Of course, the goal is never to lose, but losing is part of slots.
When I have my risk scales for each game and say that you can lose X number of spins, that’s really what you can lose in worst-case scenarios. So if you’re thinking of playing one of those games that happen to be left in a positive state, you need to know how much you could be risking.
Well, I found this 1,633 Phoenix Link example on a cruise ship, and I knew the risks going in:
Grand slam find?
It can almost never be classified as such with this game. I knew I had enough money on me to finish the play (over $10,000), but I also wasn’t really in the mood to light that much money on fire with just a small short-term edge. On the other hand, turning down a 1,633 on Phoenix Link seemed equally nauseating.
Further, I happened to be on a cruise where I wanted to show some action, so it was even more incentivizing to play it, even with worse paybacks. I started by sending out a feeler text to some trusted friends to see what they thought. I then offered to sell them a large piece of the risk and profit.
We ended up finding another person who wanted a small piece, so before I even sat down to play, I had sold 80 percent of the play. Now that’s called minimizing risk!
As you can see from the video at the end, the play went as badly as it possibly could have gone, and I was “only” on the hook for $1,542 of the $7,710 loss:
It was a disappointing result to be sure, and I felt bad that four other people lost a lot of money, but everyone knew the risks going in.
Chopping plays won’t often be for risks of this magnitude. Often, it will be someone broke at a casino who wants a small piece of something they found on the casino floor. My example turned out to be a horror show, but at least on my end, I showed a ton of play and limited the damage to my wallet.
Above all, if you chop anything, make sure you trust the person. Also, make sure there is no possibility for confusion. Discuss how you want to handle taxes on hand pays should that happen. I’d always advise filming when possible too, even if that’s not allowed at every casino. Even if there’s trust, getting everything on film removes any possible gray area.
I would never screw anyone over should we win something absurd like $50,000, and I knew they were all good for paying should we lose. That said, I told them I would film the encounter. When it’s potentially thousands of dollars, people like seeing footage of their investment.
Here is that investment:
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