| Many
times, people get themselves psyched up before
playing games at the casino. They convince themselves
that they are going to hit the jackpot, that today
is their lucky day and there is no way they can
lose. They can already imagine how they will spend
all of the money they are sure that they will
win.
Can you imagine the people who buy lottery
tickets being that sure of winning? Everyone
knows the odds for winning the big lottery jackpots
are ridiculously slim. We still buy tickets,
and we still hope, but deep down we know how
unlikely it is that we will be the big winner.
That’s how we should approach casinos
as well. The chances of hitting it big are not
that great. Casino games always give an advantage
to the casino.
No matter how special you think you are, if
you gamble at the casino, you are likely to
come home with less money than you had when
you started. That’s just the way it is.
Winning at the casino doesn’t depend on
how special you think you are or how lucky you
feel.
It’s true that your confidence level
can help you be more successful. However, that
is not enough. You need more than confidence
to win. You need to develop a strategy to help
you.
Before you go to the casino, you should evaluate
your reasons for gambling? What do you get out
of it? Are you looking for entertainment, or
a distraction from your everyday life? Or are
you looking to get a quick payoff and use the
money for a new toy or an expensive vacation?
Do you get excited about having a wad in bills
in your hands? Does that excitement cause you
to lose control of your ability to make rational
decisions? If so, you must make certain that
you decide ahead of time how much money you
are willing to risk. Don’t take money
with you that you can’t afford to lose.
Even if you can afford to lose the money, you
should think twice about using it to gamble
if you are going to have regrets when and if
you lose. What would you use the money for otherwise?
Will a fun night at the casino be enough to
justify the loss of the money, or will you wish
you had used it to buy yourself something new
instead? The money you use to gamble with should
be viewed as entertainment money. If all you
walk away from the casino with is the fun you
had playing until you lost all of your money,
how much is that worth to you? You need to make
that decision before you start playing.
If you can’t control yourself once you
get started, then you should not take any money
with you that you don’t plan to use. If
you think you will be tempted, remove the temptation
in advance. Go to the ATM machine and get out
the amount of money you plan to use. Then drop
your ATM card and all of your credit cards off
at home before you go to the casino. Only take
the cash that you have decided you are willing
to risk.
Don’t wait until you get to the casino
to try to decide on a strategy for playing.
It is too easy to go back and forth, changing
your mind constantly as the circumstances change.
Make your decisions ahead of time. If you think
you might want to try a different strategy,
you can consider it for the next trip. That
will give you some time to think about it and
research it before trying it out.
Asking yourself these questions and thinking
about the answers will help you to develop a
winning strategy for playing at the casino.
Make a plan for yourself, and then stick to
it. You never know, you might just end up winning
enough money to take the dream vacation after
all. |
