Читать книгу Casino Gambling For Dummies - Swain Scheps - Страница 98

After you figure out your budget for your gambling adventure (whether a five-day trip to Vegas or just a quick jaunt to a riverboat casino), you need to break down that budget into how much you can spend each day. First, calculate how much you’ll need to feed, house, and entertain yourself while you’re on your casino vacation. Don’t forget about transportation and the midnight run to the snack machine. Once you set that money aside, you have your gambling bankroll. Divide that amount by the number of days you’re going to be in the casino. For example, say you set aside $1,200 for gambling on your three-day getaway weekend. You have $400 to play with each day. And provided you stick to it, you’ll still be able to eat three meals a day and pay for an Uber back to the airport even if the tables don’t treat you well.

At the end of each day of your casino caper, whether you’re up or down, you should budget each day independently. For example, on Friday, the first day of your three-day venture, you enter the casino with four crisp $100 bills in your pocket and finish the day with $600 for a $200 win. Congratulations! But how does your success affect your game plan? It doesn’t. The next day, you should stick to your budget and still only gamble with $400. Imagine that Saturday is a disaster, and you lose every last penny of the $400 budgeted for that day. Then the carnage continues on Sunday, and once again, you burn through $400. But because you stuck to your budget, you return home with $600 of your original $1,200 bankroll, which is a lot more money than less-disciplined gamblers (who never had a starting plan or failed to follow it) have at the end of their trips.

Take advantage of tools at your disposal to limit your play. Most banks set a limit on the amount you can withdraw from your debit or credit card at an ATM in a 24-hour period. Once you determine your trip budget, call your bank and set the daily limits to match your maximum spend. Some online gambling sites also offer dollar and time-limit tools that help players who need a little extra support for their willpower.

If you lose your daily gambling limit early in the day, do something else. The free activities in and around casino towns can be pretty entertaining. If you’re in a megaresort in Nevada or Atlantic City, take in the mountain air or the boardwalk (respectively, of course). If you’re in a big city casino in Chicago or Boston, go explore the sites around town. If you’re in a smaller establishment, there might be a swimming pool, workout room, or a quiet lounge. One certainty about casinos: the people-watching is second-to-none. A big mistake many people make is getting so engrossed in gambling that they miss out on all the other attractions.