Ten Tips for Fun and Frugal Gambling on a Limited Budget

Are you retired and living on a fixed income? Or employed with a limited amount of spending money? You can still enjoy the excitement of casinos and the thrill of jackpots, by gambling responsibly. The following tips offer ideas for fun, yet frugal, gambling.

1. Decide how much you can comfortably afford to lose. Most gamblers lose their money, so plan accordingly. Figure out how much extra money, above fixed living expenses, you have to play with each month.

2. Plan how often you can afford to gamble. Divide your monthly available gambling money by how many trips to the casino you would like to take. If the spending amount seems too low, plan to go less often.

3. Don’t overspend. Take only your pre-planned gambling money to the casino each time. Do not take extra money out of your accounts later, at the casino, if you lose. Read a book if you must wait for someone else before going home.

4. Go early. Arrive as early in the day as possible at the casino to obtain the machines you find to be most lucrative.

5. Take gambling breaks. Space playing time with short breaks to the bathroom, beverage and snack bars, and restaurants. You will feel better, and potential gambling time will be spread out over the day.

6. Play slot machines instead of table games. Choosing slots exclusively gives you great flexibility to move around, and costs less to play.

7. Play machines that offer occasional random jackpots or bonuses of some kind (special pay features, free spins etc.).

8. Play penny machines some of the time. They often offer several bonus or random jackpot features and cost very little when bets are kept small.

9. Bet smaller amounts when losing; higher when winning. If a machine you are playing is on a winning streak, up your bets a bit for the chance of larger jackpots.

10. Take most big jackpots home. If you win a nice jackpot, give yourself a small extra chunk to play with and bring the rest home. You can always decide to spend some of it on an extra fun and frugal trip to the casino later on!