Gambling online is fun and can bring lots of enjoyment whether you win or lose. However, as so many people have found out, gambling can be a problem. It can ruin people’s lives. But it can do that only if you let it. In other words, gambling can become a problem only if you cannot control yourself or control the money you place on bets. You have to stick to a budget.
So how does one stick to his budget when it comes to gambling? The simple answer is through self-discipline. But we know that the allure of gambling can be strong and the rush of adrenalin sometimes too much to resist. Sometimes, it takes more than just self-discipline to stick to one’s budget.
With that in mind, here are some steps that you can take to control your gambling expenses.
1. Set up a Gambling & Entertainment eWallet account
First, open a checking or current account in a bank that does not offer Internet banking facilities. Don’t get a debit or ATM card. This is your secure account. It is where you will keep the money that you will use for your everyday expenses and for paying all your bills.
Next, open an eWallet, such as Neteller, which is available for free and allows easy access to your funds through the Internet. This is your Gambling & Entertainment account. It’s where you get the funds for online gambling. Every time you receive your salary, put most of it in your secure account and transfer what you can spare into your Gambling & Entertainment account.
Now, every time you gamble, you dip into your Gambling & Entertainment account. If the account goes dry, you won’t have any budget to gamble with until your next payday when you can load the account with more funds. And since your secure account is difficult to access, it will be easier to you to stick to your gambling budget.
2. Implement a daily deposit limit
Most casinos will help you keep within your deposit limit, for example, Microgaming offers the ability to allow you to request their Customer Support service staff to set up a maximum daily deposit limit for you. This puts a ceiling on the funds that you deposit and gamble with each day. If you lose all those funds, there’s no way to add more money if a daily deposit limit is in place. The only way you can keep gambling on any given day is to win.
3. Lift the Reverse Withdrawal period
Most major casinos have a Reverse Withdrawal period which allows you to access your money for several hours after you’ve checked out. Request the online casino to lift the Reverse Withdrawal period for your account, many casinos will do this for you if you ask.
4. Implement a rolling cashout policy
This is something that every gambler has heard — quit while you’re ahead. However, as most of us know, it is so difficult to quit when you’re winning. Instead of following this piece of advice, why not find a middleground instead so you can still keep on playing?
Implement a personal rolling cashout policy. In other words, you cash out a portion of your cash-in-hand if you hit your gambling targets. Let’s say you’re playing with $50 and targeting $100. If you hit that $100 target, immediately cash out $25 and everything else over $100. This leaves you with $75 to gamble with. Now, set another target, say $150. If you hit that target, cash out another $25 and so on and so forth. Even if you hit an unlucky streak later on, you will have at least put a little something away.
