Taking a "break" from online gambling

[venetian]

Johnsteed I love reading anything you post...just great! I am in the middle of my second week 'off', and it's killing me! I too have won most of my money at Playtechs in 2000-2002. Royal Flushes would come in every week, my best were three $4000 Royals in three days. Then I started having trouble, Dice, Carnival, Black Widow to name a few. I switched to MG sites and the most I have won in one hit was $3000 at 32Red on Treasure Nile. It has been nickle and dime wins since then (which has been well over a year). No Royals since July '05. How I long for the good 'ol days. My normal deposits have always been $50-100 and bets in the medium range and I increase depending on how the game is going. I exclusivly was VP and then got interested in slots. I have been disenchanted since the first of the year and am taking a break. Well...maybe not. I might just have to play a little tonight! For five years I played somewhere every day. So this break is very hard. But I play to win and when the wins aren't forthcoming I gotta slow down. Have you all noticed a general feeling of frustration in the posts in the last few months. So many becomming unhappy and taking either a short break or maybe trying to quit altogether. Hmmm it does make one think that the tide is turning in the online gaming business.

[johnsteed]

***

Thank you kindly "venetian".


venetian

I too have won most of my money at Playtechs in 2000-2002. Royal Flushes would come in every week, my best were three $4000 Royals in three days. Then I started having trouble, Dice, Carnival, Black Widow to name a few.

Wow! That must have been an awesome week.


In the span of only a few months, I was able to land a number of Straight Flushes and Royal Flushes over at PlayTech's. My biggest single hit at any casino was for $4,000 over at Royal Dice Casino. I stopped going to PlayTech's, because everything started getting cold by the 4th quarter of '03. The PlayTech's that I did well at were:


- Royal Dice (by far the greatest I've ever done at any online casino... I once ran a $50 deposit up into the mid-5-figure range... all on BJ over the course of a VERY hot week that I'll never see again... no joke!!! )

- Club Dice (I made it over $10,000 thrice in the summer of '03 on meager $50 deposits... unreal)

- New York Casino (I made over the $1,000 mark countless times)

- Casino Las Vegas (I also make it over the $1,000 mark countless times)

Most of those were built-up playing multi-hand BJ. I played BJ exclusively (or at least 98% of the time) back then.

It's absolutely mind-boggling, but I had enormously GREAT luck at PlayTech's. And for the life of me, I can't touch the $2,000 mark at any MG casino (and I've rarely reached the $1,000 mark).

Up until early '05, I had played at every PlayTech casino. Even BLACKWIDOW (ditto Grand Banks), although I had claimed a no deposit bonus (at least that's what I recall) from them. Back in those days, I never knew about their bad reputations, I just didn't like the layout of their sites (one of those times where judging a book by it's cover was a great thing ). There were almost a fair number of PlayTech's that didn't leave the "win" button "on" for me, and they would include:


- Carnival (urggghhh... instant losses on EACH deposit)

- Swiss Casino

- Magic Box Casino

- Las Vegas US

- Sunny Group (Mapau and others...)


I only mention these ones, because I made substantial deposits at these casinos, and they all had no highs and ALL lows compared to the former group mentioned.


My records show that I've done quite well on increased bets when playing at PlayTech casinos. I can't say the same for my play on MG casinos. I've played probably 10 times the amount of VP at MG casinos as I have with PlayTech, and I haven't done ANYTHING, except land 3 Straight Flushes. That's nice, but that hardly makes up for not getting anything massive to keep me going.

Have you all noticed a general feeling of frustration in the posts in the last few months. So many becoming unhappy and taking either a short break or maybe trying to quit altogether. Hmmm it does make one think that the tide is turning in the online gaming business.

I'd agree with you on this point, but that probably has a lot to do with own game-play. I do get the sense though that there have been a fair number of people who've decided lay-low from the online gambling scene. I have no concrete proof on that though... just a general feeling. I wonder though, if that has a lot to do with so many forum members playing slots these days. That's just speculation though, probably as a direct result from what the majority of posts in the "Winners Screenshots" thread would suggest.


Steed

***

[lydia]

I take a break everytime I am broke. Unfortunately after recovering I never learn from my mistakes (not cashing out in time, for example and so on) I start all over again, the same procedure...

Sometimes, I take a break (relativ short) even if I am not broke, but very frustrated if I only lose, lose, lose... so as lately...

[KasinoKing]

I'm with you Darem, I too have not won anything in so long it is hard to remember the last "win". I just deposited around $800 in the last three days between two MG and RTG sites and I got the ever loving shit kicked out of me!! Rarely got ahead and spent most of the time trying just to get back to even. Never happened. I like to play the video slots and the free spins were dismal at all the games I played. Switched to VP and got terrible results as well. Now I realize that I could be the unluckiest person on the planet, but I'm really convincing myself that there is something more sinister afoot. I no longer feel that there is any chance to win at any of the sites anymore, so I am going to retire. Hate to say it, but I also think some of the great stories posted here about someones "big win", are probably fabricated. If all these "winners" abound out there, you would think that someone like me who plays all the time would eventually be one of the winners. Not so. Time to fade away from this racket and get into something more legitimate. Good luck to you Darem and everyone else, you will need it.

It is my (conspiracy) theory that software’s run ‘hot & cold’ across the board. i.e. if one MG casino’s slots are cold – so are all the other ones. I’ve seen definite ‘streakiness’ like this when you can’t buy a decent feature hit!
Right now both MG & RTG seem pretty icy.

Rather than give up, my suggestion is try a different software – like Crypto or WagerWorks for example.
Maybe your luck will change with a different platform!
If I’d lost $400 at one casino, rather than chase my losses with another $200 deposit at the same one I’d try a different one. If I managed to double my money I would feel much happier saying “I lost $400 at casino A, but at least I won $200 at casino B” than just “I lost $200 at casino A”

Whatever you do – good luck!

[Darem1]

Thanks to everyone for the replies! Maybe our luck will change, and ALSO our attitudes about cashing out in time!

[HateMG]

I used to gamble a lot. I remember having a 2.5k line of credit in Neteller instacash which sometimes I had no problem losing all of it in one day and even couple times I did not have enough money in my bank to cover everything so later on I had to pay $30 for each bounced transaction to my bank and another $25 to Neteller. I even got a 20K loan from Citibank which I still pay around $460 a month. One day I realized I can not continue like that so I closed my Neteller account and just to make sure I'm not going to gamble anymore I disconnect my monitor from computer and gave it to my sister. It was more than a year ago. I only played on my cousin's computer when some casinos threw $15-$20 into my accounts which did not last long. The first time I gamble after that it was in AC one and a half month ago where I won $300 playing BJ and earn something like $750 in comps and used some of it on a great lunch. Shortly after that I got a cd from Captain's Cook and made $2100 playing BJ from $50 ND bonus again on my cousin's computer. It took around 10 days, had to fax some documents but I got the money deposited into my bank account. After that my gambling started again, I got the monitor back but now I have only $300 a week Instadebit account and nothing else. So after losing 2 week in a row my weekly gambling allowance which I can afford I got monthly loyalty points worth $120 into my Vegas7 account. Beleive it or not I ran it to more than 15K mostly playing BJ and some double double videopoker. Some of mine BJ hands at the end where at $400-$600 range. I made 2 withdrawal one for $8500 which already hit my bank account the second withdrawal I unfortunately reversed several times until I lost it all. I also accumulated more that $2000 in loyalty points but lost it as well (for VIP they can credit it upon your request not just on 10-15 of each month as a regular procedure).
Although my comeback to gambling started on a good note I understand it not going to last long but at least I know I can not lose more than my weekly Instadebit limit which was increased to $400 now.

[vinylweatherman]

My longest break from gambling was around 2 years, but this was land based on Fruit Machines. My longest break from online gambling has been until the next bonus offer expired
If I have done well, I play with or without bonuses, usually in tournament promotions. If I have done badly I only play where a bonus improves my chances.
I would certainly not want to turn down a bonus that was a steal, such as the VIP Tuesday bonus at Jackpot Factory, even if it took all the funds in Neteller at the time. I am about, break even there.
If I do too badly at a particular casino, it gets uninstalled and another put back in its place. I often find that switching casinos is better than plugging away when all games are cold.

[ballysdb]

My situation is very similar to HateMg. I blew up all my accounts a year ago. I paid off Instadebit and they started me with a $250 weekly limit. Of course they have upped it twice. Now it is $400. After I gamble I always say " Ill call them and ask them to lower it to $50 a week." Of course I ALWAYS end up playing just ONE more time! My biggest problem now is using Nexum. The only casino I have found to use them is Casino of Fortune. I called Nexum and asked them to exclude me from purchasing. They said they dont consider me as a "customer" with an account. They are just the middle man. So I have to ask Casino of Fortune if I can self exclude myself. Funny thing is...it seems everytime I try to help myself to curtail my gambling, something gets in the way. Either an email doesnt go through or the phone # I have doesnt work. Once I tried to cash out $5000 and Casino of Fortune would not send me a check without a utility bill. (I think it was Casino Fortune I dont want to say anything about them that might not be true) Anyway I have an apartment and my landlord has everthing in his name. So I had to wait a week until I could make my first deposit at the casino using Instadebit and they would let me cash out to Instadebit. As I waited I of course gave all the money back. I guess sometimes you just have to be stronger than your urge to gamble.

[pacers31]

You're right about that Bally's, but what a strong urge it is!!! I am going to make an effort to stay away for awhile, but the lure of easy money has such a strong appeal. I'm thinking that I can do it because even in years past when I lost, I was able to say that I still got some enjoyment from it. With the current losses I am incurring it is no fun at all. It has gotten so bad, that at some point in each gaming session I am able to correctly state to myself "that's it, it's going to suck it all away now". The terrible thing is that this is even when I have $100 or more dollars and only make small bets!!! The entire online gaming thing is based on blind trust. All the sites assure me that their games are beyond reproach and so fair, but we really do not know do we? In fact we are putting blind faith in someones word that we have never and never will meet! It's like a used car salesman or politician saying "Trust Me". I've just had so many bad experiences that it is time to take a well needed break and let my feelings and attitude perhaps soften somewhat before trying again. I am just afraid that since I really don't want to quit, that I won't. We all know the slot junkie's mantra, ONE MORE SPIN!!! Have a great day all.

[dabruin2]

My longest sabbatical from gambling was about three months. And the reason why was because I took a bad beat in Las Vegas. I started gambling again online and the reality was that I would lose more online than I could ever in a land based casino--maybe it's because you don't realize how much you're betting, or quite frankly don't care.

I remember losing like 3K online and I took about three weeks off and vowed never again. Then I tried again with a 1K deposit, only to lose it in 15 time. I felt like a complete scumbag at the time. This was April of this year and I've got to pay a huge tax bill, had to contribute to my retirement account as a stipulation of my tax return, and had to pay off a credit card who's 0% deal was expiring. All in total, it was about 20K in outflow, and here I am blowing about 4K in three weeks.

It's not like I didn't have the money, but you just feel like a dirtbag being so irresponsible. Now I was looking at having to cash out CDs and Bonds just to cover the deficit.

Well, long story short, I tried once more with a 2K deposit. In short time, I found myself winning the 1K back, then I won the 3K that I lost, then I came up ahead several K.

So the story ends on a positive note. And right now, I'm thinking about taking a couple days to rest and let it all sink in.