When you sign in to play at the online casino, you can look forward to a gambling experience of fun, thrills and real money prizes. The variety of games, the generous casino bonus give-aways and the convenience and amenities all combine to ensure that your gaming event will be one of interactive, action-filled excitement. The casino provides many articles and tutorials that guide you towards achieving the most from your gambling event.
When you start playing Grande Vegas casino games, it’s easy to get swept up in the intricacies of the blackjack and poker games, the high-speed action of the roulette table and the flashing lights of the slot machines. All of this exhilaration may make you forget that gambling is an activity that must be approached responsibly. At all times you must stay within your budget so that you don’t go beyond your financial capabilities.
That’s why casino advisors remind you to set your casino budget BEFORE you step foot into the casino, either in-person or virtually. You should have a clear understanding of the amount of money that you can spend on your gaming adventure. You can always add your wins to your bankroll for more real money gaming but keep in mind that, when your budget is finished, you need to step away until the next gaming event.
How do you set your budget? Check out our players’ favorite strategies for setting your budget so that you can maximize your casino enjoyment.
Understanding Your Finances
You can’t set a budget for your gaming event unless you understand your finances. Start by looking at your income, your expenses and your savings. Then, you’ll be able to establish a baseline that gives you an idea of how much you can spend on your casino entertainment.
Go old-fashioned and use a pencil and paper. How much money do you earn every month? How much do you spend on rent/mortgage, groceries, utilities, insurance payments, savings, etc? What other monthly expenses do you have? Give yourself a little leeway – you never know when an unexpected dentist bill or car repair payment may come up. When all that has been calculated, you can see how much you have left for leisure activities.
Now, do a review of your leisure activities. How much do you typically spend on eating out every month? Do you spend money on sports activities? Theatre or movies? Are you saving up for an annual vacation? Put that money aside in your calculations.
Now, you know what funds you have for your casino bankroll. Playing within your means allows you to gamble with the knowledge that your casino entertainment isn’t coming at the expense of your financial well-being.
Spending
After you assess your disposable income and decide on your spending limit, consider how you want to place your bets. Do you like to blow your whole bankroll on a few big-spending wagers or would you rather extend your gaming event by betting slowly and steadily on multiple games over a longer period of play? Some people prefer the big bets but most casino visitors want to get the most out of their gaming activities with smaller bets that allow them to play for more time.
Many players find it helpful to look at a game’s volatility rating when deciding on their betting strategy. Games with high volatility win less frequently but the winning payouts are higher. Games with low volatility win more frequently but the winning payouts are lower. By playing according to game volatility, you can enjoy the win rate that you like while you stay within your betting budget.
The way that you want to place your bets will also determine the number of betting sessions that you’ll be able to experience. If your bets remain moderate, you can divide your budget over multiple sessions to safeguard your bankroll and maximize your playtime. This is a more disciplined approach to gambling but it will pay off in the long run by fostering an awareness of your spending patterns so you can enjoy better financial control of your bankroll.
Keeping Track
It’s not enough to set out your bankroll at the beginning of your gaming session – you must maintain awareness of the time and money spent throughout your gambling event. You can set a timer or enable an on-screen reminder that reminds you to check your bankroll at regular intervals.
Chasing Losses
Regardless of whether you’re a high-stakes VIP gamer or a casual budget-gambler, you should never “chase losses.” Chasing losses refers to the behavior of gamblers who continue to bet or play games in an attempt to recover money they have previously lost. This often involves following “betting strategies” such as the Martingale System, the Fibonacci System, the Paroli (Reverse Martingale) System and the d'Alembert System, to name just a few. There are differences in the systems but they all involve risking more money in the hopes that you’ll win back what you’ve lost.
Each of these systems is presented in a way that may make it seem logical, on the surface, but in the long run, chasing losses leads to a cycle of additional losses and sometimes even wagering more than you had originally intended. It may seem exciting to bet in the expectation that you’re “due for a win” or that you can win back double what you’ve lost but it challenges efforts to manage a budget and is strongly discouraged by casino advisors.
Setting up and sticking with a realistic casino budget is an essential component in enjoying responsible and fun-filled casino fun.
