Well the idea was that your game only lasts a month or so. At the end of the cycle you collect your winnings or losses and that's it. Find a new game.
I used to play a text based MMORPG where a newbie could level up a character within four months. It was pretty exciting and because accumulated game turns maxxed out at six hours, I used to set my alarm clock to wake up early to utilise them to the full.
So, you could have cycles more than a month at a go; or, simultaneously, different games could have varying cycle lengths.