Ask Granny found this useful information, (common sense of course!) written by REGINA PAUL a freelance writer, for YAHOO, on how to try to NOT lose your shirt when out gambling!
1. Leave all your credit cards at home except for one for an emergency. Oh, and losing all your cash because you fed it into the slot machines is not an emergency. This card is for if your car breaks down, or you get stranded for example.
2. Take only the amount of cash that you can afford to lose. This is a big one, if you take all your cash say including the rent and grocery money, you might be tempted to gamble it if you lose the money you can afford to lose. It’s best to avoid the temptation by not bringing any cash that has already been set aside for necessities.
3. Don’t drink alcohol while you gamble. All casinos in Nevada and some Indian casinos sell or offer free alcohol that you can drink while you gamble. This is a good way to lose more money than you can afford to. Alcohol can dull the senses and cause you to make choices that you might not otherwise make, so it is best not to drink while you are gambling. Making this a policy will keep you from making a stupid choice such as to take out $500 from your credit card account for example.
4. Wear a watch. This might sound like a strange thing, but remember that the whole idea with a casino is to cause you to lose track of time, and spend more money. All the flashing lights, and bells from the slot machines, as well as the artificial lighting and the fact that there are no clocks posted anywhere near where people gamble are all meant to give you a false sense of security and reality. If you wear a watch you can tell how long it takes you to lose a certain amount of money. If you lose what you can afford to lose in the first hour, it’s probably time to go home.
5. Don’t gamble alone. This won’t guarantee that you don’t lose a lot of money, but it can help. If you tell whoever is with you that you are concerned you might overspend, and to stop you if you start to, or at least remind you that you don’t want to spend past a certain amount, this can help. It doesn’t mean you’ll listen to person, but hopefully it will as least make you stop and think for a moment before you overspend.
6. Bring a book if you come with a group, or another person. Sometimes you will lose the amount you can afford to lose first, but then whoever you came with is winning, or still has money to gamble with. Instead of being tempted to continue gambling, bring a book to read that will keep you entertained while you are waiting for the person who came with you to either win big, or spend what they can afford to and be ready to leave.
By employing these techniques every time I go to a casino I have prevented myself from losing more money than I could afford to spend. Not that there haven’t been times I’ve been tempted, but these instances are far fewer when I practice these techniques than if I don’t, and they will work for you too!
