Sometimes we lose a lot. I once lost $100 in 10 minutes at a video poker machine. We’ve all heard of the house edge, but is it possible to increase your own edge? We’re about to shed some light on the situation. With a little luck, you’ll be able to turn your fortune around. Here’s why you lose money at the casino. Anyone who has indulged in online gambling and, in particular, slots will know there are a myriad choices – and a myriad ways to lose your money, as I would later discover.
The less money you spend outside the casino the more money you have to enjoy the basics of your vacation, including on other forms of entertainment such as entrance fees for state and national parks. In other words, when you take a gambling vacation you want to protect your money in every aspect of the trip, not just inside the casino. You've lost around $600, but there's people who have done a similar thing, losing thousands of dollars, ending up in them losing there possessions, their home etc. Just put that episode down to an.
Do you feel like you’re losing too much money gambling? If so, that can be a serious problem. You’ll probably find plenty of advice aimed at problem gamblers or gambling addicts. That advice usually amounts to absolute abstinence, which, frankly, is the correct approach—if you’re really a problem gambler.
On the other hand, you might not have an addiction. You might be a recreational gambler who overdid it one weekend. Compare it to the person who goes to a party one weekend and overindulges and wakes up with a hangover. That, by itself, doesn’t qualify one for membership in Alcoholics Anonymous. It takes a little more drinking than that.
If you’re a recreational gambler, here are 10 reasons why you’re losing so much money gambling, and here’s what you should do instead:
1- You’re Placing the Wrong Bets at the Casino
All casino games have a house edge—a mathematical advantage for the casino that’s impossible to beat in the long run. They create this edge by creating a game where the odds of winning are worse than the payout odds. One easily understood example is roulette. A bet on a single number at the roulette table has a 37 to 1 probability of winning. (You have 37 ways to lose, and you only have 1 way to win.) But that bet only pays off at 35 to 1 odds.
It’s important to realize that this is a long-term mathematically expected result, and in the short run, the results are random. Your actual results will only start to look more like the mathematically expected results over a long period of time. But the more negative expectation bets you place, and the higher the house edge is, the more money you’ll stand to lose in the casino. In roulette, all of the bets (save one) have the same house edge, but this isn’t true of every game.
Craps, for example, is a game which has some bets with a house edge of well under 2%. But it also has some bets with a house edge of well over 10%. The difference in expected value is tremendous. If you stick with the pass line bet at the craps table, or the come bet, the house edge is only 1.41% But if you start betting on silly stuff like “hard 8,” the house edge is 9.09%.
2- You’re Betting Too Much Money on Each Wager
The way to predict your mathematically expected loss per hour on a gambling activity is to use the following formula, where:
- A = The house edge
- B = The average bet size
- C = The number of bets you make per hour
- A X B X C = Expected hourly loss
Increase any of these factors, and the amount of money you lose per hour goes up. It does you little good to stick with a game where the house edge is 1.41% if you’re just going to start betting $500 per roll instead of $100.
If you’re gambling spending has gotten out of control, consider scaling down the stakes for which you’re playing. If you’re betting $100 per hand on blackjack, you can cut the amount of money you’re losing in half by betting $50 per hand instead.This is true in any gambling activity where you’re fighting a negative expectation. Bet less per wager, and you’ll lose less money in the long run.
3- You’re Using Betting Systems
Some people think that raising and lowering their bet sizes based on the previous round’s results can change the odds in their favor. The most popular of these methods is called the Martingale System, and it involves doubling the size of your wager after every loss until you win.
What happened on the previous spins has no effect on the probability of getting red on the next spin of the roulette wheel. There are 38 numbers, and 18 of them are red. The probability of getting a result remains 18/38, regardless of what happened on the previous spin, the previous dozen spins, or the previous 100 spins.
The other thing that these betting systems fail to account for are the size of your bankroll and the betting limits at the casino. If you start off betting $10 per spin at the roulette wheel and double your bet after every loss, you don’t need an outrageous losing streak to start putting a serious strain on your bankroll.
Losing 8 times in a row at roulette seems next to impossible, but it happens every 4 or 5 hours. Look what happens to the size of your bet when you hit a losing streak like that:
- $10
- $20
- $40
- $80
- $160
- $320
- $640
- $1280
Keep in mind that if you succeed on bet #8 or #9, your net profit for the entire progression was only $10. The rest of that bet was just to recoup your previous losses. And after losing 7 or 8 times in a row, the odds of winning the next bet are still against you. The probability is still 47.37%, no matter what happened earlier.
No betting system can compensate for having the odds against you in the first place. That’s just not how gambling works.
4- You’re Not Using Basic Strategy in Blackjack
Most people know by now that blackjack offers some of the best odds in the casino. The house edge is less than 1%. But that figure assumes that you’re playing every hand with perfect basic strategy. Every deviation you make from basic strategy adds to the house edge.
If you’re going to play blackjack, memorize basic strategy and use it on every hand. This will limit your losses. The more you deviate from basic strategy, the more money you’ll lose on average over time.
5- You’re Playing Slot Machines
The most expensive game to play in any casino is the slot machine. It combines lousy odds with a high rate of play, which is devastating to your bankroll. It increases the average expected loss dramatically. The average slot machine player gets in about 600 spins per hour. At $3 per spin, you’re putting $1800 per hour into action. Contrast that with a blackjack player wagering $10 per hand at a reasonably crowded table. He’s probably lucky to get in 100 hands per hour, which means he’s only risking $1000 per hour.
Play whatever you want to in the casino, including slot machines, but if you think you’re losing too much money too fast, you should get away from the slots.
6- You’re Playing Too Many Hands at the Poker Table
One of the keys to winning at poker in the long run is tight-aggressive play. The first part of that is probably the more important part if you’re losing too much money playing poker.
Tight and loose are 2 ways of describing how selective you are with which hands you play and how far you continue with them. Tight players fold most hands and only play the hands that are strong. Loose players, on the other hand, play lots of hands. Loose players might win more pots, but it’s only because they’re involved in more pots.
Lost A Lot Of Money Online Gambling Money
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t put money in the pot. Betting and raising are keys to aggressive play, which is the 2nd half of a winning poker strategy. But in terms of losing less money, the first trick you should learn is how to fold a lot. Even tight-passive players lose less money than loose-passive players.
7- You’re Gambling with Money You Can’t Afford to Lose
Have you ever heard the expression, “Scared money always loses?” It’s true.Scared money is money you shouldn’t have been betting in the first place. It’s money you can’t afford to lose. Since you can’t afford to lose that money, you make decisions that aren’t mathematically optimal. You also recklessly chase losses in a desperate attempt to get even.
You get to the blackjack table, and you have $100 down on a hand, and you split. Then you re-split. Now you have $400 in action. Then suppose the dealer winds up with a total of 21, and all 4 of those hands of yours lose. You have $1600 left and can’t pay the rent.
So you think, well, I already can’t pay my rent—maybe I can catch up and get ahead by placing a couple of bigger bets. So you bet $200 on the next hand, with the intention of just getting in enough hands to break even for the night. This time you get a hand where the correct play is to double down, and you do so. But you still lose. Now you’re down to $1200. You’re going to lose a lot of money if you’re playing with scared money.
8- You Really Do Have a Gambling Problem
It’s not my place to diagnose whether you’re a problem gambler or not. That’s for you to decide. I can offer some clues to look for, though.
If you’ve ever done any of the following, you might consider getting some help for a potential gambling problem:
- You’ve missed work because of your gambling.
- You’ve felt remorseful after gambling.
- You’ve gambled until you were completely broke.
- You’ve sold something or hocked something to gamble.
- You’ve lied about your gambling activities.
You can find a list of 20 questions to think about if you’re concerned about your gambling behavior here. That’s from the Gamblers Anonymous website, but that’s not the only game in town when it comes to getting help for a gambling problem.
Getting help is crucial, but I’m a believer in getting professional help as well as the support and fellowship of people who have experienced similar problems. Find a licensed professional counselor to talk with, too. Gambling addiction ruins lives, so don’t let it ruin yours.
9- You’re Obsessed with Climbing the Ladder of the VIP Club
I have a friend who visits the Winstar Casino more often than he’d care to admit. He has recently been climbing the ladder in the players club there, and he gets free food and rooms all the time. To pull this off, he had to gamble a lot more than he probably would have otherwise. And the way negative expectation games work is to drain your money the longer you stay in the game and the more you play.
And let’s face it. The percentage that the casino awards you for your play is so paltry in comparison to the house edge that it’s pitiful. Most casinos award you 0.2% or so in rewards. That might go up to 0.3% or 0.4% as you climb the VIP player club ladder. The house edge on most casino games, though, is at least 10 times that much. Most casino games have a house edge in the 2% to 4% range.
Blackjack and video poker are exceptions, but it’s all but impossible to make a living with either of those games even if you play profitably and optimally. Don’t get sucked into the trap of thinking you need to play more to get more player rewards. That’s a recipe for losing more money.
10- You’re Not as Good at Betting on Sports as You Think
It’s hard to make a profit betting on sports. The vig creates a situation where a guy who’s right with his picks 50% of the time is bound to lose. That’s because the book requires you to wager $110 on a 50/50 proposition to win $100. Most people overestimate how well they pick winners. They think that they’re better than they are, and since they’re not keeping careful records anyway, it’s easy for them to claim they’re breaking even or showing a small profit.
Do this for a month or two, and I can guarantee you’ll be surprised at what your actual results look like when compared to how you thought you were doing. This doesn’t make you delusional, by the way. It makes you human. It’s human nature to have selective memory. You’ll naturally remember the winning bets more than the losing bets. That’s why keeping written records is so important.
Conclusion
Lost A Lot Of Money Online Gambling Winnings
So you’ve been losing too much money gambling? It’s almost certainly because of one of the 10 reasons listed above. That’s good news, too, because once you’ve put your finger on the problem, you can solve it.
With each of the reasons for losing money listed above, I’ve tried to include a piece of advice about how to stop losing so much money for that reason. What other reasons can you think of that might be causing you to lose so much money gambling?
- This topic has 397 replies, 38 voices, and was last updated 1 month, 3 weeks ago by .
Hey eveybody I just decided to join this today. Have never used anything Like this before so I will just break down my story. I have been gambling for 10 years on and off since I was 18, as soon as I became legal to enter the casino in my city. I am 28 now. My gambling is on and off. I had stopped for about 6 years and when my ex gf and I took a trip to Las Vegas in 2014 it came out again. I knew going there was a bad idea but i went anyways, I left her in the hotel one day and gambled all day and all night long , maxed out a 5000$ credit card and didn’t even have money to pay for my baggage on the way back, back in 2014 5000$ was a lot of money to me And I was devistated as it put me in credit card debt. she was super ashamed and worried of me and saw I had a problem. When I got back to my city I went right back to the casino and started Gambling more all week, I had lost another 4-5000$ and when I went into work my manager saw I was distraught , she asked what’s wrong and I opened up to her. She and I went to the casino that day and banned myself for 5 years. Self ban until year 2020. I felt relieved yet still ashamed and self hatred as I was in a bunch of debt. Fast forward to 2017 my ex and I went to Las Vegas again for our anniversary and I had been gamble free for nearly 3 years. It came out of me again there but It wasn’t in large amounts tis time, won 700$ first day, lost it all the third day plus a few hundred of my Own. Still felt that feeling of pain of a loss i guess because it had been years since gambling. So I get back to my city and of course I can’t gamlbe here because I am banned. Fast forward to 2018 my gf and I break up and I blow through 40k of savings I have worked so hard to save not from gambling but I travel and go party as a single guy now after 5 years and start thinking I’m a millionaire because I have some savings. I take nearly a year off and now I have a beard, so I think maybe they won’t recognize me. Surely i try my luck and I get in, I win 1000$ and I stop for a couple of weeks. Then the worst things happens, my friend invites Me to vegas for labour day weekend. I tell myself don’t go you will gamble there but I go Anyways. first night I break even , second night I win 3500, lose it all the same night, third day I go in a hole lose around 5000, fourth and last day I win 10k, super happy I have to catch my flight in a few hours have 10k in my pocket My trip is payed for and I have some priofits, my friend says let me hold your money you will go lose it i know it. I don’t listen to him and I go lose the 10k in 30 minutes of roulette, feel like complete scum again. So I get back home what do I do I go to the casino which I am banned from, and it spiral out of control, they don’t recognize me with my beard, I start going everyday. Skippping class to gamble, stop working out, lying to family and friends . I became numb to it. I used to get upset When I lost 500$, and fast forward to playing 500-1000$ hands of blackjack or spins of roulette. So I would go in and win 1000-5000$ per trip, then I would lose that much the next day or more , I was going up, down, down. Up. The wins kept me going back. So I tracked all of my gains and losses. One day I lost 15000 and I was devistated, I was gambling with my line of credit. I had to keep chasing and I got it down to -5000 a couple times, and then I stopped for 2 weeks. My sister and family was really proud of me. After 2 weeks I got the urge again and I went one night and won 1200$, I left because I said I don’t wanna feel that feeling of giving it all back. I went back couple days later and won 1500, again I left and went next day won 1600, then again 2 days later won 5000$. I was on cloud 9. I finally got back that 15000$ loss with a bit of profit, and I was so proud I told myself you did It. You got it back ! Now don’t go again , use this as a lesson that you got your money back, have savings again and not a lot of people are able to get back a loss. So few days go by until Saturday night i get off work and I have the urge to go back. Tell myself have a bankroll management , you’ve done well this week . Take a bit if profits once you’re up. Well.. you all know what happens next, I never went up. I lost 6000 in less than 30 minutes, waited until midnight till I caj withdraw more . Took another 2000 climbed back up to 4000 so minus 2500’on the day, should have walked. Got greedy lost it all so 8000 on the day. In less than one hour. Walked out so ashamed as always self hate beating myself up how can I do this. I had gotten my loss back and was so proud and I gave it all back again. Of course woke up in the am took another 1000$ and climbed up a bit just to lose it all. Finally went up to the front of the casino I had enough I told the guy listen I am banned right now and I’ve won and lost over 50k this month I need you guys to re take pics of me within my beard because I am supposed to be banned right now. They did. I feel now a weights lifted off my shoulders but I am so ashamed how bad it got, how much money I’ve won and lost, how I will never see the $ again and how hard it will be to save all what I’ve lost working. I became numb. Insensitive . I wasnt even excited when I was winning anymore , the value of a dollar was gone. 1000$ hands of blackjack , like I was a millionaire. I am now starting from scratch financially but all I can think is at least I am not in debt. But still really hard to swallow what ive done this past month . My family is devistateD, my friends don’t understand my addiction . I guess I just needed to get my story off my chest. With hopes there is others who can relate to this. Maybe I needed to lose it all and re ban myself , because if I had kept winning, I would have kept gambling. And know I would just give it all back eventually. 🙁 thanks for listening.
-Stephen
Hello and thanks for starting a thread in the Gambling Therapy forums
Here at Gambling Therapy we pride ourselves on being a caring and diverse online community who can help and support you with the difficulties you’re currently facing. We understand that this might be a tough time for you, particularly if you’re new to recovery, so come here as often as you need to and participate in the forums, access online groups and connect to the live advice helpline if you need one to one support. We’re in this together!
Here on the forum you can share your experiences in a safe, supportive and accepting environment. The beauty of writing it all down is that you can take your time and you will be creating a record of your progress that you can look back on if it ever feels like you’re not moving forward. So, share as much or as little as you like but do try to stick to keeping just one thread in this forum so people know where to find you if they want to be updated on your progress or share something with you.
As well as the forums New Members are invited to join Charles in the New Members Practical Advice Group On Mondays at 21:00 (UK) and Thursday at 19:00(UK)
And on that note….
I’m going to hand you over to our community because I’m sure they will have some words of wisdom for you 🙂
Take care
The Gambling Therapy Team
PS: Let me just remind you to take a look at our privacy policy and terms and conditions so you know how it all works!
Gambling is a hidden illness like no other addiction!!! Having read your life story of compulsive gambling, I understand you & feel for you!!! Word by Word of your writing was painful to read, but I am on the same track as you. I really really wish if the world had no gambling issues!!! because Nobody can understand it unless they are made to gamble all their own money within hours!!!
While we are all suffering, the gambling venues, bookies, online platforms are becoming wealthy and taking exotic holidays from the gambling funds earned via the most vulnerable people. This is my Day 1 & I have decided I can no longer gamble or else I may die in a painful death…. Who cares? apart from compulsive gamblers, Nobody will give a flying bat! The future for compulsive gamblers is very very dark
Hey man I’m new to here too just posted the other day. I have huge swings like u mentioned but when I win big I never leave. I was up 30k one night off $500 and freaking gave it all back! I just got peeled the other night for 10gs. So I definitely feel your pain. The best thing I can say is it’s good you banned yourself and also the fact your 28 and want to stop now. I’m 36 and have been like this since 19 I just have a good job to luckily support it. If you stop now you will have plenty of time to rebound, I have been to negative and dug out many times. Keep your head up and thanks for posting and know your not the only one that does crazy bets and doesn’t walk.
PLEASE do not gamble online. In March 2015, a member here mentioned, innocently, that “a £4 online bet “won” a 4 figure sum” I’m a seasoned casino gambler. Had no idea how to “play” online but I thought “I could do that ” and lost a very large sum of money in a short time. I thought my 15 year habit of gambling/losing (a 6 figure sum) in land based casinos was bad but that experience almost destroyed me. What saved me? Three members here on GT really came to my rescue. One suggested I should “make a plan” and start saving. I stuck to that plan. Saved all my money back. Plus a bit extra, then last April , after 27 G free months, the effluent hit the air conditioning and I have been withdrawing money to gamble in the casino. I would NEVER try my luck online again. It wiped me out. Take a fool’s advice and put a blocker on your devices before the second thought enters your mind. You have enough on your plate without adding to the misery. As I write, I am gazing at 2 bills -large ones, and saying “Why did I need to bring all this stress back into my life” MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE to gamble, Murr. It will ruin you.
Hi Murr 4 days is brilliant keep taking it one day at a time, Vera has given you some great advice , take heed she is a good person who will always give good advice, keep focused on your exams and most of all look after yourself. 🙂
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