How to Gamble Safely Without Losing Your Shirt

Anyone who has visited Nevada or an Indian casino knows how easy it is to feed money into the machines and then suddenly find yourself broke. We've all done it at least once. My first time was a trip to Reno, NV when I was 21 years old, and I lost all my money the first night. If I hadn't already paid for a room, I would've been sleeping on the bus. Since then I've learned a few things about how not to get in the same situation.

1. Leave all your credit cards at home except for one for an emergency. Oh, and losing all your cash because you fed it into the slot machines is not an emergency. This card is for if your car breaks down, or you get stranded for example.

2. Take only the amount of cash that you can afford to lose. This is a big one, if you take all your cash say including the rent and grocery money, you might be tempted to gamble it if you lose the money you can afford to lose. It's best to avoid the temptation by not bringing any cash that has already been set aside for necessities.

3. Don't drink alcohol while you gamble. All casinos in Nevada and some Indian casinos sell or offer free alcohol that you can drink while you gamble. This is a good way to lose more money than you can afford to. Alcohol can dull the senses and cause you to make choices that you might not otherwise make, so it is best not to drink while you are gambling. Making this a policy will keep you from making a stupid choice such as to take out $500 from your credit card account for example.

4. Wear a watch. This might sound like a strange thing, but remember that the whole idea with a casino is to cause you to lose track of time, and spend more money. All the flashing lights, and bells from the slot machines, as well as the artificial lighting and the fact that there are no clocks posted anywhere near where people gamble are all meant to give you a false sense of security and reality. If you wear a watch you can tell how long it takes you to lose a certain amount of money. If you lose what you can afford to lose in the first hour, it's probably time to go home.