I am no gambler or a gambling addict. I go to the casino when I am on vacation and happen to be close to a casino (Vegas anyone?) . And where I live, I rarely go to the casion. So the whole thing is like a novelty to me.
However, ever since OLG (Ontario Lottery Gaming; the body that regulates gambling in the province of Ontario) introduced online gambling through PlayOlg.ca , I found myself gambling a bit too much for my standards. At least 1-2 times a month, for a total of about $30. I know, that may sound like nothing, and although I enjoy playing, I am careful to never exceed my losing tolerance.
This past August, I took a trip to Vegas, and this being a place where you can not easily avoid gambling, I fell in love with the Wheel of Forune slot machine. And to my fortune (pun intended), when I came back home, I realized PlayOlg.ca has this popular slot machine. Ever since, when I play online, I spend every cent playing this game. The thrill of waiting to spin the wheel is a lesson in pavlovian stimuli. In fact, the addiction got to a point where I was even going on youtube to watch others video playing this game. Don’t get me wrong, I may be using the word ‘addicted’ a bit too loosely here, becasue I was still playing the same amount as I have always played. The only difference is, instead of using my semi-monthly minimum deposit of $15 on different slot machine games, I was putting all of it on Wheel of Fortune.
And then I found an escape out of this addiction and it didn’t come accidentally. Thankfully, PlayOlg.ca allows you to play any of their online slot games for free, in addition to playing with real money. So when I was out of money, I would switch to the free version, to satisfy my addiction to the WOF game. As I played the free version, and despite no money being involved, I found myself getting enough satisfaction from it. In fact, I tested this theory by depositing money and instead of playing for money first, to play for free first. And after doing this for about 15-20 min, I didn’t have the strong urge to spend my wagered money. My brain’s thirst to see the wheel spin was satisfied using the free games, so it didn’t care much for playing using real money, even if it meant winning no money.
This has now been my strategy to deal with online gambling ‘addiction’ and it has proved so successful, that I sometimes got a whole month without depositing money. I just use the free version and that satisfies my gambling ‘addiction’ and provides me that perfect pavlovian stimulus (the simple act of spinning the wheel, which may or may not mean big money in the real game)
How can you apply this to a real slot machine at a casino? Most likely, there will be no free version to play. Instead, look at finding free online slot machines to play at home before you head to the casino. After playing for an hour or more, you may found that you won’t be as eager and looking forward to your trip to the casino as you would have been if you didn’t play online for free. The free version will most likely satisfy your inner addicition. It worked for free and it doesn’t hurt to try and save yourself from the destruction of online or real gambling.