Right, exactly.
The idea is basically that if you want to be fishing as quickly as possible, you can reel it in. If you just want to be more relaxed and aren’t in a hurry because you’re taking a break, you can let it bob toward shore on its own. Either way you’re getting the same number of chances to catch the fish (again, depending on how far out you cast and your lure).
The “how far out you cast determines how many chances you get” comes into play because the farther out you cast, the farther you may have to reel in a fish on the hook (and the more chance of your line breaking). So it’s like a risk/reward of, do I cast a medium/close distance and if I get a bite I’ll have an easier time reeling it in, but I’ll get fewer overall chances on this lure before it breaks, or do I cast really far and maximize the use of this lure, but risk snapping my line if I hook a fish far from shore?