5 Things to Avoid While Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of value (referred to as “the stakes”) on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning money or material goods. Online gambling, on the other hand, is played using a computer or mobile device with an internet connection. The result of gambling may be determined by chance or accident or have an unexpected result by the bettor's miscalculation. It seems attainable enough–it usually looks like it only takes a little affair with lady luck.

If it were easy, everyone would do it. Anyone who has gambled for any period of time knows that being successful at gambling is not just about understanding the basic rules or taking advantage of casino bonuses. While you may not be able to control the odds, there are many small, quotidian mistakes you can learn to avoid in order to have a more remunerative experience.

To jump in on the action, here are 5 top tips for responsible gambling that will ensure the fun while gambling. Let's take a look!

1. Ignorant betting

One of the worst things you can do is make a bet on something you are unaware of. The outcomes of gambling games may be determined by chance alone, as in the purely random activity of a tossed pair of dice or of the ball on a Roulette wheel, or by physical skill, training, or prowess in athletic contests or by a combination of strategy and chance. The rules by which gambling games are played sometimes serve to confuse the relationship between the components of the game, which depend on skill and chance, so that some players may be able to manipulate the game to serve their own interests. Thus, knowledge of the game is useful while playing casino games.

In a wide sense of the word, stock markets may also be considered a form of gambling, albeit one in which skill and knowledge on the part of the bettors play a considerable part. This also goes for insurance; paying the premium on one's life insurance is a bet that one will die within a specified time.

What would you do if someone came to you and asked you to invest money in a company, but they couldn't tell you anything about it? Almost 100% of people will not invest in a company that they know nothing about. But this is the same thing that you do when you bet on something you don't understand.

Any time you find a betting opportunity that you don't understand, simply don't make a bet until you find out more. Nowadays, various resources providing data about gambling are available and you can also gamble in seconds with the option of online gambling.

2. Gambler's Fallacy

The gambler’s fallacy, also known as the Monte Carlo fallacy or the fallacy of the maturity of chances, is the mistaken belief that, if something happens more frequently than normal during a given period, it will happen less frequently in the future (or vice versa). This line of thinking is incorrect because past events do not change the probability that certain events will occur in the future. Gamblers do so because they erroneously believe that because of the string of successive gains, the position is now much more likely to decline.

In situations where the outcome being observed is random and comprises independent trials of a random process, this belief is false. You should avoid this popular misconception while gambling.

3. Avoiding superstitions

Superstition is an excessively credulous belief in and reverence for the supernatural. But what does gambling have to do with superstition? Whether it is believing in old wives' tales or urban legends, gamblers are probably the most superstitious people in the world because they will do anything to improve their chances of winning. If the player has won, he looks at what transpired during the winning session. This is where a player may decide that an article of clothing or some other activity was "responsible" for their good fortune. Psychologists have done many studies on the relationship between gambling and superstitions.

The conclusions show that superstitions can develop in many gamblers and become a basis for future gambling sessions. Eighty per cent of the gamblers who responded to a survey said that they believed in superstitions or carried out some sort of lucky ritual while gambling. As long as you don't let your superstitions control you, believing something in something that can bring you good luck can be beneficial. Less stress leads to better decisions.

4. Giving a wide berth to Keno

Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played in modern casinos, and also offered as a game by some lotteries. Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all, players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some variants draw fewer numbers) are drawn at random, either with a ball machine similar to ones used for lotteries and bingo or with a random number generator.

Keno payouts are based on how many numbers the player chooses and how many of those numbers are “hit”, multiplied by the proportion of the player’s original wager to the “base rate” of the paytable. Typically, the more numbers a player chooses and the more numbers hit, the greater the payout, although some paytables pay for hitting a lesser number of spots.

The probability of a player hitting all 20 numbers on a 20 spot ticket is very low.

5. Insurance

These days, you can insure everything: your car, your boats, your house, even your life. You also can buy insurance at casinos – whenever you sit down at a Blackjack table. This latter insurance is a little different. While few can argue the value of insuring investments, many pooh-pooh the notion of insuring wagers. Insurance is a side bet that the dealer has a Blackjack. Like any side bet, it plays out independently of your original wager. The option is available only after all the initial cards have been dealt and only if the dealer shows an ace. To take it, you must put up half your wager. If the dealer has a Blackjack, you win the insurance bet, usually at 2 to 1 odds. If the dealer doesn’t have Blackjack, you lose the insurance bet.

Even if you think you’re psychic, it’s best to avoid insurance bets. Basic odds for dealer Blackjack vary slightly depending on how many decks are in the shoe, but the dealer is likely to have Blackjack less than one-third of the time. Sure, you might hit one of these wagers every once in a while, but these bets will lose money in the long run. Blackjack might be the only place where insurance is almost always a bad investment.

Conclusion

If gambling were easy, you could occasionally get away with placing a prop or exotic wager, taking insurance against a dealer Blackjack or betting on your emotions. The fact is, making any of the above gambling mistakes could ruin your entire gambling season and keep you from turning a profit. You can't control the odds, you can't control where the dice land or how the cards fall, but you can learn to avoid common mistakes.

One bad run or one series of mismanaged bets can easily knock them out of the black and into the red. It's not easy to be successful at gambling – that's why it is important to follow the above-said rules.