Advice on how to gamble responsibly often relates to the amount of money you spend. But the time you lose to online gambling can also cause major issues if you don’t stay in control.
That’s why time management is an essential part of maintaining a safe approach to online gambling. In this article, we’ll delve into the time management tools available at most sites and more.
Why Is Time Consumption Important?
Many players bet to experience an extra rush when watching a football game, a tennis match, or other sporting events they enjoy. While this rush can be pleasurable, it can also make one lose track of time. Losing track of time can lead to neglecting other important activities.
Tracking Your Time
Most bookmakers offer tools such as Reality Checks to help players keep track of their gambling. If your preferred betting site offers this tool, you should absolutely utilise it! These reminders can help you decide in advance how much time you want to spend on betting and remind you when you are approaching your limit.
If your preferred operator doesn’t have an option to help you keep track of time, you can create your own simple setup by setting a timer on your phone. Another option is to track the time you spend betting each day for a week.
You should factor in not only the time spent on placing the bet, but also the time spent planning and researching your bets. If you’re surprised by the results, take that as a signal to consider cutting down.
How Much Is Too Much?
It’s complicated to say precisely how much is too much, as this will vary significantly from one player to another. A good recommendation is to choose an amount that you would feel comfortable telling others about that you spend on gambling.
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction recently launched its Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines. These are based on 5 years of research using both gambling data, survey data from players and expert opinions. The guidelines state that if you want to reduce your risk of gambling-related harms, you should gamble no more than 4 days a month.
This does not necessarily mean that you have a problem if you gamble more than four days, but that your risk level will increase if you gamble more than 4 days a month. You can read more about the guidelines here.
