Big Risk Big

Reward

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Bet Big Most gamblers will at one point or another recall a particular feeling they had at a certain point in their betting careers when something inside whispered to go all in, to wager an unusually large bet, to place all their proverbial eggs in a single basket. There’s no rational explanation for when these moments arise, or for that matter why they arise at all, but most people feel some sense of divine influence or some external non-reasonable source.

Big Reward Unfortunately, it tends not to work out much the time. It’s tempting to sometimes wager everything in a single bet. On a roulette table, for instance, you might suddenly think that black 25 looks inexplicably attractive and place all your chips on that square.

Bet Big Bearing in mind that a single-square roulette bet will pay at 35:1, that’s an enormous profit to make! But the odds of even winning in the first place are against you, which is why most players will use safer betting options to hedge their bets and therefore spread their risk. Of course, the corollary of spreading risk is splitting reward. It’s a game of chance that in many ways mirrors the operations of the stock market.

Big Reward Investors either put their money in high-risk, even volatile, investments (potentially netting them incredible profits in a short space of time) or in more stable, but less immediate accounts. High-risk investments are fantastic if you have money to spare (that is, money which is non-essential to support the basics of your lifestyle), but devastating if you’ve put yourself in a reliant position – hoping, perhaps, that a quick and large-scale reward could help settle a debt of some sort. These schemes often fail with disastrous effects.

Bet Big On further inspection, then, that tiny voice at the back of your mind whispering the seductive advice to bet big, increase risk, and go all in is probably just the voice of illogical hope. Could you win and walk away wealthy? The chance is there. But it’s fairly low. Admittedly, though, a fair number of stories exist of players who have beaten their odds and won unfathomably large sums of money.

Big Reward Stories like Patricia Demauro, who defied all odds when in 2003 she maintained a 4-hour lucky winning streak at the Borgata in Atlantic City. Demauro used a mere $100 buy-in, and had rolled 154 times before finally crapping out. The hotel attached to the casino where she began her massive winning spree was so excited for Ms. Demauro that they broke out a bottle of champagne to celebrate her amazing win.

Bet big Stories like Demauro’s are inspiring. They’re a testament to the fact that even the most unlikely win is still possible. It’s not probable, but occasionally fate might decide to smile on you. The next time you hear that still small voice to bet huge, bet with risk, and hope for the best - Think of Demauro, but also think of the many thousands of others who have not been so lucky.