Blog Part 46: Being kind to yourself - a serious blogpost

I believe that it is very important to discuss the dark sides of online gambling as well as the good. In blog post 25 I wrote about the importance of gambling safely. My third point was about taking responsibility for our own actions as online casino users. I wanted to go a little deeper into this topic as I feel like there are some concrete tips that I as a beginner can give to others that are starting off but feel like the slot machines have taken over all of their time.

These are my top tips to keeping a healthy relationship with your online casino:

1. Set a spending limit and stick to it!

I hope that you guys have noticed that whenever I start playing I say: “Ok, I allow myself to get down to €10 but not less”. That way I have set myself a limit where I don`t permit myself to use up all of my casino balance at once but rather keep saving it for several occasions. If you have a good day you will be able to play for a long time before reaching your spending limit and who knows maybe you will win so much that you never get down to the limit you set! On a bad day, you might get down there rather quickly but then you just have to be hard on yourself and stick to the limit you have set!

2. Be kind to yourself!

Do not use gambling as a way to handle loneliness, depression or stress. There are much better things to treat yourself with than gambling when you feel any of the emotions mentioned above, and since in the end you often have to be hard on yourself to stop yourself from using up all the money you have in the balance it might just make you feel worse than when you started. Be kind to yourself and give yourself something nice, like going to the cinema or doing something with friends or family.

3. Make time for things away from the screen!

When it starts going good for us, we want to play more. When it starts going bad for us, we want to play more to make up for what we have lost - therefore, my tip is to always make sure to make plans away from the screen, whether it is your computer or hand held device. These plans do not have to be big, or even complicated, just make time to do what you like away from the screen. I like reading, cooking and going for a run so when I noticed that I have been playing a little too much I say to myself: “Today you will go for a run, buy some nice ingredients and cook yourself something great before sitting down to read a couple of chapters of that book you started”. This gives me a much-needed break from the screen, it gives me time to get a perspective on things and in the end, it makes me feel much better about everything in life.

4. Losing is part of it!

I cannot stress this enough…we will lose, no one wins all the time, it is OK to lose, and if you are not OK with losing then online gambling is not for you!

5. Be honest!

You do not have to be honest with anyone else but yourself. Tell yourself if you are spending too much time online, tell yourself if you are using the money you really can’t afford to use, tell yourself if you need help.

If it gets to the point where you feel like you need help, you can reach out to the casino. A serious online casino will help you by setting deposit limits, inactivating/pausing your account and many more things. All you have to do is contact your preferred casino’s support team and they will help you out. PlayOjo is one of the casinos where I am the most comfortable knowing that they have my back in case I would need help. For example, every 60 mins they inform you how long you have been playing on their platform. If you feel like the casino is not being supportive and helping you out then you can always turn to the agency providing the casino with a license or to any of the online gambling support pages.