We all make an occasional blunder on the casino floor that we often regret. This is normal and bad decisions are there for us to learn from. But there are those people who’re always stuck in the vicious cycle of bad gambling strategies and can’t seem to get out of it.
Bad gambling strategies have been around since people began to roll the dice for the very first time. An idea that a specific approach might yield positive results but turns out to be anything but profitable has been recorded countless times in gambling annals.
While gambling can be a costly pastime, the probability of being on the losing side of a card draw can be minimised by applying the right gameplay strategies. Conversely, a bad strategy can set you back considerably, especially if you end up using it repeatedly.
Bad Gambling Strategies
Here’s a list of lousy gambling strategies that you should avoid:
1. Doubling Up After a Loss
Doubling up strategy, also known as the Martingale Strategy, has been around for some time. Simply put, it involves starting with a small wager and doubling up every time you lose, to recoup the previous loss. Like this, after every bet won, you get a profit that is the same size as your original wager.
Although this system sounds good, the likely outcome of this approach is that you will eventually lose several bets in a row and all your money with them. In the end, although you might have a short-term winning streak, this betting strategy always ends in a loss.
2. Slot Machine Strategy
Let’s face it. Slots are a game of luck, and luck alone. There have been many “experts” who have come up with strategies for playing slots. But all of these are pretty wishy-washy. Slot machines are designed to keep a higher percentage of money and pay out a smaller percentage of wins.
Over an extended period, a slots machine will guarantee a profit for the casino, and there’s nothing you can do to change this. Subsequently, slots are big money makers for casinos and are afforded most floor space. This is because no strategy can lower a slots machine’s house edge.
3. Mimicking a Blackjack Dealer
Blackjack dealers are renowned for the strict set of rules that guide their actions at the table. When they draw a hard 17 or higher, or a soft or hard 18 or higher, they stand. Similarly, when they draw 16 or lower, they hit. While this strategy seems to work well for the dealer, in the long run, it is an abysmal strategy for a player and should never be followed, as it has been proven to bring loss in the long run.
4. Not Using a Bankroll
Money management goes hand in hand with good casino practices. Not having a grip over your spending is a sure way to fall into a spending vortex. The best way to maintain proper money management is to use a bankroll.
Begin by setting aside a dedicated sum of money that is limited by time (e.g. budget for the day) or a game (e.g. budget for blackjack, roulette, slots, etc.). You can always add more money to your bankroll when you win, but once you have exhausted all funds, you need to draw a line for your expenditure on that particular day or for that specific game.
5. Making Use of Side Bets
Many casinos allow their players to make side bets, over and above the standard bets placed on the base game. Some of these side bets can bring instantaneous and sizeable profits. However, they all share one thing in common, and that is that they all have a much higher house edge compared to the base game bets.
The best strategy is never to make use on any side bets. Also, be aware that the most side bets offered by a casino don’t even look like side bets. These include money insurance bets in the game of blackjack, which is simply a side bet masked as a standard game option.
While we have classified the above gambling strategies as something that you should avoid, that doesn’t mean that they won’t always work in your favour. In fact, they might even score you a large prize. However, over the long run, these will not only be unprofitable but might cost you large sums of money too.
