What do you do with your bankroll?

[RS]

1) What do you do with your bankroll? Do you let it sit in your savings account? Do you put it in a CD or other type of similar low-"income" type account? Stock market? Just let it sit in the bank (or in a brief case in your closet)? Or do you play off a replenishible bankroll, where you keep X amount of units in your BR at all times, and use everything above X as extra spending money?

2) Similar to last question of #1, when do you actually use your winnings? Do you start out with X units, say you're going to play until you hit Y amount of units, then you do whatever you want with that money?

3) Or do you use a combination of both? For example, you might have an EV of $50 per hour. Maybe for every 1 hour of play, you take out $20 for leisure or spending money, then leave the remaining EV ($30) to build your bankroll? Or does this not work due to variance, because you'd be losing $20/hour on top of your already ****ty negative flux?

[blackjackomaha]

I usually kept half my BR on hand in a mixture of cash/chips. The other half sat in a high-yield account at a local financial institution. My initial goal was to win enough so that my BR plus winnings would pay for grad school and put a down payment on a new house (due to interest rates).

Having reached that goal, I am now playing on a smaller replenishable BR. I am trying to get my BR back up to what it once was, but houses are so damn expensive

Once I've got my BR back up to what it once was, I will continue keeping half in a local high-yield account, and half in cash/chips. Any winnings will be split for retirement/paying the house off.

[KJ]

The majority of my BR is in a savings account and CD's, making zilch. CD rates are so low, I think I owe them money. Kidding, of course, but it's not far from that. I know I should be doing so much more in this area, having my money work for me a little more, but, I am just not very knowledgeable in that area. One of my goals this year is to do better in this area.

Of the portion of my BR that I keep closely accessible, the majority is in the form of chips. I don't cash out when I leave a casino. I take the chips with me. I actually cash in first thing each time I walk in a casino. I cash in, then sit down at a table and buy in for cash. I am sure this seems strange to you guys, but small cash buy-ins is part of my style. It immediately conveys your intent to not play long and if the pit does have to 'approve' the buy-in, they usually do so with a distant wave or nod, not giving me a second look, nor requesting a card. I have found that if you sit down with chips already in hand and start playing, the pit, seeing a new face, comes over and asks the dealer what you started with. This puts them in closer proximity and they take a better look at you and already being there are more likely to ask for a players card.

This is the first year I already have my living expenses separate from my BR, so I don't have to re-evaluate until the end of the year. In previous years, I would take a portion of my EV, periodically, but always tried to do so during an upswing or at least flat period. Taking a chunk of your BR during a down swing, had negative mental consequences. It shouldn't matter, but I just felt better drawling down after a positive period if possible.

[zengrifter]

User is banned, content deleted.

[Goatlife]

Once I've got my BR back up to what it once was, I will continue keeping half in a local high-yield account, and half in cash/chips. Any winnings will be split for retirement/paying the house off.

I always wonder about paying off/down the house. I this year bought my first peice of realestate and I locked in a really low interest rate. I for one am not going to pay down my house at all. I don't get this concept. My interest rate is 4 percent. My real estate is going to apprecaite whether i pay down the mortgage or not. I rather take the money I would pay down my house with and def put in retirement account or investment account in all low cost equity ETF's. Your house is still going to apprecaite the same regardless how much money you owe on it so why not leverage your other money to get a better return for "the long run". I dunno, just my opinion.

With my bankroll I am not touching a dollars of it till I can have a .01 ror blackchipping it so i have a way's to go!

[bjarg]

Goldmoney.com beats stocks and CDs

Do you use that zg? How is that working for you?

[blackjackomaha]

I always wonder about paying off/down the house. I this year bought my first peice of realestate and I locked in a really low interest rate. I for one am not going to pay down my house at all. I don't get this concept. My interest rate is 4 percent. My real estate is going to apprecaite whether i pay down the mortgage or not. I rather take the money I would pay down my house with and def put in retirement account or investment account in all low cost equity ETF's. Your house is still going to apprecaite the same regardless how much money you owe on it so why not leverage your other money to get a better return for "the long run". I dunno, just my opinion.

I've had this same discussion with the Mrs. No matter how I calculate it for her, she still wants the "piece of mind" from not having the mortgage payment. Even though after the interest rate deduction on our taxes, our effective interest rate is much lower than the sub-4% we have. The only part of the argument I won was being able to match every dollar paid early with a retirement account deposit. Had to find a happy medium to keep the Mrs happy!

[Goatlife]

I've had this same discussion with the Mrs. No matter how I calculate it for her, she still wants the "piece of mind" from not having the mortgage payment. Even though after the interest rate deduction on our taxes, our effective interest rate is much lower than the sub-4% we have. The only part of the argument I won was being able to match every dollar paid early with a retirement account deposit. Had to find a happy medium to keep the Mrs happy!

That is a completely different story. I thought it was jsut you evaluating the situation....... the logical thing you did is to agree with her. Happy wife, happylife right?

[Goatlife]

yes but i still own the right to the asset so i get all of the appreciation........forget about the interest for minute. I am in my mid to late 20's so if i would rather put the extra mortgage payments in a small cap value Index , VBR. This asset class has return 15% a year since 1926 (with tons of volitility).. I rather put my extra money to work like that... Even puting away a small modest amount can make you a multi millionare if you have the discipline to invest every month... Even if i only get 10-12% year on average.... No thanks i'll deduct the interest off my taxes... i don't want to get in a long debate over this but i prefer securities much more than realestate..... It's just my personal opinion and what im comfortable with.... I also don't want to hi jack this thread...

[Mr2Project]

I eat it.

No, mine is just in a savings account that is at a seperate bank from my regular accounts.

[zengrifter]

User is banned, content deleted.

[TheHypnoToad]

I keep about 1/4 of the bankroll in cash and chips and the rest on deposit, segregated from my other capital. I realise this is sub-optimal and it would be better (partially) invested but exactly how to do this is a really non-trivial problem (mainly to do with liquidity) that I haven't had time to solve. You really don't want to end up buying and selling securities and paying commissions and spreads as a result of your up and down swings. There was some discussion around this on the "blackjack vs stockmarket" thread but nothing even approaching a solution to this problem.

Simplest thing is a high interest account that doesn't have limits on how much you can deposit/withdraw.

[Tom]

I haven't had an active savings account since 2003. I can get better interest from my brokers, compounded continuously, and balance is covered by SIPC (similar to FDIC). FDIC covers $250,000 while SPIC covers $100,000; however, FDIC is scheduled to revert to $100,000 in January 2014. Doesn't matter to me because I keep less than that in cash.

My BR and personal accounts are pretty much blurred, but I use Blackjack winnings to further fund my playing BR and not use for outside. For example, once I reach certain level then I can advance chip color. Or perhaps fund trips outside my normal playing area.