The ability to control your emotions while gambling might be more complicated than it sounds, especially with all the action and commotion going around. Most of us gamble in hopes of having fun, but some end up getting way too invested in the atmosphere of the game. Therefore, figuring out how to better control our emotions is mandatory—allowing your emotions to get the better of you while gambling, you could end up with empty pockets leading to even more severe issues. If you want to avoid getting into unpleasant situations, it is essential to figure out how to calm yourself, so your decisions can be as rational as possible. This way, whenever you get awarded some online casino free spins, you will most surely get the maximum out of them without ruining the rest of your evening. 

Fortunately, there are quite a few strategies that you can implement to control your emotions better. In most cases, whenever you feel that things aren’t going your way, it would be best to step away from the computer, or you could switch to a different instant withdrawal casino. However, that would only be a temporary solution to an issue that will undoubtedly persist. A better approach would be to pay close attention to your emotions and find ways to cope with them appropriately. Join us while we present the five most important aspects you need to keep in mind if you want to improve your emotional control to make optimal decisions at every point in your gambling experience. 

1. Practice Rational Thinking While Gambling

Stop. Take a moment and attempt to view the action from another perspective. Pay close attention to all the angles and make an effort to assess how your gambling sessions will pan out. Through this exercise, you will soon understand that the situation is not as bleak as you initially thought and that you might have gotten upset for a superficial reason. Yes, nobody likes to lose their hard-earned cash, but in the grand scheme, that should not be a reason to get genuinely worked up over. Look at the money you have lost as if you were paying for a movie or amusement park ticket; you had fun and hours of entertainment for a few bucks. 

A rational approach to the abovementioned situation that should work for most gamblers is to lower the wager to an amount that won’t make a dent in your bankroll. If you want to gamble this evening but cannot afford to lose $50, you could try to bet $10 instead. Playing lower stakes removes the stress associated with potentially losing a large sum while still allowing you to get an engaging gambling experience. Risking less money will make it far easier to cope with any negative feelings that might appear. Unfortunately, the method presented above will only work if you spend time figuring out the root of the stress. In some instances where all your attempts at keeping yourself calm are futile, it will be best if you stop gambling and restart whenever you are more relaxed. 

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2. Assess Your Feelings

Whenever you are having an emotional episode, you should take a breath and look into what type of emotion you are feeling. Identifying what you are feeling might not be the most straightforward task, but you could ask yourself one of the following questions. Am I feeling anger? Am I feeling sadness? Am I feeling excited? Am I feeling despair?

If you manage to answer “Yes” to any of the above questions, you could be one step closer to avoiding impulsive decisions during your subsequent gambling sessions. However, if you are not true to yourself when answering and instead deny your true feelings, you could have an outburst of anger. Feeling angry, saddened, or disappointed are acceptable feelings that one experiences while gambling, especially if they are losing money, but you cannot let these emotions decide your future decisions. 

You should also try to identify and later understand what has initially triggered these emotions. It won’t be an easy task, and you should be prepared to dedicate a few hours to learning and practicing. However, once you get the hang of it and know what made you lose your composure, you will have a much easier time avoiding those triggers in the future, and after a while, you will be able to prevent them from ever happening again. 

3. Healthily Cope With Emotions When Playing at Casino

An excellent method that will allow you to regain control of your emotions is breathing exercises. Such exercises won’t be able to help you understand what has triggered the initial feeling. Still, they are exceptional at removing the focus from the situation at hand as they do relax your mind. A great breathing exercise you can implement while the gambling situation gets tense is slowly breathing in through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. While doing so, maintain your focus on how the chest expands, as it will allow you to remain calm and relaxed. 

You could find breathing exercises highly beneficial whenever you are playing the feature bonus round, doing your favorite video slot, or feeling pressure at a game of Blackjack. Relaxing through breathing exercises will allow you to control your emotions better, making you a better gambler because you will be less likely to make mistakes. 

If breathing exercises are ineffective at calming your nerves, you could always take a short break. The best moment to go for a break is whenever you feel yourself drifting into a negative emotional state. When that happens, you could disengage from the device you are gambling on by taking a short walk outside. Any other activity you usually use to destress can come in handy, even if you only do it for a few minutes. After you have cleared your mind, you can return to gambling with a better, more positive outlook. 

4. Positive Reminders 

Next on our list of tools that you can use to control your emotions are positive reminders or reinforcements. You can use these positive reminders when you have a dry spell at video slots and you feel that your feelings are getting the better of you. All it takes is a few positive words that you can say to yourself, and you will have a much easier time focusing.

Before you set out to your favorite local casino or launch an online gambling session, you should find a positive affirmation that will come in handy when facing any negative thoughts. “ I have all the necessary skills to win at Poker” is an excellent example of a positive affirmation that will make you more relaxed, knowing that you are prepared for any situation. Additionally, such affirmations will allow you to avoid thoughts or behaviors that might sabotage you and interfere with your success. While you won’t be able to control all aspects involved in a gambling session, you will ensure that your emotions will not get in the way of your success. 

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5. Accept the Outcome

You will inevitably have to deal with highs and lows whenever you gamble online. Even the most skilled gamblers will run into dry sessions in which they must open the cashier and deposit multiple times. With every significant win and dry spell, you will unavoidably be negatively and positively affected emotionally. Your emotional response to the highs and lows will determine your level of success. 

When you hit an advantageous bonus feature, you become happy and ooze with confidence on top of the hefty payday. Overall, winning will take you on an emotional rollercoaster as your body fills with dopamine, the “feel-good hormone.” However surprising as it may sound, there are downsides to winning as it will make you feel untouchable as if you could never lose in the future, which is obviously not the case. 

You will start thinking that you won only because of your skill, which might lead to risky decisions, including much higher wagers than you can afford. On top of that, you might start using your newly acquired funds to gamble on video slots you are unfamiliar with or at table games requiring skills and strategy. Remember not to get carried away after a big win, and that good runs might not last forever. 

Gambling sessions in which you spin hundreds of times without a significant win can also have a major emotional impact. The most common emotions resulting from such sessions are fear, doubt, frustration, and even desperation. Handling a dry spell can prove to be very difficult, and even the most experienced gamblers will be affected. Fear can be one of the most damaging emotions for a gambler as it will make it much more challenging to make the correct decisions. Overcoming these emotions can only be achieved when we are willing to accept the outcome. When we gamble, we must acknowledge the fact that the funds we are risking can, and will most likely, be lost forever. 

Conclusion

Being a successful gambler is undoubtedly challenging and most punters are not making a profit. However, to be a better gambler, you must do everything in your power to gain an edge and find effective methods of dealing with your emotions. Unfortunately, some of us might have to put in a lot of work before reaching that level, while others efficiently manage to keep their emotions in check. Our minds are incredibly complex, and even a highly trained psychologist cannot claim they fully understand them. Unfortunately, our personal experiences will play a massive role in how we can control our emotions.

We cannot guarantee that the tips presented in this article will help you gain complete control over your emotions when gambling. However, the strategies suggested above have worked for us, and we strongly recommend you try each of them and see if you can get positive outcomes.