Gambling, like drinking is a way to get entertained and have a good time. And just like drinking, you can overdo it. A drink is fine, 10 drinks and getting sick in your friend’s car is too much. How can you gamble responsibly?
Remember the odds
Before you go gambling, sober up with those odds. You are more likely to die of a bee sting (6 times more likely) or get struck by lightening (50 times more likely) than winning the lottery.
Casinos are made to make money. Someone has to pay for the impressive building on Vegas’ Stripe, the million bulbs of lightening, the ”free” drinks and the lightly dressed waitresses’ salaries (although there are free things to do in Vegas too). Chances are you will go home poorer that night.
Take only the money you are prepared to lose.
Let’s face it, at the end of your night of fun, you will probably lose most or all your money. So only take what you can afford to lose. No credit cards, just cold hard cash. Or if you gamble online on sites like JackpotCity, fund your credit with what you can afford, and stick to that.
There are also sites like Bet Bind that can help you keep track of your bets, wins and losses to make sure you gamble what you can afford.
Last time we went to Las Vegas, we decided to hit the casinos one night, and spend no more than $100. The plan was to turn that into $1 million, you may guess it did not happen, but we had a great time and still made it out with $250.
Keep your focus
After spending the night in the casino, we were still in Vegas for a few days and we enjoyed the huge all you can eat buffets inside the casinos. They are super cheap and you can feast on oysters, sushi and ribs subsidized by the gamblers’ losses.
But on the way to and from the buffet, you will walk past hundreds of playing machines, and more than once, BF slipped a few dollars in. That added up to the price of our lunch.
If you go play black jack, play black jack. If you like the 1c machines, stick to that. Have fun with your game, avoid being tempted for more.
Easy on the drinking
There is a reason why casinos offer free drinks to players. Drinking will alter your judgment and make you sloppy with your moves. You pay less attention, lose focus, and before you know it, your money is gone.
During our casino night, we had too many drinks. It was BF’s birthday and we wanted to celebrate. The more we drank, the more we got caught in the game. I think we lost a good $30 on the drunk gambling. When I saw we were losing our straight thinking, I took back the $100 we had put in, so we could lose all the rest and it would still be a free night.
But this is not the point. For once, we were beating the odds, and we got caught in and lost in the end.
Know when to stop.
Put a time limit on top of the money limit. A couple of hours, once a month or once a year is great. Most of your Saturday nights is not.
In our case it was a once in a lifetime thing. We went to Vegas, drove all the way from Guatemala, and had to experience the Vegas life. We did, shook hands and parted friends. Gambling can turn into a really bad habit if you are not careful. The moment you stop having fun, just stop.
What about you? Do you like gambling or playing the lottery? Ever gone too far?
Ha, ha! Great topic. And my answer is ‘absolutely not’. I have am a latent ‘compulsive gambler’ so any sound advice about ‘knowing when to stop’ doesn’t work. It would be a bit like telling a heroin addict that he/she has had enough – the only way is not to start; ever. I am wondering whether this affects my investing style (keeping very safe so limited rush of anticipation that is linked to gambling)?
It probably does, I know forex was giving me those kinds of rushes, definitely not good for the addictive personality!
I hate gambling. For whatever reason, it does absolutely nothing for me. I even get bored with a lot of types of gambling. The only time I’ll play the lotto is when we have an office pool.
You must hate having to give for the office pool too then! I had fun for a night in Vegas but wouldn’t go back anytime soon. All the rest, lottery, scratch cards… isn’t fun to me either.
I became slightly addicted in my student days and lost quite a bit of cash… NEVER again!
ooooh not good. Glad you were able to stop!
We go to Vegas one to two times a year. We take a few hundred bucks and have a good time. My wife is a pretty lucky person and almost always comes back with an extra couple hundred bucks. I’m not nearly as lucky so I usually come back about even. We see it as entertainment and enjoy the entire experience. We do a lot of walking and drinking and eating great meals.
coming back even is still pretty good! As long as it is planned, and added to the travel costs, it is all fine. My BF was the one on a lucky strike that night, so every time he was starting to lose, I walked away to see if it made things better! oh what you can believe…
I actually run a side gambling gig which is a computer program that I designed to place lay bets on horses (betting on the horse to lose) in the UK. It runs every night while I sleep with a goal of producing 1% of my total bank every night.
I don’t ever see it bet so therefore it is impossible for me to get emotionally involved.
Unfortunately the program is still a bit buggy and it isn’t getting anywhere near 1% a night yet. I am constantly tweaking it though and hopefully it can be another passive income generating tool for me in the future.
1% per night, that is ambitious! I wish I had a 1% cash machine 🙂
Glen you sound like some sort of a maverick 🙂
During college I played a little too much No Limit poker. I made quite a bit of money over the course of a few months playing online. I even know quite a few people that play in the World Series of Poker and my good friend actually won $250k a few years ago by getting 32nd out of 8,000+ people in the main event.
Saying all of that, gambling should only be a hobby and it’s not something I have interest in anymore. We never go to the casino…playing slots just seems really boring.
I got bored quickly with the machines as well. Met a few guys like your friends who were traveling around the world while playing professional poker, they seemed very down to earth and balanced guys, only played when their odds of winning were high, when they say beginners at the table, etc. and made enough to keep traveling.
Used to really enjoy gambling. Not a lot of money, just 100 bucks or so at a $5 blackjack table. No more. Although I have a weekly poker game with my staff in the summers. LOVE that. 5 dollar buy in. As far as the lottery, my dad always said “They don’t sell lottery tickets in Beverly Hills”. Hmm….
the tax of the poor, right? I enjoy poker with friends, small stakes and great fun. In Vegas I saw high buy ins and got scared, I like to take risks with my investments but not on odds. If losing $100, I’d rather have a whole night of fun than one round of black jack.
My mother had a horrible gambling problem which led her to file for bankruptcy. It eventually got even worse than that but I won’t share those details! Me and my friend did decide to start playing the lottery, but we’re only buying one ticket each week so it’s only $8 a month for each of us. I figure that’s not a bad deal for us to dream a little!
not bad at all! will you share winnings with your friends or each buys one ticket?
Yup we have a deal to split the winnings!
Good post Pauline! I think it can be done, but generally only as long as you’re disciplined with it. We go to Vegas every couple of years and the money we do gamble with we’re fine if we lose it and really just view it as another form of entertainment.
it is fun once in a while, for a special occasion. Unlike drinking, I have a hard time understanding how an addiction can form, but I imagine it is even more addictive than drinking.
Back when online poker was legal in the US I played all the time and made a good amount of money from it. I still play small stakes games with friends and occasionally at the local casino but not near as much as when I could play online from home.
For me its not the gambling aspect that draws me to poker, its the competition and the mental challenge of getting in the heads of the people you’re playing with. Gambling itself does nothing for me. You can’t get me near a slot machine and I’ve bought maybe 2 lotto tickets in my entire life.
I didn’t know online poker had been banned. I never played online and am a terrible real life player, but I would imagine online it is easier to hide your emotions.
It’s a weird situation. Its not illegal to be the one playing, it’s illegal to be the one allowing an American to gamble online. Playing online and in real life are definitely two different skill sets which is why I enjoyed when I had access to both games!
It’s a tricky situation for sure. We don’t really gamble. I’d say once every 2-3 years we’ll go to the casino with friends prepared to lose 20 bucks, we never spend more than that, but really it’s about the socializing with friends that we go for. We also buy the occasional scratch ticket and hubby with once and a while bet on sports, we probably spend a total of maybe $50.00/year on lotto. I have friends who spend SO much money on gambling though. They turn every little thing into a ‘bet’. It’s sorta scary.
that sounds scary indeed! I guess those are the same people who can’t figure out where money went at the end of the month..
Typically I’m not a big gambler but I do like my blackjack though. What I prefer to do is bring only what I’m willing to lose and if I’m way up I will usually pull out my initial amount I started with. For example if I’m gambling $50 and I’m up to $200 I’ll pull out my $50 and if I lose the the other $150 it’s not a big deal since I was only playing with the houses money in the first place.
good strategy, still a night of great fun for nothing!
I am not a big gambler. I do play the lottery only after the pot gets past a certain point, but I don’t play in casinos and I try to limit any money that I may gamble with to a very small amount.
I get the thrill with a big pot too, even though with more people on it, the odds are slimmer than ever…
Nice post Pauline! I hit the tables periodically and always study the game before I do. Some more tips, The two games with the best odds (for the player) in the house are Craps, and Blackjack. Blackjack is what I go for. There is a pre-defined blackjack strategy that you should follow, the strategy tells you what you should do depending on the dealers face card. Most casinos will actually give you a small card with this strategy. Manage your money! If you lose what you take to the table, walk away! If you win and double what you bought to the table, walk away and don’t be greedy!
thanks for the tips! it is very hard not to get greedy, but once I put away the money I brought I am fine with losing the rest
Love this post, Pauline. It’s filled with wisdom. We used to hit the casinos once in a while, but always set a very small limit and left when it was gone. Now, we’re way too cheap to even waste $20 there. :-).
haha, it does grind my frugal gears too, but going to Vegas and not gambling would have been like going to the Caribbean without swimming!
I totally agree! 🙂
I am a better business person or risk taker than a gambler! I think i only gambled a few times in my life and I am in my 60s. When I do gamble, I will only spend or gamble with money I am prepared to lose. I view it as entertainment.
me too, I hit the 1c machines to make the entertainment last longer!
I don’t mind gambling, in fact I really enjoy playing poker, but neither I do very often. I have seen people go way overboard with it and I guess I am lucky that I can easily walk away even though I might be a little bummed if I lose. I am going back to Vegas in late May but for reasons other than gambling. There is a big punk rock music festival there every year and this will be my second year going, its a great time. The music fest will keep my attention basically the whole time I am there so like last year I will probably bring a couple of bucks to see if I get lucky but won’t really even be all that focused on hitting it big!
there are many cool things to do in Vegas without gambling. Concerts, dining, the Grand Canyon… your approach is very balanced.
We go to Vegas about once a year and usually take about $100 each to gamble if we choose, knowing it will most likely be lost. I look at it like paying for entertainment. I have also gone to Vegas and not gambled at all. I like the lights and faux destinations. Where else can you pretend to go from Venice to Paris to Rome and have Elvis be your black jack dealer? We live about 10 miles from a tribal gaming casino and we make it a point to NEVER go there. That could get bad if you let it. We like to save it for more of a vacation activity.
The faux was not as bad as I feared! quite funny and much better than Disneyland Paris.
Great post Pauline! That must have been a heck of a drive from Guatemala to Vegas.
We’ve been to Vegas a number of times and usually play Craps. If we feel like the table isn’t doing well we cash in and walk away, but a number of times we have done well enough to pay our hotel bills for the 4 or 5 nights that we are there. We love sight seeing and going to the broadway shows there too, so it is always a good time for us.
But I could easily play Craps for free too. We just enjoy the game, with or without money.
the drive took 3 months, then to Seattle then NYC, it was a fun trip!
Interesting post Pauline.
As you suggest, restraint is the key to avoiding utter gambling disaster.
One of the greatest problems with gambling though, and one that often leaves people in utter bewilderment as to why they just gambled away their shirts, is the fact that the anticipation of a reward activates the same part of the brain – the nucleus accumbens – that’s activated through a hit of an addictive drug. And with that pleasure seeking part of the brain activated, the capacity for rational thought declines significantly, whilst impulsivity and risk taking go through the roof.
Not only does a casino have that ‘reward anticipating’ advantage as a matter of course (because obviously, people are anticipating the reward of money), but they heighten that reward anticipation through the provision of free drinks and food etc. Those too become anticipated rewards that add fuel to an already well kindled fire. So the uninhibited care free ‘so what if I lose the house’ attitude promoted through alcohol is actually multiplied simply because it too is an anticipated free reward.
Casinos are very shrewd unfortunately, they know all the tricks to get people to throw logic out of the window. If I was going to one, I’d be sure to take your post with me; which I’d skim read every few minutes in an attempt to counteract the effects. 🙂
All the best, Gareth
I have two ways that I keep from worrying about over-stepping myself with gambling. The first is that I only ever walk into a casino with the cash I’m prepared to spend and my id. The wallet stays home and with it my ability to access more money. I’ve never actually been tempted to spend more, but just in case.
The reason I’ve never been tempted? I treat gambling as an entertainment expense. I don’t go to win money; I go to have fun.
There is no such thing as gambling for fun. It turns into addiction.
There is no such thing as social drinking. Most often it turns into heavy drinking.
Caffeine might be Okay but too much can give you jitters.
I would not talk about drugs.
Gambling, drinking are legal when you are at least certain age even though many families have been ruined financially because of these habits.
Most Americans will disagree with me when I say drinking is a disease because many folks drink.
I don’t gamble in casino’s nor have I been to Vegas but I do play the lottery once per week shared with a family member for $3. I think when it becomes a point where one does not know when to stop then it’s too much. When people are putting second mortgages on their homes to try and win back what they lost it’s gone too far.
Funny timing – my husband just went to a casino (with my dad) today, and lost $25. Luckily, he never takes much more than that, but that’s my input not his!
$25 for a night of fun is pretty reasonable. If they had a few ”free” drinks, it may even have been cheaper than a bar!
I had a lot of problems with gambling (here in England you are introduced to it at a very young age), It did used to be fun, and then as I got to 18 and the stakes became higher and I could get a credit card, the world was my oyster (or so I thought). I ended up maxing out on my credit card and using most of my monthly earnings on gambling.
Fortunately I received help for my addiction, and now I can play bingo in the hall and walk past a whole row of fruit machines without playing. Gambling for me is once again fun, and I am planning my first visit to Vegas very soon.
Very good question! I’d like to believe that I am a responsible gambler. Haha! What I usually do is to set a limit and once I’ve reached that, I tell myself to stop and try again some other time. Wouldn’t do well if all my money ended up in online gambling sites. I just do it occasionally or when I learn about sporting events.
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