Been mucking around with a few different ways of sizing bets on pokies lately, just to see what actually feels sustainable over a normal session and what turns into a mess fast. Not talking miracle systems or anything like that, more just the usual stuff people try - same bet the whole time, nudging it up after a win, stepping down when the balance starts getting ugly, that sort of thing.
The one that held up best for me was keeping the spin amount the same from start to finish. Bit boring, yeah, but it made the session easier to read and I wasn't burning through the bank in 10 minutes because I got stubborn. I also tried small increases after a decent feature hit, only using profit, and that was alright as long as I capped it pretty quick. Once I started doing the classic chase after a dry patch though... bloody hell. A few dead spins on a high vol game and suddenly the bet size is bigger than it should be, and now you're playing catch-up instead of just playing.
What helped more than any fancy progression was setting the session bank first and matching the bet to that. If I had enough for roughly 100 to 150 spins at the starting level, I felt way more settled. If the balance dropped to about half, I'd either cut the bet or just call it. Same if I got a nice bump early, sometimes I'd lock a bit away and keep going lighter. Sounds basic, but honestly that did more for me than any system I scribbled down on paper during the arvo.
Keen to hear what other punters reckon. Do you stick with one spin value the whole session, or do you move it around depending on wins and dry spells? And does your approach change much between low-ish vol games and the real swingy stuff?