Generally speaking, if you want to play it safe when you gamble (which you should), then you must manage your bankroll responsibly. Whether playing video poker, blackjack or keno, there are three rules of thumb which responsible gaming advocates, like GAMCARE, strongly recommend. They are:

1) Don't chase after losses

2) Set yourself loss limitations

3) Quit while you're ahead; Play frugally

4) Don't gamble with betting "systems"

Remember to apply these principles to wagers made at all games offered at online casinos. They are general bankroll money management principles.

That said, let's now take a look at the finer aspects of bankroll management - specifically at the video poker machine.

There are few games other than video poker that have sparked as much interest in stretching out a bankroll, so to speak. The reason being is that in order to really come out on top, one must hit the elusive Royal Flush. Going by the odds, a Royal Flush will happen once every 40,000 hands. Of course, there is no predicting exactly when that Royal Flush will hit, and so therefore the concept of stretching out your playing sessions becomes quite feasible. In other words, you have to be in it to win it. To put this in perspective, if you were to play 1,500 hands of video poker, your chances of hitting the Royal would be approximately 1 in 27.

Now, depending on what video poker book you read, you are likely to come across variations of  bankroll management strategy. For instance, video poker guru, Bob Dancer, espouses what he calls a "3 to 5" rule, meaning that you should have three to five times the amount of a Royal Flush in order to never worry about running out of money (so long as you are using perfect strategy). Depending on the stake of the machine, you are looking at a bankroll ranging from approximately $1,000 to beyond $100,000. If you do indeed have that kind of money to spend, you should definitely give Bob Dancer's Video Poker for Winner's CD tutorial or Million Dollar Video Poker book a look over.

However, if you're like many people and are only willing to risk a couple hundred bucks playing video poker, you need to first understand that if you want to win big you will be relying much more on the luck factor. This isn't to say you can't walk away a winner. The idea is to be as frugal as possible. Fittingly enough, Jean Scott's Frugal Video Poker is a must read. One concept that Scott proposes is that bankroll management should not be limited to your gambling funds. It comes down to being thrifty in just about everything you do, which ultimately helps strengthen your bankroll, allowing you to play longer, and ultimately, have more fun.

As mentioned, using systems which chase after losses, like the Martingale, are highly risky and not advised. An alternative to systems, especially for smaller bankrolls, is a strategy that calls for dividing your bankroll into a minimum of 200 coins. If you are playing a $1 machine, this would amount to having a $200 bankroll. Giving yourself a minimum of 200 hands to play provides a relatively fair (but not great) safety net for getting through loss/win fluctuations. Some players will go one step further and apply their winnings toward future bets. On a two coin win (made from a single coin bet), this would entail making a two-coin bet on the next hand. If that were to lose, the next wager would go back to a single coin. This is basically the concept of using your winnings to work for you.

Just remember that nothing is going to infallibly work 100% of the time. Simply put, no matter how large or small your bankroll, when you play video poker, you should expect to be hit with losses. The idea is to minimize those losses as much as possible over the long haul and to stay in the game long enough so as to play more hands and increase your chances of hitting the Royal.