The “Walk Away While Ahead” Illusion

[Sonia_123]

People say “once you hit profit, just walk away.” But isn’t that just us trying to fool ourselves a bit?

Sure, there are times we hit profit and stop for that day. But are we really not coming back anymore? Of course we come back. And once we come back, there’s no guarantee we win again. That’s where the whole idea starts to fall apart. If in the long run the house edge or reality catches up, then this “walk away when ahead” strategy doesn’t really make us profitable overall. It only works if we win, take the profit, and quit gambling for good.

So maybe the real question is not “can I walk away today?” but “can I walk away forever after I win?”

Because if not, then maybe we’re just delaying the loss, not avoiding it.

If you are a gambler, you cannot just quit like that after your wins, it is only those that gambles form money that can behave like that without coming back, a real gambler will take a break in other to spend his money wisely so that you don't lost everything immediately to gambling and come back after investing  and continue for more better days .

Walking away means security, protection and investing your funds for future purpose . Gambling is known to be a game of losses and not wins, but each time wins comes, we should be able to handle and utilities it properly.

[Orpichukwu]

It's better to delay the loss than having it instantly, because that can affect you emotionally. Imagine that you use $10 to win $150 instead, of walking away and go enjoy your win, you became greedy and continue gambling to win more and along the line, you lost it all. You will be angry for your actions but if you walk away and come back to lose more than this is two days time. You will still have that hope that you will win again because you will console yourself with your previous win.

Another way to look at it also is this: even if you don't have that winning, you will always have some budget for gambling, right? So let's just consider the losses that happen after the winning day to be normal gambling losses and not you giving the winning back to where it came from. Secure that winning and spend it on things that are not related to gambling; those are the only possible ways to protect it.

[Bitcoin.com97]

Staying away after a win is not really easy , but there are some people can actually stop after hitting the jackpot, but I feel it’s just few that can do that , taking a break after a win is good and understandable but walking away has a lot of inner work to do , one have to be disciplined, many are always lucky to win back to back while for some , it will take months or years to win again , so break is fine but quitting is not really possible for a real gambler .

[HONDACD125]

People say “once you hit profit, just walk away.” But isn’t that just us trying to fool ourselves a bit?

Sure, there are times we hit profit and stop for that day. But are we really not coming back anymore? Of course we come back. And once we come back, there’s no guarantee we win again. That’s where the whole idea starts to fall apart. If in the long run the house edge or reality catches up, then this “walk away when ahead” strategy doesn’t really make us profitable overall. It only works if we win, take the profit, and quit gambling for good.

So maybe the real question is not “can I walk away today?” but “can I walk away forever after I win?”

Because if not, then maybe we’re just delaying the loss, not avoiding it.

Walking away when you are in profit is not a strategy to keep your profitable forever, but it's a strategy to keep your from losing your profits for the time being. If you are a regular gambler, you will obviously lose more in the long run than what you have just won, but there is absolutely no point in losing it back at that exact time. I mean, if you have started gambling with $50, and have made it to $200, you should definitely stop, keep your initial deposit in your pocket or wherever you deposited it from, and use the remaining $150 for something, either enjoy yourself, buy your spouse something, or simply buy Bitcoin with it, it's your choice.

When you come back later, deposit the $50 again, and try your luck. If you lose it, just get away and don't think about what you have won earlier because you had deposited the same amount earlier, and you could lose it then as well. This is basically what a responsible gambler with enough self-control would do, and believe me, it's the best strategy. If you don't walk away, you will most probably lose everything back, and then regret it, but if you walk away, you at least get to enjoy or use the winnings for now.

[Cityhunter34]

Staying away after a win is not really easy , but there are some people can actually stop after hitting the jackpot, but I feel it’s just few that can do that , taking a break after a win is good and understandable but walking away has a lot of inner work to do , one have to be disciplined, many are always lucky to win back to back while for some , it will take months or years to win again , so break is fine but quitting is not really possible for a real gambler .

Of course, that's true, because we always want to win more games. Only few gamblers can call it a day when they're on a winning streak. It's something that's part of us, but I know many gamblers don't usually tell the truth about the situation because they always get carried away trying to beat the casino. One thing about gambling is that you can never be smarter than the game. If it were possible, things would have be different by now. So it's much safer to apply self-control and remember that gambling involves more losses than wins.

[fruktik]

Many people don't want to leave casinos and gambling. For them, it's entertainment. Some come for quick and easy money. But that's an illusion.

If you do manage to win, it's better to leave for a while. Why leave the casino forever? What's the point? Well, people enjoy the process. It's a kind of hobby. Look at streamers. They really enjoy gambling and do it every day.

[YellowSwap]

People say “once you hit profit, just walk away.” But isn’t that just us trying to fool ourselves a bit?

Sure, there are times we hit profit and stop for that day. But are we really not coming back anymore? Of course we come back. And once we come back, there’s no guarantee we win again. That’s where the whole idea starts to fall apart. If in the long run the house edge or reality catches up, then this “walk away when ahead” strategy doesn’t really make us profitable overall. It only works if we win, take the profit, and quit gambling for good.

So maybe the real question is not “can I walk away today?” but “can I walk away forever after I win?”

Because if not, then maybe we’re just delaying the loss, not avoiding it.

Fool one self as how? Are profits all the same? My question to you is what will happen if hit it very big? I mean you can use $200 to net 500k, just for reference, what do you think will happen ? What will you do if this happens?

Stopping for a day means you hit something very small, someone I knew won $4000 and it took him multiple months to even look into gambling again, he was there to make money, and that amount came to the rescue.

He wasn't gambling for fun, he had financial problems and lucky for him he won, it will be stupid of anyone to win good amount of money and come back the next day to gamble.

[swogerino]

I doubt anyone has truly walked away from gambling except the persons who found force and courage to completely quit it. Many times I have thought now I quit when I hit near max win in a game and enjoy the winnings but it did not happen. The very next day I deposited a huge part of my winnings and started playing again, I immediately lost all that money as in the long run there is nothing we can do against the house edge which is in place to guarantee profit to the casino over this long run.

[Odusko]

Staying away after a win is not really easy , but there are some people can actually stop after hitting the jackpot, but I feel it’s just few that can do that , taking a break after a win is good and understandable but walking away has a lot of inner work to do , one have to be disciplined, many are always lucky to win back to back while for some , it will take months or years to win again , so break is fine but quitting is not really possible for a real gambler .

Stay away means quiting entirely Which Many people can't afford to do, gambling winning is somehow addicting what you did to win the first bet will build confidence in you to think that you can keep winning all the time, but if care is not taken such winnings become a trap for you an in the end you lose even more, what we should tell people that have no gambling management and decipline to do, is to only bet amount yu can afford to lose because having such in mind limit them from taking unnecessary risks that hurt's their portfolio in the end.

[Accardo]

I doubt anyone has truly walked away from gambling except the persons who found force and courage to completely quit it. Many times I have thought now I quit when I hit near max win in a game and enjoy the winnings but it did not happen. The very next day I deposited a huge part of my winnings and started playing again, I immediately lost all that money as in the long run there is nothing we can do against the house edge which is in place to guarantee profit to the casino over this long run.

The casino has done their background check about players who get to win big, before giving them all that funds, they tend to be sure the player has gone deeper into the system that they'll hardly leave the house after winning all that big money without wagering certain amount or all of the money back to the casino. It works like magic, when you find yourself in that kind of situation, the outcome is also the same, playing more or going fully into high rolling becomes the response.

[MainIbem]

It's almost impossible to see someone especially a low income earner that would completely work away from gambling after winning, people can try to be responsible so the don't lose important money or lose everything they won back to the house but quiting completely is very difficult. Some suffer series of loses and claim to quit but still return after a while, talk more of quiting completely after winning. If you don't discipline yourself as a gambler you might even tend to double what you won by staking all or half of the reward you got which mostly turns out bad in most cases

[junder]

People say “once you hit profit, just walk away.” But isn’t that just us trying to fool ourselves a bit?

Sure, there are times we hit profit and stop for that day. But are we really not coming back anymore? Of course we come back. And once we come back, there’s no guarantee we win again. That’s where the whole idea starts to fall apart. If in the long run the house edge or reality catches up, then this “walk away when ahead” strategy doesn’t really make us profitable overall. It only works if we win, take the profit, and quit gambling for good.

So maybe the real question is not “can I walk away today?” but “can I walk away forever after I win?”

Because if not, then maybe we’re just delaying the loss, not avoiding it.

First, when we gamble and manage to make a profit and then decide to stop, that’s the right choice but it doesn’t rule out the possibility that we’ll return, and in fact, the chances of us returning may be greater than the chances of us stopping for good.

Setting a strategy to stop when you’re on a winning streak makes sense while it doesn’t guarantee a net profit, at least you’ve secured some gains and won’t lose them by gambling them away again.

Furthermore, in my opinion, quitting when you’re winning is difficult to do, but for now, the idea of gambling for entertainment seems to be gaining traction. What makes it hard to stop even when winning is the hope of winning even more.

[purple_sparkles]

I don’t see the point in completely stopping gambling if you are able to stay in profit. If you win, leave the game with profit that’s great. Next time, the same thing can happen again. Usually, the opposite happens, when you gamble, you lose once, then lose again, and a losing streak begins. After that, people simply lose the enthusiasm to continue doing something that brings neither profit nor enjoyment. In general, gambling should be treated as entertainment, not as a way to make money. When you look at it that way, the emotional pressure and importance of winning become much lower.

[Porfirii]

I don’t see the point in completely stopping gambling if you are able to stay in profit. -snip-

I don't think that "stay in profit" in the long term of a lifetime works for 99% of the people who gamble. The longer you gamble, the higher the probability to lose in average. That's why the OP said that walking away while in profit, to come back again and eventually lose is an illusion.

As he said, the only way to completely walk away while ahead is to quit gambling forever, and that's not what most of us do, unless we hit the jackpot and live a dear life. Even in these cases, some people would continue gambling, increasing the stakes. Not a good long term strategy, as I said.

[bubilas]

People say “once you hit profit, just walk away.” But isn’t that just us trying to fool ourselves a bit?

Sure, there are times we hit profit and stop for that day. But are we really not coming back anymore? Of course we come back. And once we come back, there’s no guarantee we win again. That’s where the whole idea starts to fall apart. If in the long run the house edge or reality catches up, then this “walk away when ahead” strategy doesn’t really make us profitable overall. It only works if we win, take the profit, and quit gambling for good.

So maybe the real question is not “can I walk away today?” but “can I walk away forever after I win?”

Because if not, then maybe we’re just delaying the loss, not avoiding it.

I recently watched an interview with a former military gambler, and he said that military personnel often gamble to relieve stress. So, when he started playing slots to try to distract himself from his sadness, he won big several times. But he didn't know that casinos have many techniques and tricks that prevent him from losing more than his initial deposit. So, the casino immediately rejected his request to suspend his gambling activity, or something similar (that's how he tried to defend himself about his addiction). And the withdrawal was done in installments, not all at once.

[imthegreat]

People say “once you hit profit, just walk away.” But isn’t that just us trying to fool ourselves a bit?

Sure, there are times we hit profit and stop for that day. But are we really not coming back anymore? Of course we come back. And once we come back, there’s no guarantee we win again. That’s where the whole idea starts to fall apart. If in the long run the house edge or reality catches up, then this “walk away when ahead” strategy doesn’t really make us profitable overall. It only works if we win, take the profit, and quit gambling for good.

So maybe the real question is not “can I walk away today?” but “can I walk away forever after I win?”

Because if not, then maybe we’re just delaying the loss, not avoiding it.

I recently watched an interview with a former military gambler, and he said that military personnel often gamble to relieve stress. So, when he started playing slots to try to distract himself from his sadness, he won big several times. But he didn't know that casinos have many techniques and tricks that prevent him from losing more than his initial deposit. So, the casino immediately rejected his request to suspend his gambling activity, or something similar (that's how he tried to defend himself about his addiction). And the withdrawal was done in installments, not all at once.

Yes, the casino's reluctance to immediately give away all winnings is a common tactic among online casinos and bookmakers, designed to prevent gamblers and bettors from receiving all their winnings at once. The casino probably hopes that players will change their minds about withdrawing all their money and continue playing, and then lose. Their logic is understandable, as some players, having won a lot of money, start to want even more. After all, we're all human, and our appetites grow when we see easy money.

[riscohen4]

Walking away is not bad after a win. It's just to cool your head after that win. That excitement alone can make you make irrational decisions that will cause you to lose everything. Except you are someone with some sought of control over yourself.

It is not really about walking away today or forever. The main thing is control. There are people after a win, tend to lose that win including what they used to bet. Every advice or self awareness is kicked out the door.

Actually if someone just steps away from gambling after a win, the person was only after a big win. Nothing in him really loves gambling. Just another way to set himself or herself financially free. Of which I call that luck.

[sotelorene]

I don’t see the point in completely stopping gambling if you are able to stay in profit. If you win, leave the game with profit that’s great. Next time, the same thing can happen again. Usually, the opposite happens, when you gamble, you lose once, then lose again, and a losing streak begins. After that, people simply lose the enthusiasm to continue doing something that brings neither profit nor enjoyment. In general, gambling should be treated as entertainment, not as a way to make money. When you look at it that way, the emotional pressure and importance of winning become much lower.

Some people just want to be winning all the time but that is not possible though I myself, I love to win all the time but I also know it is not simple and possible to be .. but it is very interesting and cool whenever someone is on a winning streak and also bitter when someone is on a losing streak and sometimes losing streak doesn't mean you don't know what you are doing no, losing is part of the game so we should also stay cool and minimize the rate at which we gamble when this is happening.

[Karl_3000]

Some people just want to be winning all the time but that is not possible though I myself, I love to win all the time but I also know it is not simple and possible to be .. but it is very interesting and cool whenever someone is on a winning streak and also bitter when someone is on a losing streak and sometimes losing streak doesn't mean you don't know what you are doing no, losing is part of the game so we should also stay cool and minimize the rate at which we gamble when this is happening.

It is not some people but everyone want to be winning in gambling all the time but which is not possible, those that are wise that know that it is not possible and that the loss can be highly more than winning prefer to just take gambling for fun. The profit and loss only make it fun for such people. Anyone that think he is wise and thinking to make money from gambling will lose and lose again and again until he become addicted, that is how gambling is.

[Wakate]

Staying away after a win is not really easy , but there are some people can actually stop after hitting the jackpot, but I feel it’s just few that can do that , taking a break after a win is good and understandable but walking away has a lot of inner work to do , one have to be disciplined, many are always lucky to win back to back while for some , it will take months or years to win again , so break is fine but quitting is not really possible for a real gambler .

Leaving gambling for a while is not easy for anyone after making a huge success winning big profits.
It can be very hard for gamblers to leave what is giving them money for something else when they just became successful making big profits. It is only the disciplined ones that can stay away from gambling for a while.