Gambling - Honest Discussion Time

[Balky]

Thats what I often did in several Rival Casinos, mostly Vegas Sky (that one continually offered awesome promotions during this summer), but as a result Rival gave me a total bonus ban. When I asked some of their reps, they told me that I abused the promos cashing out right after meeting the WR. Luckily I was manually unbanned in two Rivals upon request via PM and there is still Sloto as an alternative. Good because I love the Rival slots.

Balky

[love2winalot]

Hiya: I have been married for almost 19 years now. Yay for me.........
Almost 8 years ago I lost 104 bets in a row at a single 0 Roulette table at the horseshoe, and over $1300. The thing was, only $700 of it was mine, and the rest i took out of the joint bank acct. at the atm in the casino. Booooo.

I did not tell her. Then, the next day i took out $2000 from, "her" credit card, lost it as i lost 12 hands in a row at BJ, and did not tell her again. Boooo, hisssssss, what a jerk.......and so on.

Then she found out.

The lost money was not an issue at all. It was that I did not tell her i was going to use it. It was the first, and last time i ever made her dissapointed in me.

So, what did I/we do about it? We took $1000 to gamble with. The agreement was this,.: "Play on the internet with the $1000, and we keep track of the winnings and losses. As long as the Original $1000 is still there, you are OK. That being, i could make $3000, then lose $2000, as i would still have the original $1000 in place.

Buuuuuuuuuut? If I lose that $1000, thats it, GAME OVER, FOREVER.

So, i went on to study, and play in free mode, and became a defensive player, to protect the $1000. I went back at looked at all the times I lost a good chunck of money to see what happened? It was always the same.
1. Red numbers hit 17 times in a row
2. Lost 9+ in a row in BJ.
3. Went 19 in a row in 3 card poker with no pair plus.
4. dice totals of 9-10-11-12 went 15 in a row without coming up, and so on

So, I simply removed this from ever being the reason i would lose. I never chase bets into infinity and beyound. I simply make the game beat me several losses back to back in sequences, vs losing it all in one sequence. This happens once in a while, but not enough to put me in the negative.

Bottom line is I play to Win. I have and do Win. I expect to Win, and Gloria Expects me to Win. We paid off our car from gambling. We paid for a lot of the house we built in the Philippins from Gambling. We paid 1/2 of the Bank foreclosed house we bought here in Vegas from Gambling.

And when i lose, "and i do sometimes, see the bodog thread", it is dissapointing, but not a proabelm, BECAUSE WE ARE IN IT TOGETHER.

Just like anything else, if i was asked by her to stop, I would be hitting the ctr/alt/delete buttons as i type this. Our marriage is the priority.

I think that players who may think they gamble to much, or some such thing only need to make something/or someone else the priority. There is no such thing as, "I love you......But"......there is only "I love you, what do you want me to do"? Master........ummm i mean Boss........ummm i mean Oh Mighty One..........i mean your majesty...........ummm i mean Honey? Yea that it, Honey Darling.........hehehe

[pokeraddict]

1) Yes, I have nothing to hide there. My wife does not want to hear about the swings but knows the end result is positive.

2) Both

3) I don't use any poker programs online. I have found a few B&M machines that have errors that I have abused. For example for about a year there was a old IGT machine that paid 11/6 on a JOB instead of the posted 8/6. There was an old BJ machine that paid you as a BJ when you split and got 21 on 2 cards even though the rules stated otherwise. I am an advantage gambler and look for opportunities but don't cheat unless you consider stuff like that cheating.

4) I play poker and +EV situations within my bankroll to prevent risk of ruin.

5) No

6) No

I think one of the problems most people have is they aren't playing games that are even remotely beatable. Unless you are one of the lucky people to hit some massive progressive you will never beat them. If you want to maximize your return play blackjack or high paying VP. With cashback and promos you can easily break 100% return at B&M. While I'm not familiar with internet promos I would imagine there is an opportunity there too.

While gambling can be entertainment losing money is not entertaining to anyone. Avoid slots, crap table games like Let it Ride/Car. Stud etc and video lottery gambling and your results will improve greatly.

I live in South Dakota which I believe has more gambling devices per capita than any stats but Nevada. Most are video lottery games that pay back 90-92% and people are hooked. It is sad but it is easy to stop losing. Stop playing crap games! Typically penny and nickel slots have that same type payback. Avoid them unless you are responsible enough to play within a budget and they are truly enjoyable to you even knowing they are unbeatable.

The reasons so many games pay back so little is because the casinos don't have any motivation to change it. People play the bad games, the casinos profit. Why should they change anything? If people stopped playing 90% payback games the casinos would be forced to raise the payback.

[WagerWitch]

Again - thank you all for answering.

I really don't have a Thank You button any more - how bizarre is that?

I can't thank more than 5 people LMAO - the rest of you - welll - Too bad - eh? *giggle*

Anyhow - THANK you so far... And I'd love to hear more responses, as this is - to me an interesting discussion.

WW

[felicie]

Thank you wagerwitch - this kind of discussion is much more productive than some of the other crapola this week even tho I am as guilty as anyone else for enjoying the read. and while we are at it, I believe you are the one several months back that did a piece on screen names and how many to use? That was helpful to me also. TY

[Nifty29]

I think KK provides some good advice here for those who find it difficult to 'win' or cashout (I only ever count a cashout as a win)

My average deposit is $50 and always has been. I will play usually without a bonus these days, and this has been a major change in my gambling behaviour the last 12 months. I now have a healthy bankroll which I never had before, and it is the lack of bonuses taken that IMO has been the difference, and its the only point where KK and I differ.

I used to play bonuses, but I couldnt really be bothered marking each spin and keeping track of wagers etc etc as I just wanted to play and enjoy myself and maybe make some money......trouble was, I nearly always busted out before meeting the WR. It occurred to me that many many times I had some really nice hits that I couldnt take advantage of because they were with a bonus and they ended up being whittled away meeting the WR.

So, I decided unless the bonus offered was very generous, I would play with my own funds only and set a cashout level for each deposit. I start with a 5x cashout level, and then cashout in 2x increments if I am able.

E.G. Deposit $50, balance up to $250, then cashout $200 leaving my remaining $50 deposit. If Im lucky enough, each time I get to $100 I cashout $50 to leave the original $50 again etc etc until its gone. You would be surprised how quickly it can build up! Next thing is request a flush right away and log off the PC for an hour or so (go get a drink or snack etc)

So why cashout relatively small amounts? Well its all about keeping the deposit amounts small, and lets face it - those big $1k plus wins are very rare unless you are betting large amounts (and therefore depositing large amounts generally) so it makes more sense to target the $200-$400 wins which are far more likely.

If you deposit your $50 and end up cashing out $300 in total (quite realistic), that is SIX MORE DEPOSITS you have in your bankroll!! That means you get to play at SIX more casinos! (I also dont generally deposit more than once at a casino in one session - if it aint payin then move on is my motto).

Just try this method out for a month if you find that you never seem to cashout or 'win', and its especially good if you're on a budget like me. Just try to remember that its tough to win the big ones, so be content with the nice smaller hits and get them straight into your pocket...and the big ones will take care of themselves (think about it....the more times you get to deposit the more chances you have of getting a biggie anyway!)

Remember, its just the way I do it and it may not suit everyone.

If you find you cant follow a method like this (or any form of control for that matter) due to willpower etc, then IMO its time to stop gambling and get some help.

Great thread BTW Witch.

[WagerWitch]

Thanks Nifters! Hugs!

[DaveG39]

1. Yes and no. Honest about the fact I do it, but keep the extent/amount hidden.

2. To win, else I'd only play in Fun Mode.

3. I take full advantage of sites like Wizard of Odds and BeatingBonuses and their "perfect play" tables/programs. Wether that's "manipulation" is up to you I suppose.

4. Don't really have a budget

5. Haven't been asked to give it up.

6. No!

[DaveG39]

One more question at the end of this post: Yesterday I played in a Rival casino, deposited 30 and reached 350 when the WR were met (Scary Rich - long live those bloodsuckers). I continued to play and eventually cashed out 160 Dollars. Instead of being happy because of having won, I was mad because I didnt stop at the peak balance. I would like to know if other players experience such situations in a similar way. Is there a way to keep control over greed?

Cheers Balky

I never stop at my peak, by design. If I'm at a peak, it means I'm winning, and want to keep the streak going. The trick is to stop once you start losing before you've given all your winnings back. You should be happy you did.

[love2winalot]

Hiya: I also agree with Nifty. imhop, A bonus can be more of a trap than a way to enjoy the game, or make money. To me, the restrictions are not worth it. With your Own money you can do what you want, when you want.

imhop, again, Unless you are going to be a Bonus bagger, and go after as many Bonus offers as you can get, and have the funds to do this, and slow play them in small ball, to meet wagering requirements, and take the profit that is left over, "And this can be done", Then maybe a Bonus offer is not as good as it seems?