saving accounts yield or return 3% in one year. Casino yields 3% in ONE bet. Casino make from the gambler in one bet what you make in a year from your saving account. Shocking! Isn’t it?
And if you chase losses, you will invariably lose out of proportion to your modest wins. For example, you may win 1k, 1k, 1k over the first three bets, then lose 1k, 2k, 4k over the next three bets. So, it is not about winning or losing. It is more about how fast you lose.
Now develop the discipline to forget about chasing losses. Your bankroll will notice the difference. May all your wins be swift and large and all your losses slow and small. Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is the author of 'Everything Casino Poker.' The concept of chasing losses is probably the worst one out there. When you think of it, if you lost a lot of money during a single session, you probably played the game for a while that day. You’re likely to be tired and out of focus, meaning your performance will definitely not be as good as at the start of the session.
I was on a pretty big heater (+373, +3781, +852) and this was recently followed by some big losses (-760, -1840). I'm particularly concerned because of how hard I chased in the two losses. Chasing losses is one of the few observable markers of at-risk and problem gambling that may be used to detect early signs of disordered Internet gambling. This study examined loss chasing behaviour in a sample of Internet casino and poker players and the socio-demographic variables, irrational beliefs, and gambling behaviours associated with. Disordered Internet gambling is a psychological disorder that represents an important public health issue due to the increase in highly available and conveniently accessible Internet gambling sites. Chasing losses is one of the few observable markers.
A fellow gambler posted in his blog that for every 1.3 seconds there is a “new” gambling system released for craps, sports betting, poker, roulette, baccarat and so on. And there are easily thousands of worthless gambling systems out there. Only a few gambling systems have merits. You must learn how to review or evaluate whenever a gambling systems is presented to you.
I have covered in my earlier posts in great details the pros and cons of gambling systems. Gambling systems are vulnerable to the full devastating effects of these twin evils of negative expected values and chasing losses.
If you are new to gambling, or if you are a recreational player, you need to learn how to tolerate or accept losses and not to chase losses. This is not easy but it becomes easier with practice and time. If you are an experieced professional, then you may counter the evils of chasing losses by learning strategies of smart chasing of losses. I have described several methods of smart chasing of losses such as HP Johnson’s system, Arthur Irwin Bruce Midas Touch System, modified Monte Carlo system, SF Roulan Fast Roulan and 1221 system as well as Frank Barstow series of systems.
(The modified Monte Carlo system is the system I used to win 160,000 over ten months).
The goal is to keep stakes low, such that your average wins are always higher than your average losses . As a reminder this method works short run only. For this method to work, you must make sure that short term does not become long term. Short term is defined by process, not time. You must learn how to review gambling systems. It is a very important skill in gambling.
Test yourself by buying or borrowing a book on gambling systems and see whether you are able to apply these principles to critically review the author’s ideas, opinions and viewpoints.
Similarly, you counter negative expectations games in two ways.
Video Poker Chasing Losses
1. Define your game plan. It must be finite in terms of number of bets and time. Because within this context, it is possible to use strategies such that your average win is higher than your average loss.
2. Train yourself to spot situations as well as choosing games with positive expected values. In other words, you play only games or situations with positive expectations. Positive expectation is a very reliable and stable platform. Professional gamblers rely on positive expected value systems to make a living.
Gambling Chasing Losses
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Social BookmarkingSometimes it’s wise not to trust anyone when playing poker for high stakes, even if that person happens to be a U.S. Senator.
That was the case in a poker game back in the early 1880s involving U.S. Senator Horace Austin Warner (“Haw”) Tabor from Colorado and his longtime friend, a man by the name of William H. Bush. This tale was first told in the early 1920s in Connecticut’s Bridgeport Times newspaper.
Senator Tabor, who was also a silver mining pioneer, ended up suing Bush during the early part of his senate stint over what Tabor dubiously claimed was a loan in the poker game. Other debts were part of the suit, but the poker game was front and center. Their friendship eroded “into hatred” when Tabor tried to recover money he had lost to Bush.
A lawyer defending Bush said in a court filing that the senator was actually the big loser in the game. Tabor was said to have made an informal deal with Bush so that Tabor could have the opportunity to win back his money and thus maintain his reputation as a poker player.
Apparently the game was about to break, and Tabor didn’t want to quit down big.
Being viewed as a skilled player back then was sometimes paramount. It apparently was shameful to be thought of as a mark at the card table. It would mean you’re a fish in the political arena too. Playing poker was considered an act of performing “practical statesmanship.”
Tabor was considered to be an expert poker player, so when he was “steadily losing ground” in the game against Bush and it became apparent that his odds of “regaining his position in this game were constantly growing slimmer and beautifully less,” Tabor asked his friend for a favor.
While on the ropes, the senator wanted Bush to continue playing him until he at least got even. Tabor said that he needed to climb out of the hole in order to remain well-respected by the Colorado State Legislature and prevent the “waning of his reputation as a statesman.”
Bush committed to keep playing. Under their under-the-table deal, Tabor would honor his losses, but if Tabor came back in the game, he would fork over half of his winnings to Bush in the form of a rebate.
That’s how desperate Tabor was.
When the dust settled, the senator had dropped $1,250 to his buddy, which is roughly equivalent to $25,000 today. His hopes for a comeback in the game had failed. Apparently there were either others in the game or people watching on the sidelines, so Tabor wasn’t thrilled when he had to fork over that sum right then and there. It’s safe to assume he knew the political consequences were also steep for being viewed as a deadbeat gambler.
Tabor, apparently fuming as a sore loser, eventually wanted all of his losses back, claiming the $1,250 defeat was a loan. When the other side of the story came out, Tabor decided that Bush’s legal defense (which apparently was simply the truth) was so appalling that he had a court hold Bush’s attorney in contempt. Tabor was also a local newspaper and opera house owner, as well as a prominent philanthropist.
Tabor was able to persuade the Denver Superior Court to fine the attorney, Williard Teller, a sum of $500 for the disparaging legal rebuttal against him.
The case apparently became so controversial that the Colorado Supreme Court was set to take it up. However, before the state’s high court could make a final judgement, the litigation pitting Tabor against Bush was tossed by the lower court.
It was a win for Bush, who argued in court that the senator had tried to freeroll him.
“[Tabor] has not now nor has he ever had any claim at law, equity, good conscience or by the rules of poker against this defendant, and he can recover for said money only on the grounds of ‘heads I win, tails you lose,’ against which all men should protest.”
Tabor went on to become United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Chester Arthur. He later failed in efforts to become governor of Colorado in 1884, 1886 and 1888. Tabor died in 1899 at the age of 68.