Playing with scared money? When scared money plays.
What is scared money? Scared money can come in several ways. It can be the money you bring with you to the table.
It may not be enough for the level of play you are anticipating at the table minimum you are playing at. The money you brought to the table may have been ear marked for food, rent or a car payment. Under these conditions you are going to be worried about losing and your frame of mind will be negative.
Negative thoughts will prevent you from making the right bets at the right time and cause you to make wrong bets chasing your lost money. You need a bankroll of money that is not needed for any other purposes and can be lost without putting a financial burden on your family.
The size of your bankroll depends on your comfort zone and what you feel you need to survive some loses and keep yourself in a position to recover your losses. Each individual will be different. Some of you will be able to play with a small bankroll and will have modest wins and losses. Myself, I feel I need three to four times what I am willing to lose to maintain my comfort zone.
How do we recognize other people’s scared money? They are very easy to identify. When someone comes up to the table with four or five chips in his hand and doesn’t put them on the rack, he is holding scared money or what’s left of his scared money. Don’t bet on him.
Another one is the guy that pushes his way into the table and throws $20-$30 of crumpled up bills on the table and bets it all on the field. Another scared money loser.
Then there is the guy who doesn’t make a bet till he gets the dice. He puts his two chips on the PL and then shakes rattle and fling the dice as hard as he can to the other end of the table. He stood by and watched three DI’s in front of him have decent hands. He should have taken notes.
How about the loud mouth at the end of the table who keeps yelling for hardways and has no other bets? He’s shooting for the moon. If he wasn’t playing with scared money, he would be making more intelligence bets.
If you are scared to make the bet, don’t make it. Sufficient bankroll is just as important as your grip, set and toss.
Charlie009
