Series: Learning to wager to favor yourself

DRAWDOWN

Drawdown.  What is it?  It is technically the amount of money you lose before you start drawing a profit from your buy-in.

First.  When does it occur? It can be in the very beginning of your session or can equally be at the end when you are on your last few wagers before exhausting your buyin. It can be anywhere in the middle as well.

Second.  In my opinion should be calculated with only the amount in front of you. Not collectively from prior sessions or running tallies, etc.  Just concentrate in front of you and don't cloud your concentration or add to your frustration levels.

Third.  Again in my opinion the drawdown must not be viewed and compared to previous drawdowns. The presentments of each and every shoe are different and there is no reason to compare. You have to remember drawdowns fluctuate and will always fluctuate, no rhyme no reason, to define and attempt to figure out when it's going to happen or how come it happens will only cloud your thought process and frame of mind.

Fourth.  Emotions, pressure and other feelings will be triggered within yourself that will not and cannot be avoided. The larger the drawdown the greater and more intense those inner feelings will be. Be ultra conscious of that. If you are, you will be curtailing getting sucked in. Once you get sucked in, you will pretty much lose your buy-in for that session.

Fifth.  Don't confuse drawdown with stop loss. Many will fail to see the difference but there really is. Drawdown is an undetermined and unplanned amount of money that will be lost before you realize a profit that is within your horizon of, 'winning the session and it is time for me to stop', thought and belief you religiously and wholeheartedly subscribe to that governs how you play. Stop loss is simply a set amount of money if you lose out of a buy-in, you will stop playing, no leeway and no questions. Stop loss is not figured into your playing protocol, while drawdown has to be viewed that way and planned for.  Because what you are actually doing if you do include drawdown into your buyin and protocol of playing, is you are combating great negativity that affects every player.

Remember:

It might not always be smooth.....no loss and repetitive winning.....

Just make it as painless and non-destructive as possible. Winners do lose.

Be smart.  Be totally conscious.  Stay in reality.  Realize what the game is and what can help you win.

How and when you win is for the most part up to you. Likewise how much you lose, is for the most part also up to you.

Hi alrelax

Good post. I like the Fifth as shown below from your 1-5 list.  There is certainly a subtle (yet important) difference between drawdown vs stop loss.  That last sentence affects most of us. It is very doubtful that any of us would be feeling optimistic about our upcoming decision if we had just been whacked on say 4 of last 5 decisions and approaching our drawdown.

*A Funny Side Story--I recall once guessing wrong on 7/8 of my first decisions in a shoe. What made it even more memorable is that I had recently been on a two week daily run wining streak with a very high win percentage / just taken a 3-day trip where I had been whacked early on and though recovered some still tagged with an overall trip loss(thus ending my win streak) .

So I was eager to "get back into the saddle" and went out to play the very next evening after returning from my trip(whereas I usually took a day off). Right out of the first shoe of the day I missed on those first 7/8 decisions and literally felt like I had been hit with a 2 x 4. The kicker was to add to my internal pressure of not sticking to a drawdown rule  is a 60ish y.o. couple (in matching shirts/pants), sipping matching pina coladas , and appeared to just be wandering around observing the games. They stand directly behind me and start pecking me on the shoulder asking: "is this game hard to learn?" and several more Q like :  "why don't u just bet the red color because it is winning?" lol.  Though I tried to be polite it certainly didn't help to have them behind me . Thankfully, the dealer finally waived them along and told them  not to stand behind/ask players questions. I ended up losing the shoe--still recall it like it was yesterday. Bottomline: I shouldnt have even been in the casino the next day post the 3day losing trip as Im sure there was carryover of negative emotions. Along with alrelax post above my drawdown rule coupled with the negativity, and my negative internal sentiment, should have kept me out of the shoe after the first several misses on the 7 of 8 losing streak. Lesson learned (the hard way).

".....Fifth.  Don't confuse drawdown with stop loss. Many will fail to see the difference but there really is. Drawdown is an undetermined and unplanned amount of money that will be lost before you realize a profit that is within your horizon of, 'winning the session and it is time for me to stop', thought and belief you religiously and wholeheartedly subscribe to that governs how you play. Stop loss is simply a set amount of money if you lose out of a buy-in, you will stop playing, no leeway and no questions. Stop loss is not figured into your playing protocol, while drawdown has to be viewed that way and planned for.  Because what you are actually doing if you do include drawdown into your buyin and protocol of playing, is you are combating great negativity that affects every player...."



Continued Success,