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Do you have a gambling addiction? How do you know it's time to fold?
Setting win goals and stop-loss limits is a popular strategy to beat the house edge in most casino games. They are also known as “money management techniques.” Here’s how it works:
You need to establish your “bankrolls” first, which is also the amount of money you need to set aside for gambling. There are those who would create smaller bankrolls from their budget, but it usually doesn’t affect much in winning.
Here’s an example of this strategy:
If you are going to a casino and play for five days with a budget of $1,000, it would be ideal to divide your money into five single-day bankrolls, limiting your spending to $200 each day. And if you plan to play two times in a day, divide your $200 into two separate bankrolls which players call “session bankrolls.”
Proper management of your money will not improve your odds against your game, but it can help you decide whether you can still continue to play or not.
Know Your Win Goals and Stop Loss Limits
The amount of money that you set as your win goal will be your winning target in a gambling session. You need to end that session once you hit your win goal. Money management people use a percentage of a session bankroll as their winning goal. To better understand this, here’s an example:
In a blackjack session, you have a $100 bankroll which you can set $40 or 40% of your bankroll as your win goal. If you hit $140, you need to quit and do something else to spend your remaining time.
Stop-Loss Limit
The exact opposite of the winning goal where you set an amount that you will allow to lose. Once you hit that amount, it’s time to stop playing. If you spend $40 from your $100 session bankroll, you quit playing when your budget goes down below $60.
Win Goals and Stop Loss Limits Amounts
Setting your win goals and loss limits may require a self-analysis and proper judgment to make it effective money management techniques. You may want to consider two approaches to this strategy. One strategy would be to quit as soon as you hit a win, and the other would be to hit a single number win twice within the game session.
More Money Management During Play
Slot machines are one of the most addictive and fun games to play inside a casino. Every player’s goal is to hit the big jackpot. You may quit the game once you hit the jackpot no matter how big or small the prize for that session.
Important Reminders About Money Management Techniques
One of the most important things to remember about money management techniques is the fact that it doesn’t give you any kind of mathematical advantage to your game sessions. They are just purely strategies on how to manage your budget to prevent you from losing a substantial amount of money. All your decisions about money management techniques are entirely by chance and with no mathematical advantage to gambling.
When to Quit as an Advantage Player
There are gamblers who possess a mathematical edge and know exactly how to win their game sessions. The longer they play, the bigger winnings they make. So, when do you quit playing if you are an advantage player?
The amount you are betting against the edge that you have will be your earnings as an advantage player. You may earn $750 per hour of playing blackjack for $5 each hand, with 150 hands each hour. An average of $7.50 per hour in winnings if you have an edge of 1%.
The only time you would think about quitting is the instant you feel the casino might be noticing you already. It would make you feel awkward that the casino is watching you while winning big money.
You also need to factor in your fatigue. If you get tired, you will start making wrong decisions that decrease your chances of gaining profit.
Also, be mindful of changes in game conditions that are no longer advantageous for you. It is a sign that you should quit already and move on.
When to Quit
Quitting gambling is a random choice, where you can’t beat the odds by leaving the session at specific points. You may use money management techniques to help you take care of your budget for gambling.
Know If You Have a Gambling Problem
It would take a strong will to quit if you find out that you have a gambling addiction. This condition can ruin your life just like illegal drugs and alcohol problems.
There are many organizations that help people overcome their gambling addiction. Search the internet about this help and they will be more than willing to cure your problem. To recognize your addiction to gambling, here are some signs to look for.
- Not telling the truth about the extent of how much you gamble
- Borrowing or stealing money from others to gamble
- Debts are piling up due to gambling
- Unable to do your job properly because you are thinking about your next bet
- Missing family events and gamble instead
- Unable to pay your monthly bills because you spend it on gambling
- You feel guilty after placing a bet
- You gamble to escape problems
- Taking big risks with your bets
- Having an adrenaline rush from gambling
- Proud of your gambling experiences
- All you think about is gambling
- There are criticisms about you and your gambling
There are certain degrees of these signs that you should know that oftentimes it progresses to become worse. You need to be honest with yourself and accept the facts that you are becoming a gambling addict.
Ways to Prevent Gambling Problem
You know you need to prevent your gambling addiction to worsen when you become aware of your actions and emotions. Here are some preventative steps to consider:
- Don’t get bored, entertain yourself. There can be dry periods in your life which leads to the increase of the urge to gamble.
- Go back to your old hobby. Gamblers usually drop the old hobbies that they once enjoyed. It would be better to start your old hobby again to help battle boredom and stay away from gambling.
- Search for alternative ways to decrease your stress levels. A lot of gamblers also use other vices such as smoking and drinking to fight their stress. Try not to go to this path and look for other ways such as working out. Doing some exercises will help burn off adrenaline, which would make you feel calmer and be able to sleep peacefully.
- Know the reasons why you want to gamble. Gamblers have triggers that make them more addicted to gambling. Find what triggers your interest and prevent relapse during those times.
- Pay attention to your losses rather than focusing on the number of winnings that you are trying to get. Turn your focus on how much money you can lose and the past losses, it will help you decrease the prospect of winning big money.
- Be with people who are not gamblers. They can help you change your outlook in life and keep the temptations away.
The important thing is to have an acceptance to yourself that gambling is beginning to destroy you and you want to change that behaviour. You have to fully focus on quitting this addiction to help you get through more challenging days.
How to Get Through Gambling Addiction
There are many people who make bad decisions in life where they engage themselves in something not healthy. You don’t have to punish yourself for the mistakes you made in the past, but start from recognizing what you need to change for yourself and commit to making your life better with the right decisions.
To start moving on from your gambling addiction, write down a list of all the consequences that came about from your gambling. You may also include the potential problems that you may have if you continued with gambling.
If you have an urge to gamble, try to read through your lists and contemplate first to cool down that desire.
Other Mental Strategies
To help battle gambling addiction, you need to manage your yearning successfully. Part of this struggle is mental strategies that will control your thoughts and emotions connected with gambling. It would be beneficial for you if you can prevent a relapse from your addiction.
Part of this journey on fixing gambling addiction is the acceptance to resist the desire to gamble. It would be hard to deal with this problem if you are denying yourself the problem itself. It would be better to devote yourself to solving the addiction and have a harmless beating.
You Need Help
There are many types of addiction where victims have a strong element of shame, which contributes to preventing the need for help. Gambling addiction is the same as drinking, smoking, and taking dangerous drugs where you just have to reach out for help. There are many gambling support groups that understand perfectly with your journey and are more than willing to help you to recover.
