Losing to Win at Gambling
Oftentimes, people who engage in gambling become frustrated at when they lose at games. This might be due to their expectations of winning big. However, an important point in gambling that they miss is that in order to win, one must be prepared to lose.
The reality of gambling is that all gambling games employ the aspect of chance. Chance is not equivalent to irrational, erratic luck; chance is based on mathematical probabilities.
Say, for example, one has a chance of winning the pot in a slot machine one in ten thousand tries. This means that in ten thousand tries, you could be sure to win at least once, and be sure to lose 9,999 times. Sure, we have all heard of the lucky fellow, who gambled a few hundred and went home with ten grand; but the reality is, that event would only take place a few times, maybe even less than the probability of winning in gambling.
Relying on chance means that the more times one plays, the more chances one has of winning. This also means that in order to win, one must expect to lose; in order for one to win a lot, one must expect to lose a lot.
Think of gambling as starting a business. In order to start a business, one must invest a considerable amount of money, and then wait for the business to flourish before one earns back one's investment and hopefully, profit. When you start a business, you lose something first in order to gain something much, much, larger.
The only difference between gambling and a business is that, the event of business is lasting, and the event of gambling is fleeting: it is based on the moment you play, and that alone. That is why losing money also seems to be amplified.
However, one could not take being prepared to lose as an excuse for careless gambling. One still needs to be disciplined: try to commit to your initial investment before re-investing your winnings. After you have exhausted your initial investment, assess your situation. How much have you won? How much have you lost? How much are you willing to lose?
If you do decide to re-invest your winnings, then re-invest only a certain percentage of it. That way, you are sure to bring home something, and avoid going home broke.
Remember: gambling is an investment. That means that you must be prepared to lose something in order to have a chance - and only a chance - of gaining something much more significant than you have lost. However, gambling still requires discipline, in order for you to be in control over your losses and winnings. Learning this, one would sure be on the way to profiting from a so-called high-risk activity that is gambling.
