Many, but not all, online casinos have a blog, an articles section, or an online magazine. One of the many recurring themes in these writings is responsible gambling. As an online casino watchdog (primarily) we here at Slots Play Casinos talk about responsible online gambling.
There are two main things we would like to talk about in this article:
- We constantly talk about taking the gambling out of real money casino gaming. We like to talk about responsible gaming!
- We feel that online casinos lend themselves better to responsible gaming than do land-based casinos.
How is Gaming Different Than Gambling?
In a sense, by putting money down on the outcome of a casino game, the player is gambling. But, if the player follows certain very important parameters, he or she can turn the gambling into gaming. This makes all the difference in the world!
People play games all the time! We usually play games just for the fun of playing them. We don’t put money down on the outcome of the game. This is called gaming. Gaming can also apply to other real-life situations where a person uses ideas that originated in gameplay in order to find a solution to a real-world conundrum.
If a casino player is able to see the game he or she has placed a bet on as just a game, they are on their way to turning gambling into gaming. When this happens, the bet the player placed is simply a function of the natural human desire to take some risk.
Gambling is truly a risky endeavor. Treating the same thing that elicits gambling in some into gaming means that the risk remains but the player ahs altered it in some way.
What Are the Parameters Mentioned Earlier?
Here is the list of guidelines that can turn gambling into gaming:
- Set a sound time and money budget for gaming.
- Have many other excellent ways to spend the evening in addition to casino gaming.
- Avoid alcohol completely while gaming.
- Stop playing if you become tired.
- Never tilt. If you have to, train yourself to avoid tilt.
- Never follow a betting system.
- Always follow the best strategy in the games of skill such as blackjack and video poker.
- Even in a relatively short gaming session, take a break halfway through to stretch and walk around a bit.
- Play at an online casino.
Let us Elaborate on these Guidelines
We will start at the top of the list. Setting a sound time and money budget for gaming goes hand in hand with having other excellent activities that interest you. We call these activities hobbies.
A good hobby might be to take a long walk. People like to collect things. It could mean cooking or baking for fun and to have something to serve when friends and family come over. The list of actual hobbies is quite long. A hobby can also be something a gamer shares with his or her significant other.
What’s Wrong with a Little Alcohol?
Aside from those unfortunate people who cannot handle alcohol at all, are the majority of people who like a drink from time to time. There is nothing wrong with having a drink from time to time. But mixing alcohol with casino play turns gaming into gambling and our goal here is to do the opposite.
Alcohol turns gaming into gambling by reducing players’ cognitive response. When a person places a bet on the outcome of a game, the loss of cognition often results in the player making poor decisions and losing more money than they should. It can also lead to the player continuing past their time budget or adding money to their monetary budget.
Land-based casinos know all this which is why they are so eager to offer free alcohol. Land-based casinos also offer free vouchers to the buffet because they know that players will eat too much and return to the casino floor while they are trying to digest the big meal. This leads to players getting tired and playing while tired is decidedly not the way to turn gambling into gaming.
How Does Following These Guidelines Avoid Tilt?
First of all, if a gamer does not follow the guidelines we have set out so far, he or she will most certainly tilt at some time. If a kid tilts at a children’s game, we all tell him or her, “It’s just a game.” Yes, it is. But if a player plays beyond their financial means, plays for far too long a time, gets tipsy on alcohol while playing, or plays in a semi-stupor, he or she will lose money they should not have lost.
This leads to frustration which leads to anger which are together the precursors of tilt. Tilt in gaming is a surefire way to turn gaming into gambling. A bad beat or a near miss that would have put a lot of money in one’s account can tilt any player who is looking to get rich instead of having fun.
Aren’t Betting Systems a Good Way to Stay ahead of the Casino?
No, they most certainly are not! If a betting system actually worked, all casinos would go bankrupt quickly! The big weakness in any betting system is that they don’t take short losing streaks into account.
In every game, there are winning streaks and losing streaks. The return to player rate in blackjack and video poker is about 99.5% if the gamer uses the best strategy on every hand. This return to player rate is not based on a few hands; it is based on millions of hands as analyzed by computers.
Within those millions of hands, will be some winning streaks and some losing streaks.
Let’s take the Martingale System as an example. This system is based on even money bets even though there are no true even money bets in a casino. Most of the time, a player will use the system in roulette.
In this system, you double your bet after every loss. Then, when you win, you win back all the money you had lost plus your original bet. Now let’s see what happens when a gamer has a losing streak of five spins of the wheel.
Spin 1: Bet $5 this bet loses
Spin 2: bet $10 this bet loses
Spin 3: $20 this bet loses
Spin 4: $40 this bet loses
Spin 5: $80 this bet loses
Now the player has to bet $80 to win back the original $5 bet. This is very poor gaming. This is the epitome of irresponsible gambling.
Gamers Take Breaks while Gamblers Keep Placing Bets
It is unhealthy to continue playing for long stretches of time. We all know that stretching every 30 minutes or so leads to good overall health and avoids cramps and other painful moments.
Players at land-based casinos often sit in one seat at one terminal for interminable lengths of time. We have arrived at the reasons why online casino gaming is truly gaming and land-based casino play is often gambling. We will pursue this idea in another article.
Slots Play Casinos Strives to Help Gamers Achieve Gaming
The great goal of any online casino watchdog site such as Slots Play Casinos is to show gamers how gaming is far better than gambling. Here we have shown that gaming is the best avenue for fun at online casinos while gambling prevails at most land-based casinos.
For more good advice and information about casino gaming…
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