Win or Lose
I gamble mainly because of the rush it generates. I started young, my Dad would spend hours on horserace gambling, studying form, making and discarding systems - He still does it at 75! He doesn't bet high though, 20p to 50p bets mostly. Naturally, he did not discourage me from playing arcade machines from the age of around 6 or 7. I didn't have them where I lived though, so it was a case of save up all year and play for one or two weeks in the summer seaside holiday.
I went "professional" so to speak when I had transport, I could get to the places far more easily.
I began gaming online in 2004, and the lure was indeed all the "free money" that was offered, and the websites that sprung up about "easy money". Well, it may have been early on, but nowdays it's a myth, bounses and promotions are NOT easy money, just take a while to do the math and you will see than many have a negative expectation dressed up as a guarantee of winning something. The main problem I have had online is the lack of feel for the money, after all it's just numbers.
Recently, we started having Australian style slot machines here, up to 2 per spin and 500 Jackpots. Playing at 2 a spin using coins and notes and it really notices when you go through 50 or more and find the wallet bare, but spin Thunderstruck and see the numbers go down and the effect is much less, and it is easy to forget how much has gone through long term.
I have kept a record of my position at every single casino, so I can see how I am REALLY doing. This puts big wins, and great runs into perspective, also, the totals column makes for bigger numbers, and when they are red (negative), it makes more of an impression.
I have found that I am better off playing at many casinos, sharing the money round, rather than piling in at a few, and chasing into what seems to be a locked in negative run.
My biggest blunder, due to shameful lack of self control, was to win 20,000 one day in an amazing run, only to lose it the next in the hope of repeating the process, I then won 10,000 back the day after, but instead of recognising that even clawing 10,000 back was an astounding result, I continued till it had gone, the result was that I was right back where I started from, instead of having 20,000 in my Neteller for further promotions in other casinos.
Now, if I have that kind of run, I fire the money out of Neteller into my bank, leaving what I would have had if I had just had the normal run of luck. I can still play in the promotions and tournaments, but cannot go overboard as the money goes into banking limbo for at least a week, and can only get back into casinos by putting it through credit cards and a single debit cards, and these have strict transaction limits unlike Neteller.
One way to control things, short of quitting altogether, is to uninstall large numbers of casinos, or even all of them, and then spend a while tidying up the PC, and anything else that needs doing, and reinstall casinos from scratch based on what they are offering, but bear in mind they will make it sound better than it is.
Another way that helps is to celebrate a win by bying something you need, followed by something you want, thus locking in the upside, (ever tried depositing an LCD Digital TV at a casino for play
)
If this doesn't work, then spend time discussing the issues on a forum such as this, or with friends, I can be on my PC, yet not actually gambling by doing this.
I have been considering building my own PC for the next one, and this will involve, above all, TIME, time spent in an activity which is not gambling, and could take some while, at least the first time. The payoff will be the opportunity to sample the casinos as they are meant to be enjoyed, but will also allow me to at last use my iPod, and archive my old camcorder footage, even preserve my old vinyl record collection.
I can still play in the Casino Action tournaments by letting Thunderstruck run at 9p a spin all day with the sound turned up while I build the other PC!
Or find myself cussing up a strom at some of the screen shots that suck. 
Might form a nice occassional distraction with some community about it.
); started on the 2p fruities at around 13-14yrs and gradually moved on to bigger & worser things - club machines. I lost count of the times I went down the town & blew £100 or more on these cash vacuums and called myself all the names under the sun on my way home, tail between legs. Total insanity - and I knew it.
