How do you keep track of your bankroll at the table?

I'm pretty new to this forum - been a ton of help - thanks to all who contribute! I've read back through for about a year's worth of posts & haven't seen this subject come up. If there's already a thread, please post a link.

I'm normally a UTH player but now I'm hooked on Craps. At the UTH table, it's easy for me to stack up my chips to keep track of how I'm doing. In my few sessions playing Craps, I haven't really found a good way of arranging my chips to be able to see where I stand at a glance. I like to be able to know that if I'm down a certain amount, it's time to tap out - as well as, if I'm up a certain amount, I'll allow myself another 7-out or two before coloring up.

Are there established ways to arrange chips in the rail that make it easy to count up? Sometimes the reds start adding up & it's a real pain to try to count them when they're tipping over & such. I'm a $5 minimum with $80 - $100 action on the table at some points so I'm mostly dealing with greens & reds.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Alternate colors. Use whites as dividers.

I will typically have 5 reds, 1 white, 5, 1, etc.

Put in an extra white or two between hundred dollar groups. IE, yeah, that 100 is really 105 because of the whites, but what's a couple bucks?

Of course, if you get on a really good roll, you might have a stack of 20 reds, then 20 greens, 20 reds, etc.

I did that, with another $700 in the second row, plus some smaller groups. Of course, at the time, I also had a goofy smile on my face. 😜

If you have a spreadsheet app on your phone you can set it up that everytime you win you punch in the win amount and at the end you have a formula to tally how many chips you have won and the total amount you have won. This is assuming they allow you to use a hand held device at the table. Some do some don't.

Or you can do what DJT does and eyeball things and estimate your win.

Quote: tomo0862

Are there established ways to arrange chips in the rail that make it easy to count up? Sometimes the reds start adding up & it's a real pain to try to count them when they're tipping over & such. I'm a $5 minimum with $80 - $100 action on the table at some points so I'm mostly dealing with greens & reds.

Not established per se, but here's what I'd do if I bought for $300 on a $5 table. I'd get 8 green and 20 red. Exchange 1 red for 5 white for tips. Green closest to me, red and white above. Then play with the reds. If you lose and need change, exchange 4 green for a whole stack of red. That way you can quickly eyeball how much green you have. If you start winning, you can use the white-chip divider trick. If you fill up your top rack with red/white, the dealer should notice and start coloring you up in place to green, e.g., $18 place 6 wins $21, drop $4 for $25. You can do this yourself if the dealer doesn't volunteer -- as they come around to pay your winning bets, have the correct change in your hand and say "4 for 25" or whatever the right change is. For another example, $5 + $10 odds on a 6 off-and-on pays $17; if you have a ton of red/white, drop $8 for $25. The dealer may miss it the first time but usually they pick up on it once they realize what you're doing.

If the front rack gets full or the dealer just doesn't take care of it inline, either take a stack of red and move it to the back or drop the stack and ask for partial color. Then just gauge where you are based on how your back row is doing. I'm not sure what your win or loss limits are, but if you have a particular loss limit and you're willing to stick to it, there's no reason to buy in for more. Just buy in for your limit and play until you've had enough or you're busted.

Since there are 2 rows on the rail I always put my buy in on the first rail and anything that I am ahead on the 2nd rail. Sometimes my goal is to double and sometimes it is to play for x amount of time. The amount I bet depends on where I am compared to my buy in so doing it this way makes it easy to see where I am.

Turn five chips sideways and then five chips the other way so you have a nice alternating stack of groups of five. Makes easier to count. Make groups of four with the $25 chips.

Great ideas folks - thanks! I'm going to try out a couple of different schemes next week on Fremont St.

Always remember to protect your chips similar to the way the casinos do--largest chips closest to the inside is how they do it, I translate that to mean largest chips in the middle of my racks--and place $1 chips on the ends. There are bastards out there who will steal your chips if they are not protected.

I stack in groups of 4 or 5 chips so I can make a quick count. I love it when all the space is filled and I can't stack them that way using both parts of the rail!!

Quote: RonC

Always remember to protect your chips similar to the way the casinos do--largest chips closest to the inside is how they do it, I translate that to mean largest chips in the middle of my racks--and place $1 chips on the ends. There are bastards out there who will steal your chips if they are not protected.

This is why I don't play at crowded tables...

So, why would you buy in for more than your loss limit? Makes no sense.

Was this a serious question?

It's easy to eyeball your chips in the rail. On average, a thumb length is 20 chips. Try it.

You can eyeball them too. If you want to cluster them in groups of ten then do that.

By the way, allowing yourself "another 7-out or two" is the kiss of death. Next think you know, you'll be saying "I'll try another..." And that will be another.

When you decide to leave-- leave.

I line up all the pips according to colors. Green chips I group in sets of four chips them alternate the pips slightly for the next four then back again for the next four and so on. For Reds, Whites and Blacks I do them in sets of five. It gives me something to do while waiting for my numbers to hit.

Quote: standbymyman

So, why would you buy in for more than your loss limit? Makes no sense.

Anyone don't want to loss ever.

Quote: AlanMendelson

Was this a serious question?

Yes, and, thanks for asking - seriously.

This made me think again about standbymyman's comment about buying in for more than my loss limit. It may be different in Craps or Vegas casinos than it is at my local Native American casino where a bigger buy in (maybe twice what I'm willing to lose) normally gets me all the comps I can use.

So, I just carried that forward into my thinking - I'd buy in for $1000 but plan to stop @ $500. Having read through this forum, I now see that the buy in doesn't have much of an effect on comps.

I gamble for two reasons; #1 - entertainment & #2 - comps if they're convenient to use.

Quote: AlanMendelson

By the way, allowing yourself "another 7-out or two" is the kiss of death. Next think you know, you'll be saying "I'll try another..." And that will be another.

When you decide to leave-- leave.

Oh, I sure do leave when I decide to leave. I just need to have quick, accurate, information to do so.

If I'm way down & make a comeback, I'll normally set a comeback point after which I won't risk any more money -

example #1 - $500 buy in, went down below $100, fought my way back to $400 - I'm happy with that & will look back at the time I spent at the table as a fun one & went out on somewhat of a high note.

example #2 - $500 buy in, caught a hot streak and am up X amount of $ more than I'd ever hoped for - I'm willing to try to ride continue riding the hot streak or, maybe catch another short one even if I give back a set amount of my winnings - I call it entertainment!

Thanks