Page 6 - May 2008 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Bill Burton: About Gambling
EKeeping Your Winnings
verybody loves to win, and it gives us great pleasure when we beat the odds at the casino. I think that most of us who visit casinos on a regular basis are optimists at heart. We know that the games favor the house yet we enjoy playing them and have hopes that we will overcome the odds. People win every day, so our chances are just as good as the next person’s to hit a jackpot and be a winner.
What you de ne as winning can be somewhat subjective based on your own experience and current nancial status. A $100 win might be considered big to someone who started with ten dollars playing a nickel slot machine, but it would be a small win for someone wagering ve or ten dollars a spin on a high-limit slot machine. Your wins can fall into four categories that are based on your starting bankroll.
Here are some suggestions for each winning situation to insure that you keep some what you win. Remember, it is easy to walk away when all your money is gone, but it is a lot harder to walk away when you win. What you do with the money you have won will ultimately decide whether you are a winner or loser.
Small Win
I consider a small win to be ve times your starting bankroll or less. For example, if you start playing with $20 and you win $100, that would be ve times your starting bankroll. e best way to insure you will stay a winner is to lock up your initial starting money along with a small pro t. I suggest about ten percent of your win. You can then play with the remainder of your winnings. If you continue to win, add a percentage to your pro ts and keep playing.
Medium Win
A medium win is between ve to ten times your starting bankroll. For example, if you start with $100 and win a $1,000 jackpot, that would be ten times
your starting bankroll. With a medium-
sized jackpot, I like using the one- third rule. Continue playing with one-third of the money you have
won. You can put one third
into a gambling account to use during future casino visits.
e remainder of the money you can spend on something special that you will enjoy that is not gambling- related. Perhaps it might be a nice dinner at a gourmet restaurant or some new electronic gadget. When you purchase a special item with your winnings you have something tangible to show for it.
Large Win
A large win is any jackpot that is more than ten times your starting bankroll, or a jackpot of $1,200 or more, which requires the casino to give you a W-2G and report your winnings to the IRS. When you receive a W-2G you will have to pay taxes on your winnings when you le your income tax return. If you hit a large jackpot, I suggest using the quarter rule.
Immediately set aside 25 percent to cover taxes so you won’t get caught short come tax time. And I would put 25 percent into a gambling account to use for future casino visits. As I do with a medium-sized jackpot, I would also use a quarter of the money to spend on something special that is not gambling- related. e other quarter of the winnings can be used for gambling, however, if it is a very large amount you should probably use less. If you hit a $10,000 jackpot you shouldn’t plan to gamble away $2,500 for the rest of your day.
Life Changing Win
Any jackpot over $100,000 is probably a life-changing amount for most of us. One of the most sensible solutions for dealing with a big nancial windfall is very simple yet practical. Put two-thirds of the money you win into a bank CD or some other investment
that you cannot touch for a full year. is will give you time to think about the money and formulate a plan for your nancial future. You can still use the remaining third of your winnings that you didn’t lock away to celebrate and enjoy while you develop a plan to keep your new-found nancial freedom for the rest of your life.
Be a Winner
Regardless of the size of jackpot you hit, you can only be a winner if you actually leave the casino with more money than you started with. Hitting a jackpot and gambling back all of the money you won makes you
a loser.
e biggest downfall for anyone winning
money is getting greedy. Players may start playing higher denomination machines or make foolish bets on table games in hopes of winning more. Many players feel that once they have won money, they are playing with the casino’s money as if it had less value because they won it. You
have to remember that once you win money, it is your money and you should be prudent
about how you spend it. Enjoy your win!
Until next time, remember: “Luck comes and goes...Knowledge Stays Forever.”
Bill Burton is the Casino Gambling Guide and columnist for the Internet portal About.com, located at http://casinogambling.about.com. He is the author of 1000 Best Casino Gambling Secrets and Get the Edge at Low Limit Texas Hold’em available online at www.billburton.com. He is also an
instructor for Golden Touch Craps, http://www.thecrapsclub.com.
Page 6
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
May 2008
About Gambling with Bill Burton