Bankroll Dilemma.

You are used to play poker online, but you have no more money to play with.

A friend invited you to go to a casino with him and you did, just out of curiosity, not to play anything. But after sitting next to him and watching him spin and spin at this slot machine, you got tempted and you pulled the only $50 you had out of your pocket. A minute later, it was inside the machine in front of you and you were spinning too. As your credit went down to $10, you hit something and a number started rolling till it stopped at $200.

Now you can cash it out, go deposit it in your favorite poker site or you can keep spinning.

Is $200 enough for you as a poker BR?
Do you feel lucky enough to keep spinning?
Or are you going to take the safer way?

Take it out and roll your poker site .. slots lose in the long run

puzzlefish said:

Take it out and roll your poker site .. slots lose in the long run

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Totally agree. You can lose that $200 as fast as you won it.

$200 is not an amount that changes your life, but when thinking about poker it is "something". I would never spent it to slot machine and I think if I would have won it it would be the perfect time to quit. So my choice would bee to take the money and deposit it to a poker site. Would not spend it on poker at casino as my "thing" is playing online.

Take the money, depending on the jackpot the machine needs to make the money back as they work on a % pay out.

I would take $150, and continue with $50 for a chance for a bigger win

Gotta take the $200, but the reality is that I wouldn't be putting my $50 in anyway!!

I would be hoping there's a poker tournament that day at the casino and entering that!!

tuitui said:

$200 is not an amount that changes your life, but when thinking about poker it is "something". I would never spent it to slot machine and I think if I would have won it it would be the perfect time to quit. So my choice would bee to take the money and deposit it to a poker site. Would not spend it on poker at casino as my "thing" is playing online.

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Fair enough. Though I prefer live poker myself, I understand that you want to take it to a familiar ground.

bazza155 said:

Take the money, depending on the jackpot the machine needs to make the money back as they work on a % pay out.

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I sense some hesitation there .
Taking the money is cashing it out and leave the machine behind. No thinking about Jackpots or percentages.

maronza1 said:

I would take $150, and continue with $50 for a chance for a bigger win

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Not surprising at all. I wouldn't even be surprised if you continue with another $50 if you lose the 1st one. "Ron the gambler" 😝🤪😂🤣.

SpanRmonka said:

Gotta take the $200, but the reality is that I wouldn't be putting my $50 in anyway!!

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I would've taken that money too, especially that I know nothing about slots.
As to putting the $50 in, we're just using our imagination a little 😜😂.

I’d cash it out without hesitation.
$200 might not be a full bankroll, but it’s a start — especially online. That’s enough to grind micro-stakes properly, rebuild discipline, and let skill (not luck) do the work. Slots already did their job by giving me a second chance; pressing the button again is just giving that edge back to the house.
Poker is where I trust my decisions. Slots are pure variance. I’d rather turn $200 into a long grind with control than risk it all on a few spins and walk away with nothing.
Luck opened the door — bankroll management keeps it open.

I know that the house has the edge, and the longer I play. the higher the chance I go away a losing player- so I leave.

Me personally i would cashout those 200 united States of America Dollars and put them on a poker site. In the long run im going to loose at slots and i prefer to play Poker.

Alpha737 said:

I’d cash it out without hesitation.
$200 might not be a full bankroll, but it’s a start — especially online. That’s enough to grind micro-stakes properly, rebuild discipline, and let skill (not luck) do the work. Slots already did their job by giving me a second chance; pressing the button again is just giving that edge back to the house.
Poker is where I trust my decisions. Slots are pure variance. I’d rather turn $200 into a long grind with control than risk it all on a few spins and walk away with nothing.
Luck opened the door — bankroll management keeps it open.

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Well said. I would do the same exact thing. Though $200 is not a big win, why risk giving it back when it can be used to keep building.

Take it & RUN

bowserdon said:

Take it & RUN

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Don't you think that statement needs to be explained a bit?

$200 is definitely enough to start a poker bankroll with - it's may not be the stakes you were playing at before, but that's enough to fund playing 2NL online or maybe $5 MTT if your cash rate is better than 15% - you have to start somewhere and if you can be properly rolled to play the microstakes, that to me would be a +EV decision than risking that $200 in the slot machine to try and run that up to much more. More than likely you'll lose the $200 and have no bankroll - or money to get home with.

slots are terrible glad u won tho, but it won't last forever.

CRStals said:

$200 is definitely enough to start a poker bankroll with - it's may not be the stakes you were playing at before, but that's enough to fund playing 2NL online or maybe $5 MTT if your cash rate is better than 15% - you have to start somewhere and if you can be properly rolled to play the microstakes, that to me would be a +EV decision than risking that $200 in the slot machine to try and run that up to much more. More than likely you'll lose the $200 and have no bankroll - or money to get home with.

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You're totally right Chris.

If that $200 is used wisely, in some small buy-in MTTs or micro stakes, and with some volume, patience and discipline, it could certainly grow into a more comfortable BR.

Thank you for the insights too.

LUKADONCICMVP said:

slots are terrible glad u won tho, but it won't last forever.

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The topic is rather about what would you do.
So, imagine that what's been said in the 1st post happened to you, then what would be your decision and why?

Well, I had $50 and now I have $200. I would definitely keep the $200, because playing poker isn't “gambling,” and $200 would pay for a lot of tournaments. Good luck, Sami!

DPoker33 said:

Well, I had $50 and now I have $200. I would definitely keep the $200, because playing poker isn't “gambling,” and $200 would pay for a lot of tournaments. Good luck, Sami!

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Definitely the optimal decision. Only gamblers who don't play poker would decide otherwise.
Best of luck to you Diva, especially in the new league season .

My brain kinda shuts off at the part between me looking at a $50 bill and then putting anything into a slot machine but you have to frame what poker is to you in your mind.

It kinda sounds like you shouldn't have been playing with that $50? Don't gamble with money you can't afford to lose.

Casino games are -EV If you just want to gamble with money you can afford to do either. blackjack hits the hardest for me on the rare occasion that I do just gamble. But I've already written that money off.

If you look at poker as something you want to play and improve at and make money from over the long term. Be honest if you could or should have been playing with that initial $50 and then put either $150 or the full $200 into a "Poker Fund"

The fact that a $50 bill just happened to make it's way from your wallet into a slot machine while you're kind of trying to play it off like it just happened it a mentality that is going to cause you a lot of trouble in poker unless you explicitly separate your funds and will probably destroy your life casino gambling.

If you're trying to say you put the $50 you allocated towards poker into slots and ran it up GG I'm glad you won but I wouldn't do that again or go about things that way.

If I'm dropping $50 at the casino with my friends one night and happen to run that to $200 I might decide to put the money I won on a poker site, but no way am I associating the two, it would be a transfer from my "Entertainment Fund" to my "Poker Fund" not a universal "Gambling Fund" if that's a way I can put it.

Just the way I look at the two tho, why put in effort to get good at one game to torch it playing a game where the house always wins and calling it the same money.

GL

EDS

najisami said:

Definitely the optimal decision. Only gamblers who don't play poker would decide otherwise.
Best of luck to you Diva, especially in the new league season .

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I'm not participating in the winter league, Sami! Maybe next time! Thank you! Good luck to you in the league and other tournaments!🍀