A sense of balance

One aspect of gambling that catches people out is the inability to either quit while they’re ahead, or accept that they’re not going to claw back their losses. Many a time in the casino I’ve witnessed someone ‘on a roll’ and experiencing a purple patch to end all purple patches, only to get intoxicated on their own success to the point where they have a total meltdown. I guess it’s greed really. The idea that they’ve struck gold and the inability to face up to reality when their fortunes change. This is likely in its own way a description of the majority of gamblers, or even people, but it doesn’t end anywhere desirable.

And from changing fortunes to simply not having a lot of luck to begin with, and attempting to ‘start back to where you started’, the loss of perspective from going  ‘on tilt’ doesn’t usually have a happy ending. It’s a mindset issue and I’m sure if you followed the fortunes of some of these weekly casino goers you’d realise that good luck or bad luck, they up the ante or push their luck to the point that they’re walking out as a loser.

A far more sensible solution, in terms of bricks and mortar casinos (and which can also be applied online) is to go in with a plan. One disciplined approach is to gamble what’s in one pocket and put (physically or lentally) your winnings as you go into the other. That way you can only lose as much as you set out to begin with, and yet you can still end up leaving a winner. Another is to set the amount of time you’re in the casino or your maximum bet – and stick with it. It’s all about finding the balance between a good night out and having fun. You don’t want to leave the casino wishing you’d never entered it!