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When Losing Happens
If you play craps long enough, there will come a time when you will experience a string of losses that will cause you to take a look at your flaws and weaknesses. To me, losses are a growth thing. It forces me to reflect and admit to myself if I am adhering to the fundamentals of the game.
I know from my own observation that losses, especially a string of them, can shake your confidence. You find yourself questioning your grasp of the game. You become indecisive, doubtful and tentative. You might feel sorry for yourself or worse, you turn bitter or angry.
Compounding your losses, you then regroup and in the process of engaging in the game you become so gun shy that when any good rolls happen at the table you have become too overwhelmed by your previous losses to respond. You feel out of sync and can't seem to make a correct decision about the game.
So, what do you do when annoying losses develop momentum and create dysfunction in your game?
Here's what I do. I concentrate on how I am playing and not whether I am winning. So, strive to be proud of the way you played, win or lose. With good rolls or bad, I will achieve a sense of satisfaction by actually being proud of the way I played even if it means I had a loss. All I can ever do in the game is make correct decisions moment by moment for each session I find myself in.
Next, when too many losses occur, I take a step back and regroup. This way I won't become a slave to my losses. If you are going to lose, you are going to lose. Do not magnify a losing disaster. Have a limit.
Sometimes even the best of players, including the Dice Coach, have to accept a loss, and have to set a limit. And, they understand that the outcome of the game can be - not how much you win, but how much you do not lose.
I find that keeping the following thoughts in mind helps me with managing the fluctuations in my game, thereby maintaining a proper perspective when a loss does occur.
1) Strive to play well during every session. Enjoy the game and the people at the table. As
Heavy of Axis Power Craps would say, "if it ain't fun, it's time to run."
2) Be respectful of other players. Never mock another player's strategy or performance. I
have seen these players cash out more money than even the best players at the game. So
please honor them. It is not our role to be critical of how other players win their money.
3) Make an agreement with yourself that if you never win another nickel from the game, the
people that you meet and the experiences you share through your playing experiences will be
forever priceless.
We must not forget the adage that you have to "play by the year, and consider the game to be one long session running over a lifetime." Prepared and playing with a proper and sufficient bankroll, know that you are playing a game of chance and that ups and downs will occur with your game.
Acknowledge that winning money in this game is a non-linear process and your success is made up of a series of one step backward to advance two steps forward. Embrace the up and down pattern that occurs on your way to winning. I can not stress enough that playing undercapitalized will not allow you to even play to a point of experiencing the zig zag of the winning money with this game. Maintain a dedicated bankroll.
As with anything in life, there are good days and bad days. When it comes to your craps game you will inevitably have times when you will lose. Accept this easily and willingly as part of the game.
So, when losing happens, really "swim" in it, learn to embrace and accept and release it. Then, smile and move on. Don't complain, because you now know "how to lose like a winner."
Soft Touch
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If you think of a casino as your bank, you should know that the casino thinks of you the same way. - From Wit & Wisdom To Help You Win, by John Gollehon - |
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