That controlled pattern costs the good player an average of $22 per game. But if the money flow were not controlled, the continued heavy losses of poor players A and B could destroy the game, costing the good player his $17,400 winnings over those one hundred sessions. That $22 per session is his insurance premium for keeping the game going at high-profit conditions. The good player keeps performance records to determine the cost, value, and effectiveness of his control over the money flow. Money-flow control normally costs him 10-15 percent of his net winnings.

The good player usually takes control of the money flow during the early rounds, when his betting influence can be the greatest at the lowest cost. He alters the money-flow patterns by the following methods:

• He helps and favors the poorest players at the expense of the better players whenever practical.
• He drives the poor players out with first-round bets when a better player holds a strong hand. And conversely. he uses first-round bets to keep the better players in when a poor player holds a strong hand.
• He avoids, when practical, playing against a poor player after everyone else has folded in order to decrease his advantage over the poor player at a minimum cost. He also tries to make his least favorable plays (e.g., his experimental, image-building, and long-term strategy plays) against the poorest players.

John Finn spends some of his winnings to hold big losers like Sid Bennett and Ted Fehr in the game. The following data from John’s records indicate that his insurance costs are profitable investments.