How to prevent gambling addiction

The difficulty in dealing with gambling addiction is, first of all, the recognition and the definition of the term. Is it possible to talk about addiction when someone goes to the casino on a regular basis, or when you play the lottery every week? When does it start to become a dangerous habit?

Basically, games, and also gambling for money, is something that man has been doing for millennia. The excitement and pleasure of gambling is one reason, the opportunity to win money in a quick and enjoyable way is another. Of course, it becomes problematic if too much of one's financial resources are lost in gambling. And that puts us at a crucial point.

The price of pleasure

As long as you use a manageable amount, and risk it in an online casino for a few hours of fun, or even if you regularly spend a few dollars for a Megamillions ticket, you will hardly become addicted to gambling. There is always a certain danger to develop, for example, a passion for betting - but even here you can counteract the dangers by placing your bets on the basis of sound information or excellent own knowledge. If for example, you are an excellent tennis player, you can have advantages in tennis betting because of your information about the tennis sport.

Even then, betting online is not without its problems - because of the constant availability, it is easy to lose larger sums of money.

Luck or skill?

There are games where the luck factor may vary. On one hand, playing the lottery is 100% based on pure luck, on the other hand a game like poker is more of a game of skill. Experts talk about 70% strategy and 30% luck. The fact is that since the huge popularization of this game a certain percentage of about 10% of the players is actually good enough to make constant money, sometimes even win huge amounts, because they have a strategical edge over the recreational players.

Naturally, such games with a focus on strategy also require a high level of discipline from a successful player. For example, poker players need to maintain a very conservative money management approach. But this very discipline counteracts the danger of becoming a pathological gambler.

Online gambling can definitely have its advantages!

While going to a regular casino you will usually spend larger amounts of money (to cover the high cost of a casino, the casino needs mid-high and high-stakes games), an online casino can easily offer games with minimal buy-ins and because of the greater number of players still make a profit. And as long as you "feed" slot machines online with amounts like one cent per game, gambling addiction will certainly become an issue only if you play day and night.

What to do if you recognize signs of gambling addiction in yourself?

In such a case you should seek professional help as soon as possible. There are sufficient private and public institutions offering free and competent assistance to those affected. And once the problem has been identified, the first step to recovery has been made