Health & Medical Advice and Information - UK Medical Health

The explosion in online casinos, poker rooms and betting facilities means that more and more people are exposed to the temptation of gambling. There is an ever increasing risk of more people experiencing the physical, emotional and mental health problems associated with compulsive gambling. These can include heart disease, alcohol and substance abuse, depression and other mental health issues.

The nature of the Internet means that online gambling is attractive to individuals who might seek anonymous, absorbing, solitary online entertainment. This can readily become an obsessive activity that will lead people to spend more time and more money than they can afford. This can lead to some people hiding the extent of their gambling activities from their families, their friends and even denying the extent of their problem to themselves.

If you are an online gambler, or if you have been considering having a little dabble, here are a few suggestions to help you avoid the misery of gambling addiction:

1) Limit the amount of time spent gambling online and stick to your limit! Occasionally it will be very tempting to extend the time spent gambling. Don’t do it! It is very easy to lose track of time when gambling online so set some sort of alarm to remind you to stick to your time limit;

2) Only deposit an amount of money that you can genuinely afford to lose. Don’t gamble with the rent money, the mortgage money, your grocery money or any other essential. Gamble only with your gambling money, this being money that you can genuinely afford to lose;

3) Be realistic and expect to lose occasionally. People don’t gamble to lose, they gamble to win. But not everybody can win all of the time so be pragmatic and don’t get too despondent if you lose. If you have constrained your bets to what you can afford to lose then it should not be too painful an experience when you do. Don’t go chasing your losses as this will almost inevitably lead to more money down the drain;

4) Take advantage of facilities provided by the more reputable online casinos and poker rooms that allow you to set your gambling session time limits and constrain the amount of cash that you spend;

5) Play for entertainment and enjoyment and not as a means to make money. The real winners in online gambling are the casino and poker room operators. In the gambling industry the regular punter is often referred to as a ‘mug’. Don’t be one;

6) Be honest with yourself by keeping a record of how much time and money you are spending online. If you find yourself spending increasing amounts of time in the online casinos and poker rooms you may be headed for gambling addiction, or you may already be addicted!

As well as following these basic steps you can minimise your losses by choosing your online casino or poker room carefully. Many have all sorts of offers and prize draws intended to entice new gamblers to use their facilities. If poker is your game then you would be foolish not to take advantage of online poker rakeback which will give you a small percentage of the commission taken on each pot. So choose a reputable online gambling site that provides time and financial constraints to help you to avoid the misery of gambling addiction. And good luck at the tables!