Gambling is one of the worst thing you could do for your personal finances as a whole. Nonetheless of you are a student who is struggling financially, or a parent that has to bear the heavy costs of college enrollment. In fact, it is scientifically proven that the “problem gambling” group (people who gamble excessively to a point it has a tremendous financial and mental costs) mainly consists of poor individuals, so the fact you have little money in your possession doesn’t make you any less prone to become an addict.
The above is my “don’t gamble, kids!” disclaimer. I am by no means encouraging anyone to wager their money through gambling (ESPECIALLY if its against the law where they live).
After we have established the fact that gambling can be the root of all evils, we have to withstand the fact gambling is a highly popular recreational activity, and especially for college students who are able to set foot inside a casino for the first time in their life. Although they can develop issues as a result of uncontrolled gambling, it’s no less of a risk than cigarette or drug consumption which incredibly trendy at this age.
Below are 7 tips that will help you control your gambling spending, decrease associated fees, and improve your chances of actually winning something back.
1. Use a set budget
Easier said than done, I know, but you need to have a stringent budget for gambling purposes, else even a one wild night can cost you dearly. The budget should be a number that you would make you feel comfortable to lose in one evening, if you occasionally gamble (once every few weeks or more seldom than that). If your frequency is higher than that, you should decide on a weekly or a monthly budget, but that’s far more difficult to track.
The best tip I have for you is to use cash when you go to a brick-and-mortar casino, without a debit or a credit card. This way, you won’t be exceeding your limits even if you really, really, want to.
2. Spend time playing in demo mode
If it’s boredom that drives you into gambling, and you need endlessly click to slot’s re-bet button, why won’t you play online on demo mode without risking any money? Although it turns things from gambling to gaming, some people can get to similar levels of enjoyment from this activity without putting any money at risk.
3. Online casinos offers lower stakes
Playing online casino games for real money can be quite destructive because you cannot set limits in the same way you can when going to a land-based casino. It’s also a non-social activity, unlike going out to a casino with your mates, which has higher risks of becoming addictive (or so I believe, found no evidence to that). On the other hand, online casinos offer a lot more variety. Variety of games, variety of promotions, variety of competitions, and also variety of stakes. While the average US casino had a $1-5 minimum per hand in blackjack, online casino enable lowballers to wager as little as $2c per hand.
4. Avoid credit and payment fees on deposit
If you are going to a brick and mortar casino, do not use credit card to make payments for your chips as it will incur additional costs in comparison to cash/debit. If you are going to gamble abroad, do not exchange your money in the casino, as the exchange rates will be drastically worse to a standard exchange bureau. If you are playing online, check the casino’s specific fees for usage of different payment methods, and consider using eWallets that sometimes have unique promotions of if you use them to deposit (eWallets you can use for gambling: Paypal, Neteller, iDebit, Siru and a bunchload more).
5. Utilize bonuses and loyalty club memberships
Online and landbased casinos will go above and beyond to preserve you as a customer. This is exactly why casino membership cards are so great – they accumulate bonus points that you can use in the bar, restaurant or on the felt! The same applies to online casinos. The more you play, the more of your bonus you redeem. The more you deposit, the more VIP points you accumulate. This is free money that you should use, just be sure to read the fine print and understand online casino bonuses can also be a hassle because they limit your withdrawal if you have won any money (until you have fully redeemed the bonus).
6. Focus on low-house-advantage games
If you are indifferent towards the gaming experience in a casino and just enjoy the thrill of gambling on money, why won’t you try games that you have better chances of winning at? Of course that in the long run, you will end up losing money if you play casino games*, but if you play a game like blackjack or baccarat, you are likely to consume your funds at a much more sufficient pace than with slots.
* If you specialize in games like Texas Hold’em poker you might end up even winning! This is not a casino game but rather a skill game with 10-20% lifetime winners (who made more money than spent). Same thing applies to sports-betting – if you are an expert punter using a sophisticated strategy, you might win in the long term.
7. Don’t play to win
If you want to have a night evening out (or in your dorms) playing casino games, do it for the sake of entertainment without telling yourself you can win, because you can’t. It’s not a question of luck, but rather simple statistics. With every single die roll, statistics balance out. If you are playing blackjack that has an advantage of about 0.5% against optimal strategy (assuming you do use it), that means that roughly 0.5% of the total turnover will be won by the casino. So if you bet $10 a million times, you should be about $50,000. That all there is to it, maths. You can win on a single night, or a week, or a month or even a year, but you won’t be winning in the long term.
Hope this was helpful to you young gamblers. Just note that in the USA online gambling is not only prohibited but also quite impossible. Online casinos that accept Americans aren’t the ones you want to be wagering your money in. For concluding words, I will refrain from using the banal “good luck” wish, and just advise you to gamble responsibility.