New Study Shows Responsible Gamblers Have Excellent Habits

If you're the type of person who gambles responsibly, then you probably have some key habits that help to keep you in control.

There's a lot of interest in what makes the difference between the different types of gamblers, and there's also a lot of related interest in figuring out what people can do to try to minimize their chances of developing a compulsive gambling problem. A recent study at Nottingham Trent University has led to some interesting discoveries in these areas.

To start with, their approach was a lot different than what you typically find from studies on problem gambling. Instead of looking at people with compulsive gambling issues and working from there, they look at people who gamble responsibly instead to see what they do differently. What they found was that people who are able to gamble regularly and keep that responsible level to it have certain habits that put some serious space between themselves and any irresponsible gambling.

What this boils down to is a number of tactical decisions that simply keep problem gambling from happening. For example, before someone goes into a casino, they might only take out the money that they intend to use and keep everything else, including debit cards and credit cards, in their wallets and not on their person while they are enjoying the games. This helps to prevent impulsive decisions. While they could go through all of the trouble of going back out to their car or their home to get funds for more gambling than they had intended, it puts enough space and time there that they are able to keep it from happening.

Something that's really interesting about this study was how it related to play on the Internet. Of the nearly 1,500 responsible gamblers that were interviewed, and overwhelming 93 percent of them preferred playing online. This puts a lot of weight into the idea that the spread of online gambling does not increase problem gambling rates, and it even starts to suggest that it could curb it. Overall, this is a really interesting study that gives us a lot of insight into what makes people tick when they gamble.