Attitude and planning

Players who over-bet and play out of their league are easily recognised, and for the main part, warmly welcomed by the casinos. Often they are more concerned with how many people are watching them play rather than how much they are winning. A professional cares only about their bankroll. At least once their bankroll is at a healthy premium, they can place these large bets and afford to lose them, as opposed to those who have sadly succumb to this macho mentality, and play recklessly with money they can often ill-afford to lose.

Most casinos (both physical and on-line) are usually more than happy to provide a player with credit if they have the necessary funds to cover their potential losses. There are definite advantages to this, but for the vast majority of players it is inadvisable.

After losing large stakes, lines of credit make it dangerously easy for a player to obtain ready money that they can often ill-afford to lose. In addition, it can limit their play to that particular game when more favourable playing conditions may be found elsewhere.

The lure of playing beyond one’s financial limits is difficult to ignore. Whether it be the sense of superiority gained from placing high wagers, or being too proud to admit that they cannot really count, it all falls under the same fatal heading – machismo.

Naturally it is more exciting to bet £100 instead of £5. It is this type of emotion-fuelled play that will be the players undoing (a point which the casinos are well aware of, hence the free alcohol).

A smart player always knows when they have reached their playing limit. This point is often referred to as a “stop-loss limit”. Although this limit varies with the individual, it is usually around a third of the player’s total playing stake for that session. If a player consistently encounters failure at a particular machine, and is down two thirds of their playing stake, they would be wise to at least change machines, if not quit the session altogether.

The same applies to winning streaks. If a player makes a habit of quitting every time they are up two-thirds on their original total then they will always be quitting while they are ahead.

Before a player embarks on a game, they should always pre-designate a point at which they should stop. Carrying on regardless, whether on a winning or losing streak, can often push the player into a state of mind, where they may make foolish decisions that cost them money.

The was an error performing the Search. Please try again later.
The system cannot find the path specified.