The year is coming to a close, and with the new year’s arrival for many is the time to establish some new year’s resolutions. But while most people think about the obvious like exercise, losing weight, quitting smoking and so on, there are other parts of our world that could use a little love as well.
Health goals are always worthwhile, but how about those of us who regularly visit the casino? With that in mind, here are five New Year’s resolutions for casino players.
1. Always Play Primarily for Fun
If you’re going to the casino, it should be first and foremost for entertainment. Yes, comps are helpful and can defray some costs, and winning cash is always a nice scenario, but we should first and foremost remember that it’s a form of entertainment and that’s why we should be there.
If gambling isn’t fun, or is being used for a vector other than entertainment, it’s not the best idea to be there, because it can just exacerbate the issues that are already present.
2. Be Comfortable Spending Your Casino Budget
If you are walking into the casino with a certain amount of money to play with, you should be able and willing to be comfortable walking out without any of it, just as you would if you would spend it on a dinner or a concert, etc. This is one of the reasons why fun needs to come first – like any form of entertainment budget, expecting to spend what you’ve budgeted should be normal.
Yes, at a casino there is the chance you could win, but if you go in with that expectation, a string of losing casino trips will become disappointing, frustrating, may cause one to chase losses, bet beyond their means to try to recover, etc. And that shouldn’t ever be the goal.
3. Play With An Entertainment Budget
Gambling with money meant to pay bills or rent is never a good idea, given resolution #2. And it should be for entertainment, per #1. So #3 is the natural outgrowth of the first two.
Casino trips should not be taken as a money-making exercise. A side hustle is a much more reliable way to accomplish that if you need a bit of extra cash. It should be expected you’re more often to leave the casino with a loss than a win; the casino is designed to make money for the casino, after all.
4. Lower the House Edge On Your Play
One way you can get more fun out of the casino is to lower the house edge on your play, so you can get more play out of it or go home with money more frequently on the same play. One example is if you’re betting high enough on penny denomination machines, to look for higher denomination options at the same bet.
This doesn’t mean all of your play has to be this way, but if you’re betting a couple dollars a spin and can do some spins on a quarter denomination machine vs. pennies, for instance, that can improve your long-term performance just by putting more of your bets on machines with a lower expected house edge.
If you’re mostly a slots player, you could find playing lower limit table games or video poker can offer you alternatives – I play both to slow down my spend sometimes when slots are beating me up on a given casino trip.
5. Maximize Your Comps
While this may on the surface sound like it clashes with the first couple of resolutions, it’s not, because simply put, casinos are going to issue players comps when they play. So if you’re going to play, you can ensure you get the most for your fun time.
For some, that may mean choosing a casino that comps them best for what is most important to them. For others, it’s remembering to use that players card. And it can also mean adjusting how often you go to the casino with the same overall budget.
The other half of this is making good use of the comps you get, whether it be enjoying a meal at the casino with your earned comps or ensuring you take advantage of the free play or point multipliers on offer during a visit, which may run on certain days over others.
Maximizing your comps can let you get a bit more out of your entertainment!
Do you have any other casino resolutions? Share in the comments!
