How To Be A Better Gambler

There is some inherent risk in entering into any proposition improperly informed or prepared in advance.

When suddenly deposited into unfamiliar circumstances, we tend to learn quickly; deciding or concluding on the basis of information on hand and experience.

And thus with all types of gaming: as with initial experience, so life's chain of bad judgments: likewise, it can be much too difficult (or even impossible) to retract conclusions made when we were least instructed concerning the games we engage in.

Bad Education

This is not the case for everybody. Most of the winners who gamble reached a point in their lives where they realized they had to alter what they were doing wrong and eliminate bad habits so they could increase their chances of winning in the long run. Not everyone, however, has the presence of mind to look back at how they think, especially if that thinking has been working for them.

I remember taking a good pal and introducing him to craps one day when we were both working in Las Vegas. I'm actually a fairly horrible craps player who wagers on the pass line, takes odds and likes the ambiance until my luck finally fades out, or I win a few bucks in the process. I explained that to my friend who liked that taking the odds at Gambling Giant was a good wager and that betting pass line (as compared to "no pass") was a preference to keep the table going rather than bet against the crowd.

Very dull and that's just how I like it because I only bet for what I can afford to lose and never get too upset when I blow up. This was not my friend's attitude. As his first craps session continued, our winnings began to accumulate (finally!) and he began to experiment on other bets on the table.

He was two hours in and I was killing time at the blackjack table as he rolled and won huge, laying down every wild combination you could imagine. He rode on other players and actual gamblers and ended up well ahead with a large profit on his first trip.

Meanwhile, I had just managed to scrape out a limited percentage of my savvy bets thus late-night dinner was on him while I listened to rumors on how and why he had won. I'd seen all that before, of course. We have some who are players, some who are gamblers and some who are sharks in the sea. As I wrestled with a Peppermill plate of fruit, I knew exactly where this was leading.

The Way Of The Realist

It is too easy to fall into bad habits and if you learn anything from the wrong sources, those habits may well become dyed in the wool and unerasable if you are not willing to take a cold, hard gaze at your results.

If you can account for all your wins and losses and are in profit or even quite a large profit then well done, hope your luck continues. But if you're looking down a hole where you money should be, there's a strong likelihood you're simply not playing correctly.

There are better ways to play virtually any game and while your favorite game will undoubtedly have a substantial monetary impact on your bankroll in the long run, you do have a simple decision to make depending on what you can afford to lose.

Ask yourself:

• Do I enjoy playing?
• Are my potential losses justified for my time?
• Is playing more important than winning?

The first question is important because it may identify all sorts of problems if you're not at least having fun. If you determine that you're not having fun with your playing experience, it's time to look elsewhere, including seeking help if you feel compelled to play.

If you are losing more than you're happy to lose in the hopes of enjoying playing, then you may be playing poorly or chose a game that only occasionally will reward your play. Perhaps play a different game or obtain some books and try to learn the way you play all over again.

Consider Your Foundations

Whatever your end game as a gambler, take your hard-earned experience and re-think playing and look back at how and when you formed your way of playing.

I guarantee that unless you have stopped to read a couple of books, learn a couple of lessons or observe the correct examples in any game, you will be fooled by that initial victory at the expense of the quality of decisions which lead you there.

Making crazy bets sometimes works but until you're extremely fortunate, they'll catch up with you and take much more than you ever took. Like my friend found out in three months' worth of craps play in all of Las Vegas, you can't study games of chance by short-term result or you might be headed for a lifetime of regrettable decisions.

Despite this, individuals will do what they want to believe and I have no doubt much of this will fall on deaf ears. Once we rigidify our assumptions based on single experience, it becomes exceedingly hard to reason ourselves off the edge of our own assumptions.