Things To Do To Stop Gambling
What to do if you feel like gambling. Talk to your support person. Write your feelings and actions in your gambling diary. If you gambled, look at what happened and see if you can spot ways of stopping it next time. Control your cash. See the Better Health Channel fact sheet ‘Gambling – financial. Try to distract yourself with an activity to keep calm, such as a shower or a bath. Or you may read a book, cook or watch a TV show to stop thinking about gambling. Find an activity that suits you. Say to yourself 'maybe I won't go, I will see how I feel in an hour' and then go and do something else.
Don’t let the title of this article mislead you. I’m not trying to get you to stop gambling in casinos. I enjoy casino gambling, and there’s nothing wrong with playing casino games as long as you can afford to do it.
But I also believe that you should know why you’re losing and what you can do about it. The odds are high that you’re losing more than you win, because this is how casinos are set up.
As you read the 7 reasons to stop gambling at casinos, see what you can learn to help you improve your odds of winning.
1 – The Numbers Are Against You
Every single game offered in the casino is built to make a profit for the casino. And for the most part the games work exactly how they’re supposed to work.
The question is if there’s anything you can do about the numbers?
As a matter of fact, yes there are some things that you can do about the numbers in the casino. Some of them are easier than others, but there are things to be done. You’re going to learn more about some of the things you can do to alter the numbers on this page.
The best plan to get started is to learn what the numbers are. Each casino game has a house edge, or range of house edges. Identify the games with the lowest house edge and you’re off to a good start.
2 – You Don’t Know How to Win
I know you just finished reading how every game offered in the casino is designed to make you a losing player, but there are some players that know how to win. These players know which games give them a realistic chance to win and know how to use certain strategies to give them the best chance to win.
Strategy is important for every casino games player, and you’re going to learn more about it in another section. In this section you’re going to get a quick overview of casino games that you should consider playing and ones that you should avoid.
Here’s a list of casino games to consider playing:
- Blackjack
- Video poker
- Baccarat
- Traditional poker games like Texas holdem and Omaha
- Craps
Here’s a list of casino games you should avoid:
Not all of the casino games on the first list can be beat, but they can all be played with a reduced house edge. The games on the second list have a higher house edge and can’t be beat no matter what you do.
3 – You’re Spending Too Much Money
This is always a sign that you need to stop gambling. It doesn’t mean that you can never gamble again, but when you realize that you’re spending too much money, you have to stop gambling immediately.
Take a little time off to learn if you have a problem with gambling or if you simply need to set a budget and stick with it.
Many casino gamblers don’t keep track of how much money they start gambling with or how much they lose while they’re gambling. Only when they finish and start counting their money do they realize that they lost too much money.
This has a simple fix. Just set a budget every time you gamble, and only use the money in your budget. Separate this money from your other money, and if you run out you stop playing. Never use your other money in the casino.
If you find that you have a problem stopping, it’s time to get help right away.
4 – You’re Not Having Fun
Gambling is a form of entertainment, and it’s supposed to be fun. Of course, no one has much fun when they’re losing, but overall if you’re not having fun when you’re gambling it might be time to take a break.
I recommend learning how to play with no house edge or as an advantage player. If you learn how to do these things and are successful, you can gamble as much as you want. It’s always more fun to win when you’re in the casino than lose.
Learn more about real money blackjack and poker, as they both offer the chance to gamble while winning on a consistent basis. It’s going to take quite a bit of work, but it’s going to be worth it when you start being a winning casino gambler.
5 – You’re a Slot Machine Addict
First of all, if you’re addicted to any type of gambling you need to get professional help. When I say a slot machine addict I mean that the slots are all you play.
If you like to play on a machine, try video poker to see if you like it as well. Some video poker machines have a house edge 10 times, or more, lower than slot machines. If you’re willing to try a table game, blackjack or baccarat are both good options.
The other option if you’re stuck on playing slot machines is to try the free online slots offered by casinos. You won’t be able to win any money, but you’re not going to lose any money either.
If all you’re going to play is slot machines, you need to seriously consider quitting gambling in casinos.
6 – You’re Not a Strategy Player
Some casino games have strategy components, and some don’t. If a casino game doesn’t allow the use of strategy to alter the edge, you should never play it.
Once you learn which casino games have strategies, the next step is to learn how to use the best strategy every time you play. This is fairly simple, as many books and web sites have strategy information for casino games.
I always recommend playing online video poker and blackjack. Both of these games have easy strategies and are available with a low house edge. Once you learn more about the strategy for these two games you can learn about the strategy for other casino games.
While poker isn’t available in every casino, it’s a good strategy game where it’s available. The strategy isn’t as easy as the ones for blackjack and video poker, but you can make money playing poker if you use good strategy.
7 – You’re Not Getting Enough Comps
Casino comps alone are never going to be enough to make a casino game profitable. But they can be a big part of offsetting your losses and the house edge.
Look at it this way: Every dollar you earn in comps is basically the same as one less dollar you lose gambling. Even if the comp is a cheap meal, it still saves you the money you would need to spend to get the meal.
If you follow the advice in the other sections on this page you’re playing a game with a low house edge and using the proper strategy. These 2 things keep your losses as low as you can get them. When you also receive comps for your play it lowers your losses more.
This is just about everything you can do when you gamble in a casino. Make sure you’re getting the maximum amount of comps every time you gamble in a casino. If you’re not getting enough comps, take your gambling business elsewhere.
Conclusion
Once you understand the numbers and challenges you face as a casino gambler, you have an opportunity to change your results. The numbers are against you in almost every casino game, but you can influence the numbers on many games.
If you can learn which games are the best to play and learn how to use the proper strategies you can eliminate most of your losses. It’s even possible to start wining more than you lose.
At the end of the day, most casino gamblers would be better off by quitting, but most won’t stop. This is ok, but at least learn how to lower your losses so you can afford to play more.
These are the first steps in our gaining freedom from gambling. Stopping is no easy task, I've been trying with all my might for the last couple weeks. Visiting the site and raising my awareness has helped tremendously. I have had a couple slip ups in this time, but feel that I am much closer to success today than I was yesterday. We have to view this as a life change that we're choosing to bless ourselves with. Each day that passes without gambling is a day closer to a happy gambling free life. Your habit sounds very similar to mine and many others on this site.
The slow consistent draining of our financial resources...I've been trying to focus on tomorrow and the distant future, knowing that not gambling today and tomorrow is the only road that leads to victory years from now. I know we all think about all of the nice things we can do with money that isn't lost - it is time for us to realize that gambling will only continue to rob us and build a bigger compulsion. One day of gambling today brings multiple days of loss later ('win' or no win). Freedom from gambling will bring the same compound effect, except with a positive outcome...Today, choose life.
The Friday night casino social life is a lie to ourselves. One of my slips recently was excused in my mind by boredom - in Vegas, very few friends, and 'bored'. I went out, didn't make new friends, felt bad because I played, and was $1,000 further away from freedom. I came home and thought, 'if only I wasn't so bored here'. Then it occurred to me that this is simply a really lame excuse to justify playing. The monster that is gambling will whisper all kinds of things in our ears to try to convince us. We have to be extra strong at these times, knowing that this is the lie and darkness that this monster uses to entice us. ... Boredom? It is amazing how many things there are for us to do when we are not fixated on gambling. Also, at this stage of the game, I'd rather suffer through a 'boring' Fri. night watching a movie or whatever, rather than suffer through the financial loss, and more importantly, the guilt and disappointment with myself of gambling. Make a list of alternative things to do with your time and a list of why you want to stop, then make sure you read it when you get the urge.
Here's part of my list:
New camping gear, furniture, clothes, vacations, great dinners...
Being happier and wealthy years from now. Being happy and not flat broke tomorrow.
What to do when I'm 'bored':
Things To Do To Stop Gambling Casinos
* Visit this site and others like it.
* Write in my journal
* Read a book
* Go workout
* Learn how to play my guitar
* Go shopping, buy a little something w/ money I would've thrown away (just make sure this doesn't become a compulsion too! 8O )
We know we have to stop this destructive cycle and there is only one way to do it: Don't gamble today, no matter what. Seek support, like this site or Gamblers Anonymous, and look forward to a bright gamble free future (exciting ). Don't put yourself in tempting situations. Let's make a choice today to move one day closer to a successful happy life! Now there is a huge payoff!