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Posts Tagged ‘gambler’

Last time we spoke, I started to share with you my 7 tips to becoming a smart gambler. To recap, we went over three vital smart gambling tips-knowing the house edge, establishing a bankroll, and always taking possession of your money.

Today, I’ll continue on this great journey of ours. We all should strive to be smart gamblers. The last 4 smart gambling tips will fly at you fast, so get ready. And remember, these are just primers to get you started. If you’re super serious, you could go deeper. For instance, you could read an entire book’s worth of information on bankroll alone. Here are smart gambling tips 3 – 7:

3. Know thy game

Don’t play any casino game seriously unless you know it really well. It’s one thing to spend a few bucks while learning or just having fun, but it’s another to play it over and over without knowing the fine details of odds, strategy, etc.

4. Know more than one game

It’s fine to “specialize” in one game, but you should know two games or more well. There will be times when it’s smart to walk away from a game. Maybe your head just isn’t working well at that time or the game is too hot the wrong way.
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Gamblers who fall in love with the excitement and “action” of gambling may, at first, be quite successful. They have fantasies of further success and of gambling becoming their personal path to wealth and power. Those who are headed for problems think they are smarter than the average bettor. They know that gambling is going to work for them because they, unlike less clever people, really understand how to beat the system.

As they become more involved in gambling, they derive an increasing portion of their self-esteem from seeing themselves as smart or lucky. Because of this, two things happen when they do incur the inevitable losses. First, they suffer monetary loss. Second, and often more important, they suffer a deflated ego.

To salvage their self-esteem, they rationalize losses by blaming other people, such as the jockey or the pitcher, or by blaming “bad luck” in cards, craps or lotteries. Or they reflect on their handicapping abilities and tell themselves they will not make the same “mistake” the next time.

The monetary loss is another matter, however, and this is dealt with differently. In order to recoup the loss, many gamblers “chase.” That is, they continue their betting and increase the amount of their bets in order to get even. Instead of saying, “It’s lost,” the chaser says, “I’ll get even tomorrow.” Chasing losses leads the gambler to gamble with more than he or she can afford to lose, and often to borrowing money in an effort to get even.

Many gamblers may chase for short periods, until they learn from bitter experience that this is counterproductive. The long-term preoccupation with chasing losses is the defining characteristic of the pathological gambler.

Chasing seems logical to many gamblers, as it means giving oneself a chance to get even.

If a gambler stops chasing, both money and self-esteem are lost. If the gambler continues chasing and wins, both can be regained. There is, therefore, the impetus to borrow in order to recoup losses. When continued gambling leads to still more losses, the compulsive gambler continues to borrow. The more money borrowed, the greater the commitment to more gambling as the only possible means of gaining enough money to pay off the debt.
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