Gambling world - beware...

There are many people who make a living off of gambling. But percentage wise, it's a small number. I don't have any illusions about quitting my job to make a casino living in Vegas. I like to go and spend small amounts of money for the entertainment value. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. Because I have seen first hand what can happen in a casino,the first thing you need when starting is a PLAN. How much are you going to lose or win? How long will you stay at the casino? Basic things like that will determine who the winners are and who the losers will be. Let me tell you a brief story to illustrate. I was working at a small "video poker" casino. My shift was from 4 PM to midnight. Shortly after I started, a customer came into my room. We started talking and he mentioned he had his whole paycheck with him, about $400. He said, with a big smile, he was going to play for a while. After about an hour, he was breaking even. All of a sudden he hit a straight flush on a large bet and was $400 up for the night. Double what he came in with, and that was a lot for him. A week of pay. After I gave him his cash out money, I suggested that he leave and come back again the next day. Of course, he stayed and played. And played. By the time my shift was over he was still there, down to $40 but kept on playing. I went out for a late nite beer, leaving him to play on. The next night, he was back. He came over to me and said "I sure wish I would have listened to you". He ended up getting home with $80 when he could have left (and should have left) with $800. The moral of the story is that you will NEVER win if you don't leave when you are ahead. But my experience has shown that the hardest thing to do is leave while you are up. That is the main reason so many people lose. Think back to some of your times at the casino when you lost. I would bet that at some point you were actually ahead before the odds caught up with you. Why wasn't that enough? How much do you need to win before it is enough? You MUST always have a set amount that you are willing to walk out at. If you bring a $100 into the casino, would you leave if you turned it into $150 in 30 minutes? Maybe it would take $200 for you. At some point, you have to say "I'm going home a winner tonight". If you don't, you will certainly end up going home a loser. A successful gambler knows a strategy that doesn't take the winnings when they are there to take will always end up as a losing strategy. Don't be afraid to cash out and run. Some days you will win, others you will lose. But if you stay too long your winning nights will also turn out to be losers.