THE VERY BASIC-BUT-OFTEN-FORGOTTEN-COMMON-SENSE APPROACH TO ONLINE GAMBLING

Being a player online for a great number of years, I would reinforce the idea to the player that the odds are greatly stacked against you, preventing you from being a profit player.  You must accept this fact.  It took me a long time to understand and accept this fact as the truth, but once I had, I've enjoyed playing more than ever before.  Here's the important fundamentals on how to approach online gaming:

- Play with money you have.

* It's crippling to the mindset to assume that your current losing streak is moments away from being turned-around.  It probably isn't.  Don't start using money that you set aside for something else.  Don't start borrowing.  Once you start doing that, your game is over.  Remember, it's your mind, your game, and the casino doesn't own you.  I've gone down this road a number of times, and the story rarely turns out good. 

* By playing with the money you do have, you won't have this giant GORILLA on your back.  Of course the goal is to win, and to many of us, gambling is a form of entertainment.  Using money that was set aside for rent, utility bills, groceries, gifts for friends, ect, should NOT be touched.  Don't overlap gambling with your daily life.  

- It's good practice to cash-out when you're ahead.  When do you stop?  What if you're just a hand-or-two away from getting that next monster hit that will propel you into another hemisphere?

* I think it's detrimental to assume and hope for that next big hit to be lurking around the corner.  I find that the longer the session continues, the more that I become locked into a zone where my peripheral vision is reduced to tunnel-vision.  I have to be alert to catch that phase (usually 2-3 hours in), and prevent the casino from turning that into their advantage.  When you're up, I think it's a good idea to use some of your winnings to propel you to that next level, but allocate only a percentage of your overall winnings to do so.  Adjust a set point, a stop-loss, and absolutely stick with it.  No compromises!  Remember, you may have won more, but you DID win this current session and you'll have ammo for another fight; which you'll also be going into with a clear mind.

- Don't play catch-up!

* This ties-in with the section above on "playing with money you have".  There have been a number of times, when I've deposited $100, got lucky and brought that total up to a grand... and I foolishly didn't cash-out.  So, I'm left thinking that the only thing that prevented me from winning was me.  All I need to do is just deposit some more money, and I'll recreate that magic back in a flash.  Sure enough, all the games go cold.  Then I'm making more lucrative deposits in the $500 range, and I'll only be satisfied with giant wins: revenge hits that are long overdue.  Well, perhaps it's just my luck, but when I do this, I'm scrambling.  The focus, and above all else, the fun element has all but evaporated.  The targets are becoming insurmountable, and I put up walls that block-out any rational thought that will shut me down for another day.  At this point, I'm done and don't even realize it.

- When you're done, get busy!

* These are all suggestions, but for me, I've found that the best way to get my mind off of gambling is exercising.  If that's not your cup-of-tea, writing, watching movies, anything that inspires you and gets your mind out of the gutter and back into the now will do.  Don't sit around looking for casino bonus coupons and hanging on to that last loss.  You're done, shut it down.  It's all on you to figure out what works best for you, but I do feel that being active and getting in touch with your other interests will best serve you in the long run.  

- Deposit only at places where you'll be paid.

* This is a big one, because most new players starting out in the online gaming realm, will not know where to play.  You should take the time to do your homework before you start depositing.  Do research on online gaming sites, find out the good and the bad, which software works for you, which games you like the most, find out any criteria that will give you peace-of-mind that your money will be safe and secure.  Have fun with it!  Investigate, and try to come up with what would be the 10 best & most trustworthy sites on the internet. 

* I've had great luck with casinos, having always being paid, but I've always done a good bit of research prior to depositing at casinos "A-Z".  Don't be careless with your money, I've been fortunate, but many others have not been.  There are a great number of horror stories out there.  Past-present-and there'll still be in the future of this industry.  That's to your advantage though, because the complaints and the information you need is just a click away.  Remember, this industry is still relatively young, but it's still been around for 10-years now (ample enough time to develop good and bad reputations). 

Test the casino's software.

* There's a high volume of casinos out there, and you should find the one that best suits you.  For me, I love the variety of mixing-it-up with as many as 20 separate casinos, which are powered by as many as 7 different software providers (I'll get to that soon enough).  There are casinos that offer as many as 300 games, and some as few as 40.  Will that make a difference to you if you just play BJ?  Probably not.  But if you are a BJ player, try to find out where the house has the lowest edge over the player.  If you're a slots "junkie", and you love variety, find out what casinos offer the widest variety/variations of the best slots games.  I can go to any Microgaming casino and play any number of great games, and mix-it-up with equally compelling games over at any one of the Cryptologic casino.

[ Back ]