It's funny how the word "dime" has taken on a whole new meaning in gambler-speak. Back in the days when I was moving money in Vegas, the word "dime" meant $1000, as in you were putting two dimes or $2,000 on the Bulls.
The word dime itself differentiated the high roller from the little fishes when it came to knowing who-was-who in sports-wagering circles.
Times have changed, however, because now you rarely hear anyone talking about moving a dime on a game. I think the Internet, thanks to the advent of online betting, is responsible for the change.
Today, the word "dime" is more often used to signify how games are rated. A lot of handicappers use the dime rating system; I have been for years and I see Chuck O'Brien (who must be a charter member of Red Sox Nation and bleed Celtic Green) at this site uses it too.
The dime rating system is so simple and easy to understand in terms of money-management. Look, my plays are rated on a 10 dime to 100 dime scale. A 20 dimer is twice as strong as a 10 dimer; a 30 dimer is three times as strong, etc., etc.
Just remember that no money-management system is foolproof; you've got to have a bankroll allocation system for yourself. What I mean is, if I've got 40 dimes of action today, you've got to know how much of your bankroll for the day or week you're going to put down on that 40 dimes of action.
Here's a simple way of looking at it: If you have $200 you're willing to wager today, and I have 40 dimes of action - a 25 dimer plus a 10 dimer and 5 dimer - you should take that $200 and divide it by 40. That will give you a per dime unit cost of $5.
My 25 dime play will now be worth a $125 investment. The 10 dimer is worth $50; the 5 dimer another $25. Do the math and you get $200, your total original investment.
Now that's a good example of maximum bankroll allocation for a single day's action. Let's say instead you have $700 to wager in a week. In that case, you would want to divide the $700 by seven days, leaving you with $100 to bet per day.
As for my ratings' strategy, as you read above, the key for me is spotting bad numbers. The worse the number - as in the bigger discrepancy between what I think it should be and what it actually is in Vegas - the bigger the play.
Understand this: I am an opportunist. Whether I'm up or down, when I see an opportunity to make big money, I go for it.