by Mark Pilarski

Dear Mark: Do you have any blackjack money management tips on how to discipline myself on holding on to winnings? It seems all the money I win ends up back in the dealer’s tray. Hardy K.

Teaching people to walk away with some vestige of their winnings can be an exercise in futility. Excuse me while I sigh and roll my eyes. A writer for the Journal of Experimental Psychology I am not. But I can offer you a money management tip that, if you make – no, if you KEEP -- the pledge to stick with it, will work wonders in your ability to leave with a profit.

Pocket your winnings -- yeah, that’s right, start by getting the chips off the felt -- as you win and continue playing with only your principal bankroll. Once your beginning bankroll is lost, count your pocketed winnings and continue playing with only half of your net win (your winnings less your original bankroll), or better yet, leave with all the profit.

For example, if your bankroll for that session were $200, you would pocket all your winnings and continue to play off the original greenbacks. Once the $200 dollars is gone, but your pocketed winnings are $300, play with only with half of the surplus, $50 (that is: $300 -$200=$100, half of which is $50), repeating, burying in your deepest pocket any additional amount won. Personally, I wouldn’t even do that; I’d walk; figuring a 50% return on my money can’t be had even with a “can’t miss” stock pick.

By the way, Hardy, this money management tip will in no way affect the house edge over your play in blackjack, nor does it guarantee that you will win more money. The casino’s built-in advantage in blackjack remains the same whether you apply this money management technique or not.