Maintaining healthy gaming behaviour –
8/8,The Winning Combination

8 Helpful Hints for Responsible Gaming

Here are some tips on how to be or remain a responsible player:

1. Before playing, it's a good idea to set a spending limit.
The money you spend on gaming should be seen as an entertainment expense. It is very much to your benefit to set a limit in advance, based on your budget, on the amount you will spend, and then make sure you do not exceed that limit.

2. If it becomes difficult to resist the urge to play, it is time to stop and ask yourself some serious questions.
Whenever you feel the urge to play, it is always a good idea to take a moment to ask yourself if this is a good time and if your budget will allow for you to play. If you find yourself unable to resist the urge, you need to take a careful look at your gaming behaviour.

3. When gaming becomes a way of escaping your problems, it has become a problem in and of itself.
Gaming should never be anything more than a means of entertainment. If it becomes a refuge from your troubles or a way to make you feel better, it is likely to be a source of trouble itself. That is why you should always have a variety of activities and resources to turn to when things are not going well.

4. In order to stay within your budget, you should always take a moment to stop playing and assess your gains and losses.
When betting, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, it can be easy to lose track of how you're doing and forget the spending limit you set for yourself. Therefore, a good habit is to periodically take stock of the situation and make sure that you have the means to continue playing.

5. Lying about or hiding your losses should trigger an alarm.
It is healthy to be able to talk about both your losses and your wins. Hiding or lying about your spending on gaming is a sign that it is time to put on the brakes.

6. Borrowing and gaming make for an explosive combination.
Playing within your means implies not putting the money you need for your day-to-day living at risk. It also means never borrowing money to play.

7. When you play to recover money you've lost, you are running the risk of losing even more.
Losing is a normal part of gaming that you need to be able to accept. Playing to try to recover the money you have lost will only lead to spending more and more.

8. There are no tricks to winning because it is impossible to predict or influence the outcome of games of chance.
While we all should know that there is absolutely no way to control chance, some people forget that fact when playing. In order to remain realistic and avoid problems, players should take a break in the heat of the moment to collect their thoughts and remember that only chance will determine the outcome.

Last update: May 18, 2011