8 Gambling Habits You Should Get Rid Of Today

8 Gambling Habits You Should Get Rid of Today

Gambling to you may be just a few hours spent playing video poker online or sitting in a casino dropping coins or credits into a slot machine. 

It may be in the form of a casual card game weekly with friends or a dip into the stock market on occasion. 

If you are able to control the time and money you spend gambling, then you are in an elite group. 

However, for others gambling is an addiction that can ruin families, relationships, financial health and lead down a very dark road. 

So how exactly can you tell if you have a gambling problem or not? Here we will look at the top eight gambling habits that are telltale signs and offer suggestions on how to kick them.

Um, You Can’t Stop. Really, You Can’t Stop. 

Maybe it’s the hum of the casino or the flashing lights of the machines. 

Maybe you are attracted to the idea of making it big on the progressive slot machines so you can quit your job in the morning and just need to play one more hand, round or whatever.

If this sounds like it could be you, you are either already or are about to become a compulsive gambler who has no idea how much time or money you have spent in the casino tonight.

How To Beat This Habit: Set a budget and time limit for each visit you make to the casino. Once you reach one or both of them, stand up, turn around and walk out of the building and into the parking lot. Get into your vehicle and go home.

You Spend Money Gambling That You Can’t Afford To Lose

If you have ever set aside a designated amount of money to gamble with, you know, that stuff you call ‘fun money’ and only spent that in the casino, you have done a good thing. 

On the other hand, if you tend to spend far more than your fun money gambling allowance, you could be in trouble. That is especially true if bills are not getting paid because of your gambling habits. You need a roof over your head and food in your belly. Spending what would have given you those things in the casino is a bad sign.

How To Beat This Habit: Set aside just enough that you can afford after all your other financial commitments have been met and use that for your fun night at the casino. Once it is gone, go home. Relax. Enjoy having a home to go back to where the lights still work.

You No Longer Gamble For Fun

Spending time playing online slots or poker in a casino should be solely for entertainment purposes. 

If you win a few bucks along the way, it should be viewed as a bonus. 

However, if your time spent in the casino is to get away from some other problem or to hide something, you could be heading into trouble.

How To Beat This Habit: Stay away from gambling for a while. Give yourself a break and a chance to review what you are doing in the casino. Remember, your answer should be something along the lines that you are playing just for fun. Once you get back to that place, try the casino again and see if you really do find it entertaining. If you no longer do, get outta there.

That Next Big Win Is Gonna Save Your Life

If you extend your playing time in the casino in an attempt to win back all the money you’ve already lost tonight, you are in trouble. Gamblers who see the act of betting more as a means to solve financial situations are problem gamblers.

How To Beat This Habit: Losing streaks are not always bad things. Sometimes they are a signal for you to call it a night and go before you spend a lot more money and losing all of it as well.

Betting More And More Gets You Jazzed

A gambling addiction is much like any other addiction – it starts small and eventually grows to the point where it can get fairly dicey. 

If you are what you may consider as an aggressive gambler who has to bet more and more to feel any kind of rush, you need help.

How To Beat This Habit: By setting limits and keeping the stakes low in those limits, you have more control over your bets and won’t feel the need to overspend just for some fun.

You Need More Money To Bet With

If your bank account has been drained, you’ve borrowed money from family and friends and are now resorting to theft, forgery and other crimes to keep you playing the blackjack tables at your favorite casino, take a harder look at what you are doing. 

This situation is a classic problem gambler story.

How To Beat This Habit: Again, by setting gambling limits that won’t gut your bank account and are reasonable enough for you to stick to, you won’t get into this situation.

 Gambling Is More Important Than…

Let’s talk briefly about priorities. Your family, your job and your life should be on the list of priorities far closer to the top than gambling. If gambling has somehow climbed to the top of your priority list, you need to recalibrate your moral compass.

How To Beat This Habit: Shift your priorities around pushing gambling down the list and everything else up the list.

8 – Your Emotions Take A Beating When You Gamble

Sure, there is a great deal of excitement attached to gambling. But when gambling frustrates you or causes you to experience some other negative response, you have to quit. 

How To Beat This Habit: Quit gambling.

The best way to beat a bad gambling habit is to catch it early and correct the behavior right away. Hopefully, we have provided you with some insight on how to battle that addiction before it gets too strong and pulls you down that wrong path.