When you decide to try online casino games for real money, you need to remember a few things to avoid getting yourself in too deep. In other words, when you make that choice to transition from playing for fun to playing for cash, you need to keep in mind that it is not a move to take lightly. Gambling, after all, can be a somewhat sticky to get out of if you are not careful and practice caution when you indulge in it.
Gambling, betting, wagering, playing the stakes – this has quite a lot of different monikers but each one means essentially the same thing. When you check the definition of the word “gamble” online, you get two main meanings – one is that it is to “play games of chance for money” while the other is “take a risky action in the hope of a desired result.” In short, it is a risk that you are taking with a specific outcome on your mind but with no guarantees that you will get that particular outcome.
With that said, it is not wise for a person to gamble without totally thinking things over. The act itself requires three things, the first one being your consideration or thinking things over and making a decision. The next thing that takes place when you wager is you taking the risk. And all of these you do for the sake of a prize.
To ensure that you don’t wager your life’s savings away on online casinos and other gaming sites that allow the use of real money, here are some tips that you should keep in mind:
1. Remember that it is entertainment you pay for – while you do want to win, always remind yourself that you are gaming for entertainment and not for a living. Watching movies, going out to watch a show, and going out drinking, you do all of these in moderation even if you are paying to do them.
The same goes for wagering on anything. Whether you do so online, in land based casinos, and even when you bet on the lottery, always do so with the thought that it is paid entertainment.
2. Always set a budget for your real money gaming – when you go on a vacation, you set a budget. When you go out drinking with your friends, you set a budget. When you go out shopping, you set a budget. So, when you go online or to a land based casino to gamble, you should always set a budget.
Setting a budget and strictly sticking to such a budget will help you stay out of trouble. Going over the limit that you set for yourself when it comes to real money casino gaming seldom ends well and will only cause you to become reckless with such a form of entertainment. You might find yourself spending money allocated for real life necessities such as your kids’ education, payments for utilities, and other more important stuff on this if you don’t set and stick to a budget.
3. Give yourself a time limit when you play with real money – while you can play without fear of losing whatever you have when you play for fun and for free, you cannot say the same for when you play for real stakes. Even when you find yourself winning, it is best if you stop when the time you set for your gaming is up.
Think of the phrase “quit while you are ahead” and you will understand why this rule makes sense. Whether you are winning or have lost a bit, when your time for real money gaming is up, then you should stop. This way, you ensure that you keep your losses to a minimum or you get to keep whatever winnings you already have without fear of losing it at the next spin or next toss of the dice.
4. Think of your gambling budget as “lost money” – while you are playing to win, thinking that the money you allocate for such an endeavor is already lost will help you enjoy what you are doing more. This allows you to stop worrying about whether or not you are winning, and when you do so, it will make exhilaration you feel from winning even sweeter.
Thinking that the money you allocate to such a thing is gone will also help you stick to a budget better than when you think of the money as an investment. Gambling is never something that you invest in. It is something that makes you lose more than it does make you win, so thinking that the money you budget for your real money gaming is already gone will help you stop as soon as you’ve hit your limits.
5. Don’t play games that you are unsure of – some people believe in beginners luck, and at times, it does weirdly work. It does not work, however, if you play a new game you don’t understand or don’t know the rules of. This is not the kind of thing you do to bank on beginner’s luck. This is actually a recipe for disaster since you will be betting real money on something you don’t know the mechanics of and as such, will likely lose from.
Choose games that you can or do understand, and if you want to try something new, learn the ropes first and get a firm grip on how these are played before you try real money betting on them. There are usually free versions of many popular casino games online. Try these tutorials out first and once you have a working knowledge of the gameplay and how to win, you can then try these out with real money.
6. Don’t rely too much on gambling superstitions – speaking of beginners luck, it is also not a good idea to bank too much on it for you to win. The same goes for other superstitious beliefs that surround casino gambling and other forms of wagering. There are a lot of these superstitions that many people swear by.
While some people may be lucky enough to win big because of some of the things they do before, while, and after they place their bets, that is just what it is, luck. They were lucky that they won and they credit it to their beliefs, which can be a big mistake. Some of the superstitions that get people into hot water while gambling include staying at a specific table because it is their lucky number, sticking with a specific online casino slot machine even when they’ve already lost a lot because they’ve already fed it enough, and not counting money to find out how much they have left because it is unlucky.
7. Never ever gamble with money that you cannot spare – if you have to use the last few dollars you have to try and win more, then you are doing it all wrong. While there are movies that show people winning big with the last ten to twenty dollars they have, and living an amazing life afterwards because of such a gamble, keep in mind, it’s a movie. It is the brainchild of someone with an active imagination and is meant to be taken as entertainment and not as fact.
With that said, taking your grocery money or the cash you have allocated for your mortgage and blowing it all on a trip to a casino to try and win more is very foolhardy. Never ever risk your food money or rent money on casino gaming. Always gamble with what you have extra and not with money you cannot actually spare.
8. Try not to use your credit card when gambling – depositing cash into your account using a credit card is a pretty standard practice. It is also an act that gets people to become reckless with their casino gaming ways. This is pretty similar to real money gaming using money you cannot spare since your credit card gives you a false sense of having extra money when in fact credit cards need to be paid after you use them, regardless of whether you win or lose.
If you are asked for a credit card or any card to add to your casino account, opt for a debit instead of a credit card. Or a much better option would be to find an online casino that allows you to make bank transfers and cash deposits into your account via some other medium other than a credit card. This way, you can be sure that you won’t be tempted to add more funds into your casino account via the convenience of an enrolled card that you cannot keep track of accurately as you play.
9. Never ever try to “recoup your losses” – this phrase always gets people who gamble in trouble. Recouping your losses by continuing to play, and going after that elusive “big win” will only set you back more than if you quit without trying to chase after your losses. Recouping losses when you wager is an illusion and should never be done. When you lose, you lose. When you win, you win. There is no getting back what you lost and it should never be thought of as that when you do win after you lose.
Always keep in mind that there will be days when you are lucky and there will be days when you are not. When you are not lucky on a certain day, chalk it up as that and cut your losses. Try your luck another day and don’t try to make an unlucky day turn when it won’t.
10. Don’t gamble when you are drunk – sure, casinos serve drinks and they get people drunk even while they are at their respective tables and machines. This is a ploy to impair your otherwise sound judgment, thereby making it easier for you to make the wrong decisions and to continue playing even when it is already unwise for you to do so. The same goes for when you play online.
Don’t drink and then go online to play for real money stakes. Your judgment will not be as sharp when you play sober. If you want to have fun betting while you are drinking, then you should play free casino games and not real money ones where you can lose big simply because you are not sober. Always play real money casino games when you are aware of what you are doing so you can make sound decisions when needed, like when to quit, when to continue, and when not to play for real money.
These are just ten tips you can follow when you decide to wager cash on your online casino games. There are actually quite a few more tips you can follow to avoid massive losses when you game online using real money. Some people try to avoid playing their favorite casino games when they are feeling down or depressed since it usually leads to a dependence on these games as pick-me-ups every time they are down in the doldrums. This can also lead to further sinking into depression when they lose.
Some gamers also share that upping your bets to try and win back your previous losses is a big no-no. This goes hand-in-hand with the tip on trying to recoup losses. Doing this will only make you lose more and regret what you are doing. It can also make you develop a gambling problem, which you don’t want to have.
Responsible gambling and careful online gaming is something you should always keep in mind and is something you should strictly adhere to. With casinos finally making it to your doorstep via these online portals and making it easy for you to wager your hard earned money without setting foot outside your home, keeping a close eye on what you do when you game is crucial to your financial wellbeing.
Keeping these tips in mind and disciplining yourself to follow these will help you steer clear of problems that arise when gambling addiction sets in. It will also help keep you from experiencing the problems most gambling addicts experience when they don’t pay close attention to what they are doing.
