Leaving Vegas Happy

Winning in Vegas isn't about going home rich; it's about not going home broke.

You've probably heard many horror stories about people loosing it all their very first night in Vegas. The sad truth of the matter is that it happens quite often because it is so terribly easy to do. Casinos have many tricks (whether deliberately contrived or accidentally achieved) that help you make poor decisions as a result of slightly impaired judgment. The bells and whistles of casinos are fun for the first few hours, after that they tend to become dull and mind numbing. You'll even find that those who have been at the casino for a while will show slower and less enthusiastic responses to jackpots after a few hours. This is part of the process. We become number and mindlessly feed our 1's, 5's, 10's, 20's, 50's, and 100's into the machines and loosing count along the way.

Casinos are also kind enough to allow many people ups and downs along the way. They are quite smart in doing this. Many people find that they can get pretty far ahead early on and then are surprised to suddenly find themselves falling behind at an alarming rate. When they have you is at the moment you put yet another bill into the machine intending to get back the money you lost. Most of us manage to get back our original investment but decide that we want what we had won earlier and end right back at the bottom again starting the entire process over. Don't do that, I can tell you it hurts the next morning when you're kicking yourself for being stupid.

This of course brings me to my next point. Ever see a sunrise from the inside of a casino? Me either, but I've walked out into the blinding light of day before. It's very easy to loose track of time in a casino. It's dark in there and the only lights are quite often from the slot machines and blinking neon signs. There are no indicators for the passage of time and unless you are clock watching, which most of us are not when we're having fun, it is quite easy to lose many hours of time and find yourself suddenly very tired and making poor decisions and taking risks you'd normally not take rather than cashing out and going back to the room for the night. This is another one that generally hurts when you wake up.

In order to avoid things like this set a vibration alarm on your cell phone and have it buzz you when it's time to go. Only bring in a certain amount of cash into the casino and when that's gone it's gone. Don't go back to the room and get more money or make costly trips to the ATM. Those trips will suddenly add up and find you with no true