Online gambling is one of the favorite pastimes of many people. The mix of entertainment, excitement, and of course, the possibility of winning money is what makes gambling such a popular activity among people all over the globe. Simply put, gambling is a lot of fun.
However, all the things that make the activity so entertaining can also cause a lot of problems. Online gambling can sometimes be a whirlwind of emotions, and emotions and finances usually don’t mix that well together.
In this blog, we’ll look into the ways to avoid any problems from the start and deal with them as they appear to make your online gambling experience as enjoyable as possible.
Always Play for Fun – Never for Money
Winning and losing money is an essential component of gambling. Without money on the line, it probably wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining. But at the end of the day, you should always observe gambling as a way to have fun and not a venue to make money.
This isn’t to say you should hope to lose, of course. We all want to win, and if at all possible, win big. But you should be focused on entertainment and be prepared to lose because you’ll lose more often than you win. That’s just how gambling works.
If you play for money first and foremost, there is a flaw in your logic somewhere. You can’t expect to make money with something that’s a losing proposition in the long run. So, let it be a fun activity where you might win some money, but the focus must be on the activity itself, not the end result.
Staying Within Your Means
One of the biggest problems with gambling is defining the fine line where you stop playing for fun and start playing for money. This line is different for each one of us, but there is hardly a human being out there who doesn’t have one.
For example, if you’re someone who deposits $20 or so from time to time, winning $500 or more probably classifies as a big win. If you decide to keep playing with this money, the odds are that you are no longer playing for fun. You’ll be playing stakes you’re not used to and aren’t comfortable with, risking 25 of your average deposits.
To some extent, it might be fine to go for it with your winnings as long as you’re fine with losing your original deposit. After all, you might go on a hot run and make heaps of money.
The problem, however, is in the fact that once you lose that $500, it is going to sting. This loss could trigger you to make another deposit that’s larger than the ones you usually make to try and recoup your losses. All of a sudden, you realize you could have cashed out a lot (for your level of play), but you didn’t, and this can trigger some very emotional and not very reasonable responses.
The best way to counter this and enjoy your time gambling online is by always staying within your means and limits. If you happen to have a big win for your level of play, you should cash out most of it. It’s fine to leave some of it behind and push your luck a bit (we’re all human, after all), but try to withdraw around 80% or so of it. That way, you’ll have something to show for your successful sessions, and you’ll feel great.
Limit Your Playing Time
There is no denying that gambling can be a lot of fun, and it is all too easy to lose the notion of time while you’re playing. However, you should make a conscious effort to limit the number of hours you spend playing, even if you are playing well within your limits and aren’t overly concerned about the money on the line.
The reason for this is the fact that gambling can be incredibly taxing on your mind and your body. All the ups and downs of it will have your emotions going from an all-time high all the way to the bottom – and up again. To an extent, this is perfectly fine, because this is the feeling most of us seek when playing.
However, doing it for too long in any single stretch can really make you tired and drained even if you end up winning. Spending hours playing slots can make you irritable and deflated regardless of the end result.
Since the goal of this blog is to learn how to have the best possible time gambling online, you should definitely try to limit the number of hours you spend playing. In the long run, you’re bound to have much more fun and enjoy every single session much more.
Keep a Tight Grip on Your Finances
Getting carried away while gambling isn’t anything unheard of. With so many different emotions involved, it isn’t that hard to lose perspective and lose more than you intended to. Even if you think this could never happen to you, these things do happen, and when they do, they’re likely to put you in a bad mood, even if the financial loss isn’t that big or significant.
There are ways to avoid this, and if you gamble on a regular basis, you should definitely get ahead of the curve and apply some precautionary measures.
- Establish weekly and monthly limits
- Keep your gambling funds segregated in a different account or e-wallet
- Set deposit limits on your favorite casinos
Establishing limits on how much you’re prepared to lose is a good way to keep you in check. However, this does require a good amount of self-control, especially in those situations where you just know that the next deposit “must” produce a win.
So, you can take things one step further by opening a separate credit card or an e-wallet account that you’ll only use for gambling. You can charge this account as needed, and once the funds are gone, you’ll know you’ve reached your limit. This is one of the best and easiest ways to stay in control of your finances and always know exactly where you are with gambling funds.
Finally, most casinos these days will let you set deposit and loss limits. These are probably the best way to keep yourself from spending too much. Simply set your limits at the start of each week or month, and once you hit the limit, you know you’ve spent what you intended to spend for the particular period.
Take Advantage of Various Casino Promotions
If your goal is to have fun (as it should be), then different casino bonuses and promotions are the best way to extend your playing time and have more entertainment for the same amount of money. Various deposit bonuses, free spins, and competitions will all contribute towards your gambling funds and allow you to play more.
Of course, accepting these promotions usually comes with certain restrictions, so if you happen to win, you might not be able to withdraw immediately. But when viewed from all sides, these promotions are likely to improve your overall satisfaction and significantly limit your own financial exposure.
To this end, it is probably a good idea to have a few solid casinos you play at so that you can move your funds around and pick up a lot of freebies along the way. Whenever you happen to win, you can withdraw the funds and then use a portion of them to deposit to the next casino and take advantage of whatever is on offer there.
Once again, it isn’t all about money, either. By doing this, you’ll have much more fun and make your experience much more versatile. You’ll get to check out different casinos, try all sorts of new games, and enjoy every moment of it. Getting stuck at a single casino playing one or a few of the same games over and over again is rarely the most entertaining thing you could do.
Conclusion: Always Stay in Control
The bottom line is that if you want to make most out of your online gambling experience, you need to always be the one in control. Whether it is about the amount of money at stake or the number of hours spent playing, the only way to really feel good about it is by staying fully in control and only playing when it feels right.
Don’t chase your losses, and don’t play super-long sessions simply because you’re not satisfied with the results so far. When you start to feel tired or annoyed, quit. There is always another day, and you want to play when it makes you feel good. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Of course, I fully realize that all of this is easier said than done, but making conscious efforts towards these goals helps a lot. As you start implementing them, you’re bound to start noticing how you’re enjoying the time spent gambling online much more than before. So, give it a try and see if it works for you as well!
Leave a Reply