What’s the number one golden rule of gambling online? To have fun, of course! And the number two rule? TO MANAGE YOUR BANKROLL! We said it in shouty caps because we really need to bring the point across – that other than having fun, managing your bankroll is by far the most important part of gambling, whether online, or in land-based casinos.

Why? Because, simply put, no money, no gambling. By managing your bankroll, not only will you be able to stay in the game longer, you’ll be able to ensure you always have enough money in your account to cover any losses as well. Not to mention the security and peace of mind you’ll feel at knowing you have a decent cushion to see you through all the highs and lows of your game play. But how do you manage your bankroll on a day-to-day basis and make sure you’re always in the money no matter what happens? Take a look at some of our top tips, and get ready to manage your money like a boss.

1. Set yourself a budget. It should really go without saying, but we wanted to make it absolutely clear – in order to stay in control of your casino spend, you need to budget for it just as you would any other expense. Rent? Check. Food? Check. School fees? Check. Gambling? Check.

By budgeting for your monthly gambling expenditure, you’ll have a set amount of money put aside that you can afford to lose every month – and this will help ensure that you never play beyond your means. Take a look at your financial responsibilities, calculate how much you can afford to spend (i.e. lose) every month at the casino, and set that aside for your gambling. Once it’s gone, it’s gone – and there’s no dipping into other savings or bill payments to replenish it. If you can learn to budget wisely, you’ll always have money to gamble responsibly with every month.

2. Divide up your gambling spend. Once you’ve got your monthly budget set, you’ll need to portion it out evenly across your gambling sessions to ensure you don’t blow through all of it in your first visit. To do this, you’ll need to decide how many gambling sessions you’ll be playing every month, and then divide your gambling budget evenly between each one.

Let’s say you decide you’ll visit the casino once a week, so four times a month. If you decide on a gambling budget of $1,000, that’s $250 to spend at each of your weekly gambling sessions. Here’s where you’ll need to be strict with yourself though. If you go through your $250 for the first week in just a few minutes, you’ll need to have the self-control not to dip into next week’s budget in order to play for longer or chase any losses. Some days your money will last a few minutes, some days it’ll last the whole session and beyond. It’s all about the luck of the draw, and playing within your means.

3. Know your limits. Ok, you’ve set up a budget and you’ve divided it up evenly between all your monthly gambling sessions. The next step is to set yourself some limits to ensure you stay within your budget, and stay in control of your gambling at all times. While these limits are completely up to you and your discretion, most often people will choose to put limits on the amount of time they gamble online, the amount they deposit, the amount they wager, or the amount they lose in a session. It may take you a while to decide which limits would work for you best; once you decide, however, ensure you stick to your limits at all times in order to protect your bankroll from risky or expensive decisions.

4. Get your bonus on. One of the best ways to manage your bankroll is by playing with the casino’s money rather than your own. And by this we mean claiming your online casino welcome bonus and playing with free cash! Signing up with a casino will instantly qualify you to claim the sign-up bonus they have on offer, and while these typically come with certain wagering or playthrough requirements, they can nevertheless give you an excellent starting point to build on. Just make sure to read the terms and conditions first before playing with your bonus cash, and you’ll be starting your casino journey with a very decent bankroll indeed.

5. Take it to the bank. While you could choose to keep all your casino winnings in your account and build up a fat bankroll that way, you might also want to consider banking some of it too – this way you’ll actually be making real life money from the casino, and not simply playing and winning with virtual credits.

A strategy that many players employ is to build up enough in their bankroll to bank their deposit – this way you’ll only ever be playing with the money you win, rather than the money you deposit and win. You’ll have money in your bankroll to play with, and money back in your actual bank account too – that’s what we call a win-win!

6. Never chase your losses. We wanted to put this in shouty caps too, that’s how crucial it is. By far one of the quickest ways to blow through your bankroll in seconds is by chasing a losing streak in the hopes of winning back all your money. All this will ever accomplish is a speedily depleted account balance, and huge frustration on your part.

While it’s an incredibly infuriating experience to have to go through, the only way to manage a losing streak is by stepping back from it altogether – either for a short break, or until your next scheduled gaming session. Clearing your head and reining your emotions in will do far more for your game play than throwing good money after bad, and it’ll ensure you have a bankroll to come back to as well. Because in the words of Kenny Rogers, “You’ve gotta know when to fold ‘em.”

Happy Spinning 🙂