Online gambling is on the rise, with hundreds of casinos offering their games to millions of players around the world. However, even basic video games like MMORPGs require a responsible approach, and this is doubly true for games that are built around depositing real money to access gameplay. Where is the fine line between being enthusiastic about your hobby and becoming addicted and irresponsible with your spending?

Today, we will discuss gambling safety according to Slot.day experts and help players analyze their habits and protect themselves from wrong choices.

Set a strict budget and time limit

When you decide to start playing casino games, the very first thing you should do is set a certain strict budget so that you aren’t allowed to overdraft for any possible reason. This might sound too harsh, but in reality, following this rule ensures you are protected against significant losses or addictive behaviors. Keeping in line with your budget and avoiding chasing losses means you will never wager money you can’t afford to lose and will treat your hobby in a healthy and sustainable way.

Just like with your budget, the time you invest in casino games is also crucial. While you might occasionally have a free evening with nothing to do, making it fine to play some casino games, in general, you should set time limits for each session and take regular breaks. As long as your gambling activities don’t cause financial issues and don’t mess with your other hobbies and responsibilities, everything’s fine.

Learn all about the games and odds

One final thing you must do before starting to play is ensure that you’ve learned everything about the rules and terms associated with gambling in general and in the specific casino of your choice. While a lot of times gambling is advertised as a fun and simple activity, it is actually surprisingly complex, and lots of beginners tend to make huge mistakes during their first sessions.

Let’s start with some of the core terms. RTP stands for Return to Player, and it is the percentage of deposited money that the game returns in the form of winnings. However, the RTP is measured over the course of thousands of games with thousands of different players — your personal experience may vary significantly from what you could expect by looking at the number. In general, Slot.Day’s founder Michael Slot recommends choosing games with RTP of 97 percent or higher, as anything lower is too unfavorable for players.

Volatility is a characteristic that tells you what to expect from the game. High-volatility games offer incredible rewards with very low chances to get them, while low-volatility games offer much more consistent winnings, although significantly smaller ones. In general, we recommend choosing low-volatility games, as they offer a more reliable experience with no heavy disappointments.

Every casino has its own set of Terms and Conditions, and while this might sound tedious, you must read the document and note all the important parts to ensure you play by the rules and do not violate the agreement — otherwise, the casino may be allowed to nullify your winnings. While we’re at it, Slot Day bonus experts point out that most casinos offer a lot of various promotions, and each of them comes with certain requirements as well, so make sure to check them before activating anything.

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Finally, learn about the games themselves and the best strategies associated with them. If you’re playing games of pure chance, there might not be much to learn about in the first place, but if you’re a poker enthusiast, for example, any helpful information increases your chances of winning, so take it seriously.

If at this point you feel like playing casino games becomes more of a chore than a fun activity, consider choosing another type of hobby. If you enjoy video games, you have a large selection of them available on different platforms, with many being free-to-play as well. If you enjoy the social aspect of certain games, try finding local gatherings for players that don’t require any betting or gambling. The point here is that the only correct way to approach any gambling activity is to be fully informed of your actions and potential consequences — otherwise, you’re at risk.

Always remember what casino games really are

Casino games might be fun and exciting, but most of them exist purely to get you to spend some money — and they are amazing at that. What makes them so effective is the combination of clever game design choices and your own cognitive biases.

Any casino game knows how to be engaging — it starts with appealing visuals and satisfying sound effects, but it gets way deeper than that. For example, some games tend to create lots of “near miss” moments to create a sense that you are almost there — and that makes you spend some extra cash. Other games implement progression systems so that you will feel bad if you lose all the progress you’ve achieved if you stop playing.

Finally, casinos often offer great bonuses or daily rewards to encourage you to play consistently and form a habit of logging in at least once a day. While it all may seem like a good deal, it is an even better deal for the casino. Remember that the more engaged you feel with the process, the more considerate you have to be.

Casinos love when you lose track of time and stop caring about the money, but this is opposite to your best interests. Think of how so many casinos go through a great effort to get players onto their mobile apps. The reason behind this is that people are generally less careful with their money when they play on smartphones — the games and losses just feel smaller and less significant. The same is true for credit cards over cash — players tend to spend more when they are distanced from the physical act of depositing money, which feels bad.

Avoid emotional gambling

While gambling is usually associated with strong emotions, relying on them to make strategic choices is the worst thing a player can do. Emotional betting is one of the main reasons for getting multiple losses in a row, and that in turn leads to attempts to regain what’s lost, which quickly spirals into unhealthy behavior.

There are several important lessons to learn here. First, as Michael Slot reminds us, you should always treat gambling as entertainment and not as a viable way to make money. As soon as you deposit any amount into the game, you should treat this money as lost forever, just like when you buy a round of gameplay at video game slot machines. This way you won’t feel like you’re owed some winnings, and you just need to deposit some extra to get it.

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Secondly, never try to gamble when you’re feeling stressed, upset, or if you are under the influence. Not only won’t it help you feel better, the inevitable losses will worsen your emotional condition. As soon as you start feeling frustrated with the game, quit and take time to regain your calmness.

Analyze your behavior to notice the early signs of problem gambling

Responsible gambling is all about taking responsibility for your own actions, and that means analyzing your behavior as objectively as you can, without cutting yourself any slack. As soon as you notice that you’ve started gambling more money than you intended or borrowing money to continue, you should stop and refrain from playing altogether.

Like most other addictions, problem gambling is difficult to admit not just to others but also to yourself. Here are some of the signs of a gambling addiction that you should be aware of:

• You feel the need to gamble with increased amounts of money because the thrill is just not the same anymore
• When you try to stop gambling, you feel restless or easily irritable
• You have tried to stop or cut down on gambling, but it didn’t work
• You think about gambling persistently throughout the day
• You indulge in gambling when you feel bad
• When you lose money by gambling, you feel the need to get even, so you play more
• You notice that you lie to others about how much you actually gamble
• Your gambling habit has negatively affected an important relationship, your job, education, or a career opportunity
• You ask other people to give you extra money so that you can gamble a little more or fix the situations caused by you losing money you needed

As soon as you notice these signs, the best thing to do is admit the problem to yourself and your loved ones, then seek help from gambling support organizations or psychotherapists.

When you feel that you’re still in control of your behavior but would like some extra safety, you can choose websites and casinos that implement safe gambling practices like self-exclusion or deposit, wager, and time limits.