Why Do You Keep Losing in the Casino?

I remember being a casino newbie. Despite all of the beautiful new experiences and sights, I always came home feeling, well, empty. It took painstaking hours of asking every broken gambler I could find in the casino bars before I had a realization. It wasn’t that I wasn’t winning that was breaking my spirit.

It was that I lost on every trip and at a faster rate than many of my friends. Luckily, there’s a way to climb out of the gutter. Why do you keep losing in the casino?

You’re Relying on Luck

Many novice casino gamblers stroll into the casino with the notion that their fate is left entirely to luck. Whether they win a sizable jackpot or drain their bankroll are altogether opposite ends of the spectrum, with everything in between a varying degree of fortune or misfortune.

Right away, they are taking on a loser’s mentality. They wholly avoid taking any responsibility for the things that are well within their control. Making even a tiny profit in the casino is an uphill climb. The games, drinks, the ambiance are all designed to empty your wallet.

Stop hoping for the perfect card at the perfect time. When you’re beaten, there’s no point in throwing good money after bad. Take what the casino gives you; you’re rarely going to catch the lucky break when that’s your only chance. Focus on improving your abilities and put the notion of luck out of your mind.

You’re Not Doing Any Prep Work

I never understand why people walk into the casino without doing one second of homework.  It happens thousands of times a day in casinos across the world. Novice gamblers, many of which are first-time casino visitors, walk into the casino and know little to nothing about the games they play.

Suppose you got a job as a fisherman but had never been fishing before and had limited knowledge on the subject. A vast majority of you would scour the internet, library, bait shops, or anywhere else you could learn about fishing. After all, this will be how you feed your family. You may not be interested in becoming a professional gambler.

Still, you’re losing real money in the casino—money that you could use for groceries, housing, bills, or family vacations to Cancun. My point is that if you want to start losing less and winning more, treat the casino like a job. Walk into the casino prepared.

You should know the house edge of the games you’re playing. You need to learn where the good bets are and which ones are for the suckers. Many players fail to take the second step. So, they sit down to a good game like blackjack and take insurance (a terrible sucker bet) at every opportunity.

Have a game plan before you leave for the casino, and you’ll be in a much better position to take home a profit.

You’re Blowing Through Your Money Too Quick

How many of us have walked into the casino with a few hundred dollar bills in our pocket and quickly found ourselves on the sidelines watching the action? It happens every day to well-intentioned casino gamblers.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. I found myself down after about half an hour and started chasing those losses by varying my bet size. Sticking to a flat bet amount is imperative, and it’s why I preach the importance of learning bankroll management skills.

Unfortunately, my bad decisions began snowballing. I started making bets on numbers. It was so bad that I started betting on double zero. Needless to say, I was hemorrhaging money at this point. Inside of ninety minutes, I had blown through my cash reserves.

I was out of the game before I ever had a chance. Learn to manage your money in the casino, and you’ll lose less.

You’re Playing the Worst Games

Here is where your prep work becomes essential. If you’re playing games with a high house advantage, you’re not going to win. Games like slot machines won’t provide you many chances to walk away from a winner. You could hit the jackpot and win huge, but the odds are slim.

Craps, baccarat, and roulette all have safe bets with a low edge. Still, there’s an edge that players can’t overcome. Blackjack doesn’t have a house edge much different than the three games listed above. However, there’s one distinct difference that makes blackjack a premier choice for serious gamblers that want to win.

Counting cards takes the casino’s edge and places it in the player’s favor. That virtually guarantees a long-term profit. Card counting does require you to learn and practice the skill. The rewards can be fantastic if you put in the time.

The poker room is another area of the casino where you’ll have a much better chance of winning. Poker is primarily a game of skill rather than chance like other casino games. So, you can make a healthy profit by merely being better than your opponents. Again, you’ll need to learn everything you can about poker.

Fortunately, poker rooms are full of bored husbands that want to play the part. Even the most basic poker strategies are often enough to take their chips. Stop burning money on the slot machines and win some real cash playing the correct games.

You’re Falling for Casino Misinformation

Casinos never (rarely) lie to their customers. However, there’s enough ambiguous information floating around casinos to confuse anyone. The casinos won’t go out of their way to correct any misconceptions that may be in their favor.

Take the Martingale betting system, for example. The Martingale system has a player double their wager after each loss. So, you bet $20 on Red at the roulette table and lose. Now, you bet $40 and fail again.

You’ll continue doubling your bet until you win. Then you go back to $20 bets. There are a few significant problems with this system. For starters, you’ll be burning through cash like the molten core of Chernobyl.

Yet, I’ve heard dealers, pit bosses, player’s club staff, and cocktail waitresses all reassure hapless gamblers that they are due. You’ll also find sucker bets disguised as being beneficial to the player. Insurance in blackjack comes to mind.

The casino is seemingly the good guy by giving you the chance to break even if they hit a natural. The problem is they’ll have a blackjack a small percentage of the time. Taking insurance will increase the house edge in blackjack by nearly 10%.

It should go without saying, but the internet is full of misinformation. The casino gambling forums and websites are full of conflicting information. So, be sure to vet your sources. Or only follow the guidance of legitimate online sources, like this one.

You’re Not Taking Care of Your Body

Casinos are lauded as being behemoth adult playgrounds where most things are in play. This may be the case if you’re celebrating a birthday or big occasion and don’t mind losing your money. The casinos are famous for their free-flowing booze. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a couple of drinks while you gamble.

Not eating or sleeping won’t cause you to lose your faculties to such an extreme degree. Still, ignoring the body’s basic needs will negatively impact your decision-making. You may become distracted or easily irritated. Either of these could prove to be the difference between winning or losing.

The margins on casino games are relatively slim. So, when you miss any opportunity, it costs you much more in the end. Take care of your body and mind by walking into the casino rested and well-fed. Save the celebratory drinks for after the session, and you’ll lose less on the tables.

Conclusion

Why do you keep losing in the casino? For some of you, it may be one of the reasons I’ve given above. Others may have checked several boxes on their evaluation.

Don’t fret; all is not lost. I was once in the exact boat and crawled out of the cellar by implementing the keys to losing less.