Keeping Your Rhythm

9 April 2022

By Jerry Stickman

If you are an average gambler on a multiple day trip to Las Vegas, you arrive at your hotel, drop your bags off in your room and immediately head to the casino.

You then plop yourself down at the first open machine or at the first open spot you find at your favorite table game.

From that point forward you are in a totally different world.

You are in a world where time is no longer a factor. You are oblivious as to whether it is day or night or whether it is sunny or raining. In short, you are totally unaware of things going on around you. All that matters is the game you are playing.

You have left the normal routine and entered a “Twilight Zone” world where all your normal concerns and routines are abandoned.

This is why many (if not most) people go to casinos. They want to forget their everyday cares. They seek to abandon all the controls and schedules inflicted upon them by their everyday lives.

It is normal for people to look for an escape from their oftentimes humdrum and boring lives. Even those whose lives are definitely not humdrum or boring, but who have lives that are filled with enormous amounts of stress also look for a bit of a respite.

Casinos are more than happy to provide everything they can to facilitate this escape from reality. From scantily clad cocktail servers to the absence of windows and clocks to the use of colored chips rather than actual currency to the readily available complimentary alcoholic beverages, they are all carefully calculated by the casinos to provide a sense of escape from reality.

By giving the player the feeling of escape, casinos also set the trap. In a world where nothing is as it was back home, so too, are the worries about money no longer valid. After all, this is fantasyland where anything is possible and anything that used to matter no longer does.

Unfortunately, in this environment, bad decisions tend to be made.

For example, when a player runs out of money, in order to continue the fun of fantasyland, they hit their casino credit or the ATM to replenish their bankroll. No need to worry, this is all make-believe.

When they begin to get tired, they brush it aside in an attempt to continue their fantasyland adventure.

I have met people who have spent more than 24 hours of marathon playing without taking a break.

They look and act like it.

When a player is so invested in maintaining the illusion that things including bankroll and sleep no longer matter, profound consequences are in the offing.

When someone is that tired and drunk, they cannot make rational decisions. The decisions that are made tend to favor prolonging the experience rather than protecting oneself. Oftentimes this can lead to a total wipeout both financially and physically.

I expect that no one reading this article is that invested in escapism. However, it is certainly better to guard against any of the pitfalls that go along with it.

How can one do that?

Obviously when you are staying and playing at a casino, it is not the same environment as when you are in your normal daily life.

That does not mean that you must totally abandon all your daily routines. Indeed, trying to stay as close as possible to your normal routine will also help you maintain your normal risk awareness. And that is what you should really want to do.

Instead of immediately heading for your favorite casino game after arriving, take some time to rest up in your room. If possible, try to keep all your activities on the same schedule as when you are at home. Go to bed at about the same time as home. Get up at about the same time. Have your meals at approximately the same times. Fit your gambling sessions into the times in between.

By doing this – by keeping the same schedule – you will be able to maintain the same rhythm as when you are in your normal life. Your normal routine will be carried over into the casino routine.

While still being a break from the norm, maintaining the same rhythm will help keep your risk awareness intact. By maintaining your rhythm, you will make fewer bad decisions. Fewer bad decisions translate to fewer lost dollars which translates to more fun in the long run.

An escape is truly nice, but we must live with the effects of that escape. Keeping a normal rhythm will help the escape be a pleasant experience and the return to normal less traumatic.

As always, may all your wins be swift and large, and your losses be slow and small.

Jerry “Stickman”

Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines. He authored the video poker section of Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pai Gow Poker! You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanjerryg@gmail.com