Four Key Lessons the Casino can Teach us About Money Management

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Over the past decade, online casino gaming has become one of the world’s most popular forms of entertainment. Now a core part of the global remote gaming industry, millions of players across the world regularly log in to digital platforms to test their skills and strategies in popular games like slots, roulette and blackjack. There are even those who have carved out professional careers playing in the casino, developing a mindset that puts them on a par with experienced investors.  

Participating in casino games is actually a great way to understand more about personal finance and money management. Let’s dive into some of the lessons that online real money gaming can teach us about how we handle our money and make financial decisions.  

Research is Fundamental 

Being one of the largest digital gaming industries and growing every year – by 2026, real money gaming will be worth as much as $160 billion – it goes without saying that the marketplace is saturated and highly competitive. Keen gamers, then, need to do their research before signing up with a platform, taking into account their legal status, the types of games they run, how and when payments are made, and any other perks that membership may offer.  

This research applies to the games themselves too. A pro player has a career precisely because of the knowledge and skill that they’ve acquired playing the same games consistently, year after year. They’ve developed an advanced knowledge of the game itself and honed their strategy and decision-making skills.  

Applying this to a personal finance situation, it’s clear that consumers need to shop around before choosing to sign-up with a provider, as well as educate themselves on investments, savings, and any other money management strategies.  

Bankroll or Bust 

In the world of casino gaming, budgeting is crucial. Any player that knows what they’re doing sets a budget for their gaming sessions and under no circumstances exceeds it. Any winnings they make stay in their accounts, and they never play more than they can afford to lose. In casino gaming terms, this is called Bankroll Management. Online gaming is about taking risks, yes, but more importantly it’s about managing money; you’ll never see a pro player recklessly spending their winnings.  

Learning how to set and manage budgets is one of the most fundamental elements of personal finance. Setting limits for yourself, whether that’s weekly, monthly or annually forces you to make smarter decisions with the money you have available and will get you in the habit of putting cash aside for a rainy day.  

Make better investment decisions  

Regularly playing strategical games on an online platform can help develop savvy investment skills. In order to stand out from the crowd, online platforms offer new players a range of bonuses and promotions that all have certain minimum wagering requirements – even free spins bonuses have T&C conditions that need to be fulfilled.  

Just like any other investment, to get the best results from these offers a player needs to calculate how much they’re prepared to put down initially against how much they’ll get back. Wagering requirements that would force them to spend more than their budget, for example, wouldn’t make sense as an investment. However, an offer with a minimum wager within their budget and reasonable withdrawal conditions would be more appropriate.   

Understand Risk vs. Reward 

Taking this a step further, it’s clear that online gaming provides a very valuable lesson on risk vs. reward. By their very nature, real money games do come with a certain amount of risk attached. However, experienced players have learned that expected reward is directly proportional to the risks they’re willing to take and are able to make effective decisions based on this.  

For example, a high-risk wager could result in substantial winnings, but the odds of it going in their favour are very low. On the other hand, lower-risk wagers may result in smaller winnings, but they’ll bring better returns in the long run. To get the most out of their investments, in this case, their wagers, players will calculate how many high-risk games they can play as well as the number of low-risk ones they need to keep their bankroll going long term.  

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