What’s the worst idea that a gambler can have? While this sounds like a simple question, the problem is that there are so many bad ideas that it’s hard to pick the worst.
I’ve had so many bad gambling ideas throughout my years of playing casino games that I likely can’t count them all. And the worst part is that I had no idea they were incorrect at the time.
This isn’t anywhere close to a complete list of bad gambling ideas, but here are six of the worst ideas about gambling that you should start correcting. If you agree with any of these or implement any of these bad habits, you need to eliminate them immediately because they’re costing you money.
1 – Sitting Down at a Slot Machine
I’m sure that most gamblers don’t agree with this, but sitting down at a slot machine is probably the worst idea you can have. Of course, I suppose the actual mistake is not sitting down at a slot machine but actually playing a slots game.
Slots always rank in the bottom of games offered by casinos in an important metric. You need to look at what each casino game offers in return to player or return to player percentage (RTP).
The return to player percentage shows how much you get back from a casino game over time. If you know what the return percentage is and how much you bet, then you can quickly figure out how much you’re going to lose.
To do this, you just multiply the return percentage with the total amount you wager. Then, you subtract this number from the total amount of your wagers, and you’ll get the amount you’re going to lose.
Slot machines have a worse return percentage than almost every other game offered in the casino. It’s not uncommon for a slot machine to have a return of 90% or worse. In comparison, most table games offer a return of 95% or better, and blackjack can offer a return of at least 99% at some tables.
2 – Never Learning Good Gambling Strategies
If you’re going to gamble, then you need to do everything you can to win. This means that instead of relying on hope, you need to take action on the things you can control.
The best way to start taking action on the things you can control when you gamble is by learning the best strategies for every gambling activity you participate in.
Some gambling activities don’t have realistic strategies that you can use. Slot machine play is an example of this. Most of the time, slots is a game that’s entirely based on luck. You can’t find a real strategy to help you win when you play slots.
Gambling activities that don’t have strategies are always a bad idea. In other words, if you can’t find a decent strategy for a gambling activity, then you shouldn’t participate.
Concentrate on gambling activities that have strategies that you can use, and do everything in your power to learn and use these skills to win at the game.
I recommend learning as much as you can about casino game strategies such as: video poker strategy, blackjack strategy, and poker strategy. These are the games that give you the best opportunity to win when you practice playing the best hands and maximize on trying to make profit.
3 – Mixing Your Bankroll and Other Cash
If you’re like most people who gamble and just use money from the same pool of money that they use for everything else, just know that this is a bad idea.
The main reason why it’s a bad idea is because it makes it hard to track your results when you gamble. It also makes it easier to lose more money than you want when you gamble.
Are you using a bankroll when you gamble? Or do you just use money from the same pool of money that you use for everything else in your life?
Here’s what you need to do right now. Create a bankroll that you only use for gambling. Keep this money separate from all of the rest of your money. When you gamble, only use the money in your bankroll, and don’t use that bankroll for anything other than gambling.
If your bankroll is growing and you decide to take some money from it to add to your main bank account, this is fine. But this is a conscious decision that you should monitor.
I realize that you might not think using a bankroll is going to make any difference. But I urge you to try it in order to see how it works.
4 – Risking Too Much
How do you lose too much money when you gamble? The simple answer is when you risk too much money.
The simple fact is that you can’t lose any money that you don’t risk. And the more money you risk, the more money you usually lose.
This is another area where using a bankroll helps you control your money. When you have a bankroll and only use the money in it to gamble, then you never risk more than that designated bankroll.
In the first section, you learned how return to player percentages control how much you lose. When you risk too much, the return percentages create higher losses.
For Example:
If you’re gambling with a 95% return and risk a total of $3,400, then you’re going to lose roughly $170. But if you only risk $1,200, you lose $60. You need to track how much you risk overall and do what you can to risk less and improve your return percentage. Both of these things reduce how much you lose.
And you can also use limits to control how much you lose. I cover the different types of limits you can use when you gamble in the next section.
5 – Never Using Limits
Many things you’re learning in this article deal with what you can control at the casino. Using limits when you gamble is a great way to have more control over your results.
You can use different types of limits when you gamble, but the best ones to use are loss limits, time limits, and win limits.
A Loss Limit Is Simply a Total Amount That You’re Willing to Lose During a Gambling Session
When you lose the entirety of the loss limit that you set, you just stop gambling. For example, let’s say you want to establish a loss limit of $100. Once you lose $100 that day, you should stop gambling and go home. Don’t try to win it back. Stick to your limit!
A win limit works like a loss limit, but it’s the amount that you want to win before ending your session. When you reach your win limit, you stop gambling. Let’s say that you want to win at least $50 before leaving the casino. Don’t try to win anymore than that once you do. Win limits help you avoid losing the money that you win.
Time limits are set before you start gambling and are used to keep you from gambling for too long. Sometimes, players tend to get carried away and spend hours of their time winning and losing over and over again. Set a time limit, maybe an hour, and get yourself out of there before things take a turn for the worse.
The best thing about setting limits when you gamble is that you can set them at any level you want. But you need to set them before you start gambling and make sure you stick with it. If you have to, get someone else to hold you accountable.
In the next section, I’m going to show you a way to get even more control over your results when you gamble.
6 – Ignoring Advantage Gambling Tricks
Gamblers always hope they can win. Some of them even believe they can win most of the time. But most gamblers lose far more often than they make profit, and that’s how casinos keep their businesses afloat.
However, there are a small group of gamblers that know exactly how to win and make money gambling over time. This small group of gamblers has learned how to use what are called “advantage gambling” techniques.
Many different types of advantage gambling techniques exist, but the most common ones are card-counting and using advanced poker strategy. You can also learn how to win when you bet on sporting events or horse racing.
Most gamblers don’t realize that advantage techniques exist, and many of the ones who do realize that these techniques exist think that the techniques are too difficult to implement into their gameplay. So, a lot of them they don’t even try to learn how to use advantage plays.
Now that you know advantage gambling techniques exist, I can tell you that these techniques are not that hard for you to learn. And if you never try to learn how to use them, then you’re never going to be able to win as a gambler.
If you like to play blackjack, learn how to count cards. If you like to bet on sporting events or horses, learn how to handicap. If you like to play poker, learn how to use advanced poker strategies.
Sure, it may take some effort and practice, but these help your bankroll improve over the long haul. And you may just become one of the lucky gamblers that walk away with a little more cash in their pocket.
Conclusion
Gamblers come up with plenty of bad ideas, but some of their ideas are worse than others. This list of six bad ideas that cost gamblers cash is just the tip of the iceberg. But it’s a good place to start.
Playing slots is just about the worst idea you can have as a gambler. They promise big returns but just end up putting a big hole in your bankroll. It’s also a bad idea to ignore all of the advanced strategies that can help you win.
You shouldn’t mix your bankroll with your other money, you should always use limits, and you should never risk too much. Finally, if you ignore advantage gambling tricks, it’s costing you a lot of cash. Good luck!
Michael Stevens
Michael Stevens has been researching and writing topics involving the gambling industry for well over a decade now and is considered an expert on all things casino and sports betting. Michael has been writing for GamblingSites.org since early 2016. …
