At the table: Rail & Session
Quit leaking money! This game is hard enough with you not knowing what you have in your rack, where you stand, and when you're up enough to get out!
Why
We need information to make good decisions. If your rack is a disaster, you can't possibly tell where you stand. And if you don't know where you stand, you're going to make mistakes.
What
Keep your rack organized, separated into quadrants, each with a purpose
Back Right: Your bankroll
Back Left: Tip/Drink/Extra Money
Front Right: Profits
Front Left: Action
Bankroll Section
Here, you keep your session bankroll.
Divide the chips in your bankroll into logical chunks, using either white chips or acrylic lammers to visually separate your chips into sections. The goal here is to be able to look down at your rack and know instantly and exactly how much bankroll you have left, and how many more shooters you can play on.
If you're playing a strategy where you have designated a set amount per shooter, each section should be one shooter's worth of chips
If you're playing a strategy where you are moving money more fluidly, you'll want to separate your bankroll into color-up values (5 reds or 4 greens, or 5 blacks, etc)
NEVER put money onto the table from this section!
Action Section
Use this section to work with the money on the table, during an active roll/shooter.
Money only enters the table from this section
Money leaves the table only to this section
It's important to use this as the basis of your discipline. If you set aside 7 chips per shooter, and this section ends up empty because either you lost it all or it's all on the table in action, that's it.
Your rack is providing you information, and a sense of where you are at any given moment.
Profit Section
Any profits you have go here, divided into color-up sections with lammers or chips
When do you have a profit? When you have your full initial bankroll in your bankroll section, anything extra goes here. This is your potential "take home". As soon as you have your initial bankroll back and a profit that matches your goal, be disciplined enough to leave.
Again, use the information your rack provides you to know exactly when that point is.
Tip and Extra Money Section
Load this up with singles and other small chip amounts. It's a good idea to keep feeding this from the "change" you win on some of your other bets. Use this section for:
Dealer Tokes
Drink Tips
Addng a dollar to pay out to level up (i.e. $15 for $1 on a winning $10 bet on the 5 or 9)
Dropping the occasional Hardway or Horn to cover something
This is not money you intend to gamble with as part of your ongoing strategy. Use this to get the dealers involved, and to make making change easier, not as a way to press up your active bets.
Working the Rack
As you play, follow these basic guidelines
When a new shooter is starting out, pull one shooters worth of money from your bankroll and move it to the Action section
When that shooter or hand is completed
Evaluate your rack
Take whatever money have in the Active section and first: Replenish your bankroll to it's startng value, if you can.
Take any remaining chips and move them to the Profit section
Evaluate where you are
If you are not at your profit goal, pull another shooter's worth of chips to the action section and start the process again
You may need to pull chips out of profit if you are no longer at max bankroll.
Video
Last updated
Was this helpful?