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Responsible Gambling Tips for College Students

Gambling is rapidly becoming a major trend among collegians. Students gamble for various reasons, including combating depression, for entertainment, curiosity, or to make quick earnings. However, it can quickly become disastrous if it isn’t done correctly. It’s not the amount spent that makes one a responsible player but the approach to the entire gambling process. Therefore, players need to understand the significance of responsible gambling to avoid repercussions such as addiction and neglecting essential bills and personal obligations. So, let’s review the top tips to help you practice safe gambling.  

Keep the Company of Safe Gamblers 

Social circles significantly impact some of the habits individuals develop over time. Gambling habits are often contagious, thus the need to surround yourself with healthy gamblers. Your friends can push your success, and they can also play a role in your downfall. Therefore, you need to keep a circle of friends who warn you when you exceed your gambling limit. Having friends who understand the intricacies of responsible gambling is a huge plus since they may help you avoid falling into bad traps. 

Work on Other Aspects of Your Life 

Having a balanced life that includes healthy relationships, good performance in school, and self-care can help distract you from thinking about gambling. If you spend too much time gambling and often wonder, “Where will I get someone to do my assignment?” so you can get more time to gamble, then it’s time to pump the brakes. Trying to focus more on books and school activities will distract you from thinking about gambling, and you’ll be improving on other crucial aspects of your life.

Sometimes, gambling addiction emanates from loneliness or feelings of self-doubt. If you seek validation, you may find comfort in activities that make you feel whole again. Thus, dedicating time to self-improvement will help you develop responsible gambling habits since you will understand your limits and when gambling is inappropriate. Healthy relationships with your loved ones make it easy for them to call you to order when they notice you are gambling frequently. So it’s essential to work on your social life.

Lower Your Expectations 

Having high expectations during gambling often leads to disappointment. To avoid such, one may be tempted to continue gambling in the hope that they will win. Additionally, having high expectations may lead one to depression, especially if they lose a huge amount of money. Therefore, you should start viewing gambling as a risk that may or may not favor you in the long run. 

Do Not Make Gambling Your Primary Source of Income 

Making gambling your main source of income could breed dependency. Once you start earning from gambling consistently, you may be tempted to stop working or even going to school. Therefore, to avoid dependency, find part-time work to keep yourself busy. Having a stable source of income helps manage the urge to keep gambling. Making gambling your major source of income, on the other hand, would affect your productivity even in school. You might lose interest in academic activities like writing essays and would opt to buy essay to avoid falling behind in coursework. It’s a risky game because you will start losing track of assignment deadlines and eventually forget to buy essays, resulting in academic troubles.

Understand the Signs of Irresponsible Gambling 

To become responsible in gambling, you have to watch out for the signs of irresponsible gambling. Understanding these signs will help you know when you are developing a gambling problem. Some of the indicators to watch out for include:

• Exceeding your budget in all gambling sessions.
• Gambling starts affecting your work, studies, and relationships negatively.
• Always feeling the need to win back lost money fast. 
• Your gambling expenditure is more than you can afford.
• Making excuses to justify the time and amount of money spent on gambling.
• Neglecting other responsibilities.
• Feeling guilty after gambling.

Watch Out for the Various Gambling Myths 

Various myths that encourage one to gamble more are usually meant to delude you to continue spending despite exceeding your limits. Myths such as you will start winning after a series of losing streaks are usually false narratives that will breed dependency on gambling. Most of these myths often sell the hope that you will start winning eventually. Therefore, if you want to practice safe gambling, it is best first to debunk such myths so that you do not have to develop high expectations. Debunking these myths helps you acknowledge the risks that come with gambling. 

Rate the Success of the Gambling Session on How Much Fun You Had 

It is commonplace to rate the success of your session to how much money you have made. However, this should be different since you will get the urge to spend more. Therefore, gambling should solely be for entertainment and not earnings. Once you acknowledge the entertainment part of it and start to view the earnings as a bonus, it will be hard to sink deep into it. The earnings from gambling can be substantial; however, they should not be why you return to it. Gambling when you are sad, angry, and lonely can breed a gambling habit since it will be the only way for you to release negative tension. 

Play at Casinos that Promote Responsible Gambling 

Casinos promoting safe gambling have policies to help their players achieve responsible gambling. It’s hard to beat the casino psychology; however, with the right policies, it is possible to minimize the numerous risks that come with gambling. Some of the policies that safe casinos implement include:

• Deposit limit.
• Age verification.
• Timed sessions.
• Reminder of one’s losses and wins.
• Responsible marketing with exclusion clauses.
• Gambling behavior assessment.
• Self-exclusion period.

Responsible gambling is often a personal initiative; you have to put in measures to contain your gambling habits. Gambling is easily addictive, especially if viewed as a source of income. The major mistake students often make is substituting their income from a part-time job or pocket money from their parents with gambling money. Unfortunately, no scale determines whether you are a safe or irresponsible gambler since everyone has a different amount of money they are willing to lose. However, how you approach the gambling game determines whether you are a responsible gambler and not the amount staked. Therefore, you need to take a reasonable approach, which includes obeying your gambling budget, playing in safe casinos, and surrounding yourself with responsible gamblers.