Seeking Safety

2 March 2023

By Royal Flushes

CINDY: We have discussed in the past when it is the right time to leave a game. Could it be fatigue? Bad losses? Big wins? What drives us to drive away from the game? No one can play indefinitely, can they? The time to leave a game comes up and that is that. We are not Superman or Superwoman, able to play through the nights and days without some form of rest. I do not think that casino players will advocate playing until they collapse. Maybe some who have imbibed would advocate playing until they collapsed or died. But no one in his or her rational mind would praise that --- at least I hope not.

ABBY: But there is another reason to leave a game. I think this reason is as strong as any of the other reasons too. Here it is (prepare yourself now) – things aren’t feeling right. You are losing too many hands in a card game such as blackjack or baccarat. You just can’t pull yourself out of the gutter. You’re sloshing with dirty rainwater streaming down the street.

CINDY: You could also be winning some amount but again the experience is not really fun. You’re winning but so what? You just don’t feel connected to the game. I agree with Abby that something just doesn’t feel right. You really don’t want to play anymore. Winning or losing? Not the prime criteria. Quitting is the prime idea.

ABBY: Does this happen often to either one of us?

CINDY: No.

ABBY: No, it definitely rarely happens but it has happened nevertheless. To both of us. We want out.

CINDY: It is definitely a feeling and not necessarily a logical reaction to everything around you. You just know it and you pick up your chips or cash out your machine credits and take a break. You aren’t even necessarily depressed or anything like that. You just don’t feel right about the games during this time and you stop playing. It is as simple as that. Stop playing. Just stop playing.

ABBY: We have never had a dual reaction where both of us feel the same way at the same time and we are in casinos a lot, especially a lot since we go to the casinos together all the time.

CINDY: We didn’t know that either of us had this. That both of us have felt this. One day I just let slip that today just didn’t feel right and I’d play later.

ABBY: The whole thing came out then. That I have felt the same thing at time, rare times, yes, but at times nevertheless.

CINDY: We tried to figure it out logically. The feeling could happen no matter the circumstances of the games at any given time. You could be ahead, behind, just starting the game in fact.

ABBY: The best I can say is that it doesn’t feel right. So, stop playing now; take a break and come back later. I never had one that continued on a second return to the tables or machines.

CINDY: Neither have I but I take at least a couple of hours, usually more, before I enter the games again.

ABBY: Agreed.

CINDY: Maybe someday we will have this feeling at the same time and maybe then we can figure out why this happens. Until then?

ABBY: Who knows?