Responsible Gambling

With the fun and entertainment in gambling online comes a potential danger. It is the danger of addiction, something that affects few people. All gamblers should be aware of the danger and remember the tips we offer to prevent fun from turning into disaster.  

Right attitude
The best advice we can give you is to adopt a relaxed attitude and to only ever expect fun and entertainment, rather than big wins, from your gambling sessions. It's impossible to find any kind of entertainment for free, so count your gambling losses as the price of your entrance ticket.

If, on the other hand, you expect to make money from gambling you are looking for trouble. You'll end up grimly chasing last week's losses. Your gaming sessions will become haw-clenching and tooth grinding which is no fun at all. Instead of winning big it is entirely possible that you will end up losing everything.

The dangers of winning
A few big wins can sometimes be dangerous. Players can become emotionally involved in the game, fall in love with the winning feeling, expect it to happen every time and keep playing until it does. Remember - winning is only one aspect of the gambling game, you can't count on the casino to pay your mortgage.

Highs and lows
So keep an eye open for any signs that you may be changing from a ‘cool' gambler to a ‘grim' gambler and take steps to keep yourself in fun mode. Early warning signs are often the high and low mood swings that follow a win or a loss.  

Walk away
If you think about nothing but gambling, find it difficult to stop, or if you keep losing, take a break and walk away. If you can't trust yourself to do this many online casinos have self-exclusion features that enable you to bar yourself from their site.

Danger signs
Some more warning signs to watch out for:

• You gamble down to your last dollar.
• You lose sleep over gambling.
• You use household money to gamble.
• You've tried to stop gambling but cannot.
• You've borrowed or stolen money to gamble.
• You feel depressed or suicidal because of your gambling losses.
• You've gambled to raise money to pay debts.

If you answer ‘yes' to even just a few of these questions, it may be time to seek some help.

Where to find help
There are many websites where you can go to find help for problem gambling. Start with http://www.ncpg.org.sg/ which is specifically for Singapore residents.

Remember, anyone can turn into a problem gambler. Events can spiral out of control very quickly to take you to a place you never thought you'd end up. But if you keep your cool and maintain the right outlook, you'll be able to enjoy gambling simply for the good fun that it offers.