A friend of mine learned this the hard way, being new to the game any game for that matter he spent more than he could afford. I know half way through the night that he was going into some debt but he did manage to at least not lose his hat. It seems the more people get into the excitement they forget that the game is a betting game after all and there are always consequences.

I was on a cruise one time and this young man was drinking pretty heavily (when the heineken was half empty, he was ordering another one). He must have dropped $5K in less than 2 hours. It was something amazing to watch. I’m all for having some cocktails while playing some games, but this was an extreme. I wish I could have been the house that night.

When my husband and I go to the casino we take only what we plan on spending and we leave when we are out of money. I know some people that will constantly hit up the ATM machine and regret it the next day. The casino is not a place to be if you have an addictive personality that’s for sure.

It’s very important to set limits to your winnings and loses. Most certainly you cannot beat the house in the long run. Nor can make it bankrupt. I learned a lesson from being greedy the hard way. One time I was winning proximately close to 1.5x my capital and didn’t quit. After awhile the law of averages caught me and ended up just 30% of what I started with.

I am like a previous poster - I take my gambling “allowance” in cash and do not take any credit cards or debit cards to the gaming floor.  When I win, I try to play the rest of the night on just the winnings and take my initial amount back home with me.  If I win more than the initial amount, I take out just the initial and put away the rest.  That way I come out ahead most of the time.  Of course, drinking while trying to concentrate on your game is not too swift.  I have one or two drinks that I sip on through the evening or stick to non-alcoholic drinks until I’m finished gambling for the night.

What I do is when I’m ahead by $200 from my money of $1,000, I quit! No matter how long it takes, whether playing for just a couple of minutes or my maximum of 3 hours, I fold.  If I lose $200 I also quit. So far I’m ahead of the game and earns me a payroll of $3,000 a month. This because I play everyday of the month. And I’ve been playing for two months now.

4aces - 07 January 2009 07:27 AM

I am like a previous poster - I take my gambling “allowance” in cash and do not take any credit cards or debit cards to the gaming floor.  When I win, I try to play the rest of the night on just the winnings and take my initial amount back home with me.  If I win more than the initial amount, I take out just the initial and put away the rest.  That way I come out ahead most of the time.  Of course, drinking while trying to concentrate on your game is not too swift.  I have one or two drinks that I sip on through the evening or stick to non-alcoholic drinks until I’m finished gambling for the night.

That sounds like my philosophy.  I start out with a certain amount, and when I win, I tuck away what I’ve originally brought out, and don’t dig back into that (which can be tempting at times!).  So, at the end of the night, I either come out even, or ahead, but never behind.  And alcohol while gambling is just foolish.  That’s them stacking the deck while you’re sitting there watching them and letting them.  No way!  Of course, thats not to say that I don’t go out and have a little fun now and then, but then, I don’t bring my life savings on those adventures. 

I’m very careful with my gambling budget. I allow myself a specific amount to play with. If I lose that amount, I MUST go home - otherwise I won’t be able to pay the mortgage/bills etc. But if I win, then I pocket the original amount I arrived with and play with the winnings from that point on.

This is pretty natural to newbies. They often take over exposure and get into trouble. But that generally doesn’t happen at casinos as there you can’t bet if you don’t have money!