Do gamblers only learn discipline after losing badly?

[suzanne5223]

Let’s be honest, most gamblers don’t really care about limits when they are still winning or when the losses are still small.

It’s always “I can stop anytime” or “I’ll just recover this one first.” But once the loss becomes heavy, that’s when all the lessons suddenly become clear. Bankroll management, self-control, knowing when to stop, all those things we ignored before.

It is not about most gamblers. Every gambler who learns to be disciplined today goes through the process of losing badly before self-consciousness; if there's no mistake, how can a lesson be learned?
The hard part is that the losses some gamblers used as a stepping stone are also what led to the gambling addiction of others.

Funny thing is, many of us already know the advice. We just don’t take it seriously until it hurts.

So maybe gambling discipline is not really learned from reading tips, but from getting burned once or twice.

Has that happened to you too, or were you able to control yourself before reaching that point?

Yes, it happened to me years ago, and that's when I learned how to put a stop to over gambling. Now i am a gambler who can walk away when i see i have experienced a couple of winning streaks instead of continuing to play the game and later lose everything.

[Emitdama]

I completely agree with you OP, I am a former addicted gambler too and what you said is absolutely true that most gamblers will only take limits seriously when they feel the pain, for example like a happy winning situation they feel great and confident and also ignore the limit to stop, and when the amount of money starts to run out then they start to get anxious, trying to chase the lost money but the game continues to go badly and when all the money is gone that's when they clearly remember the limits, like thinking "I should have stopped earlier", all that is left is regret but strangely it keeps repeating.

Taking things seriously is the most crucial part of gambling because mostly people having wins feel good and jump into the ocean with big amounts because they are living on another planet, and they always feel they can do as they want, but losses always give good lessons because these have no parents.

Staying within limits and always going with strategy keeps things good; otherwise, they lose, and problems in life always give good lessons, and people who stay on their feet and have good strategy always have better results and positive things around them.

[Orpichukwu]

Funny thing is, many of us already know the advice. We just don’t take it seriously until it hurts.

So maybe gambling discipline is not really learned from reading tips, but from getting burned once or twice.

Has that happened to you too, or were you able to control yourself before reaching that point?

Reading tips without being in such a situation most times might make us feel like we are different; we can survive chasing profit without losing all we have won, or we can win back all we have lost by chasing our losses. Once our confidence betrays us one or two times, that's when some learn from their own experience, reminding themselves of the experience of others which they have used to draft out healthy gambling tips.

[KiaKia]

That dopamine in the head that there is still hope in gambling is why casinos are making big money, I bet they want gamblers to get lost in such loop and struggle with trying to stop, once you are in it becomes harder to quit.

The only way to be sane as a gambler is to not expect alot from gambling, you will always be contented with what you make and you will also have no reason to chase your losses.

Many gamblers have learned right after they failed as a gambler, I don't see anything wrong with failing as a gambler, it just shows that many people don't know what they are heading to until later, to make money via gambling is not easy.

[macson]

Not really. There are also gamblers who are disciplined from the start. But there are many gamblers who learn discipline only after experiencing severe losses, even worse, there are those who never truly learn discipline at all, even after experiencing significant losses. But as we say, experience is the best teacher, a person learns when they first experience it, and this is what makes a gambler better and more disciplined in their gambling because they understand the pain of experiencing severe losses.

[Sandra_hakeem]

Let’s be honest, most gamblers don’t really care about limits when they are still winning or when the losses are still small.

It’s always “I can stop anytime” or “I’ll just recover this one first.” But once the loss becomes heavy, that’s when all the lessons suddenly become clear. Bankroll management, self-control, knowing when to stop, all those things we ignored before.

All of the sudden, there's something they're not doing right hahahaha!

Funny thing is, many of us already know the advice. We just don’t take it seriously until it hurts.

I most cases, you don't visit the doctor when you're okay, do you? It's usually when you're hurting so bad and it needs immediate attention. Well sadly, that's an ideology of a typical gambler.

So maybe gambling discipline is not really learned from reading tips, but from getting burned once or twice.

Aside getting burned once or twice, discipline is more of a 'process' than a day-to-day practice. If you can't control your mind and the next line of action that you take, then discipline will always be a problem.

[AmaGold70]

Let’s be honest, most gamblers don’t really care about limits when they are still winning or when the losses are still small.

It’s always “I can stop anytime” or “I’ll just recover this one first.” But once the loss becomes heavy, that’s when all the lessons suddenly become clear. Bankroll management, self-control, knowing when to stop, all those things we ignored before.

Funny thing is, many of us already know the advice. We just don’t take it seriously until it hurts.

So maybe gambling discipline is not really learned from reading tips, but from getting burned once or twice.

Has that happened to you too, or were you able to control yourself before reaching that point?

You are not far from the truth, most times we learn from what happened to us, and not what happened to other people. Most of the gamblers who are disciplined today have witnessed losses, and are now very cautious because of their personal experience. As a gambler I have also learned from my mistakes, and is becoming more discipline than the initial days when I started gambling. I was gambling without having full control of my emotions, and it very dangerous to my gambling journey. However, while some of us have made correction from our personal mistakes, some gamblers have also become very discipline by knowing the rules of gambling, but honestly these number is very few.

[PX-Z]

So maybe gambling discipline is not really learned from reading tips, but from getting burned once or twice.

Has that happened to you too, or were you able to control yourself before reaching that point?

That's true. Advice is just advice, regardless of who it's coming from. Most of the time, it doesn't really sink in until you experience it yourself.

Personal experience is often the toughest teacher, and the lessons tend to stick much more when you've gone through them firsthand. That's why many gamblers only fully understand certain risks after they've made mistakes or suffered losses themselves.

That said, some people are able to learn from the experiences of others. Those who take the time to listen, read, and understand the risks involved in gambling can avoid many of the mistakes that others have already made. It's usually the smarter and less costly way to learn.

[Wakate]

Not really. There are also gamblers who are disciplined from the start. But there are many gamblers who learn discipline only after experiencing severe losses, even worse, there are those who never truly learn discipline at all, even after experiencing significant losses. But as we say, experience is the best teacher, a person learns when they first experience it, and this is what makes a gambler better and more disciplined in their gambling because they understand the pain of experiencing severe losses.

You can still lose big amount of money to gambling and not still wise enough for you to understand that gambling is not for you.
Losing badly to gambling means to work on yourself and be disciplined enough so that such does not repeat itself again but some gamblers would not look at their weaknesses and fix the issue. Addicted gamblers might find it difficult to adjust.

[shawonngp]

Right, it is really difficult to control yourself in gambling. It is mostly those who win continuously, then they become out of control, and they start gambling more aggressively, to win more, it's irresponsible gambling. They can't realize it until there is a big loss, because if there is a loss, they take it seriously, and they want to stop gambling. Many people continue gambling even after losing, because they aim to recover the loss. This is how many people become addicted to gambling, even though they started gambling only as entertainment. It has happened to me many times when I was gambling without any budget limitation. For example, every time I lost, I would deposit again and continue gambling.

[Exitoral]

You are right. Most people learn after they have had their heart broken by gambling without discipline, self-control, emotional control, etc. That's just reality too. A lot of people generally don't listen to advice. Only when that thing hurts them do they realise they could have listened. At that time, they might not recover from it and those who later recover start giving advice. Then there are those that will listen and those that won't. And the cycle continues.

I wish people would just listen to advice rather than experiencing it themselves before they learn or listen. But that's how the world works. It seems experiencing it is a better teacher rather than the teacher itself.

Gambling has a way of exposing those who lie to themselves that they can do it. "Just one game, I know when to stop." "Don't worry, I am fine." "I will stick to my budget, I won't go overboard." Those are talks that carry no weight. Gambling will expose those that lie to themselves.

[justdimin]

Do gamblers only learn discipline after losing badly?

I think no. When a gambler loses so badly, the first thing they get is a lesson. Some might learn from it, but that doesn't mean that it is self-discipline already.
Self-discipline is something you already have just before a disaster strikes you. That means you can already control yourself before a very bad loss can happen. So, if someone loses so badly and is already afraid of trying to make that same mistake again, that is called a lesson learned, not necessarily a discipline, because they always have the tendency to go back at it again.  Discipline is more about self-control rather than being deterred after a bad loss.

Yeah, you are right. I have faced both possibilities in my life. I lost "big" back in the day, well I was just a newly employed young kid, like 24 years old or so I think, and when I lost big, that was big for me, not big for anyone. But that made me not gamble that big again, ever since than, after more than a decade at this point, I just gamble with one deposit per month, and never a second deposit no matter what happens.

However, I also have a friend who lost his car to a bet, well not really, he just took out debt after debt after debt to put more back into casino because he chased that big loss and thought his luck would turn. Eventually couldn2t pay his debt to the bank, and then sold his car to pay the bank, hell he even had some debt leftover even after selling his car.

[Junii]

Has that happened to you too, or were you able to control yourself before reaching that point?

Yup it has happened to me many times too. I think there is a hotness in the money because when its in an account a person becomes overconfident and starts thinking they are in control or can easily recover losses. But once that money is lost  reality hits hard and suddenly the same person sits quietly and cold and thinks more carefully. That is when lessons like bankroll management and self control finally start making sense. I believe the greatest  problem is not a lack of knowledge because most gamblers already know the rules and regulations. The real problem is that emotions sometimes control a person rather then thinking logically. That is why control over emotions is very necessary in this game.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Not really. There are also gamblers who are disciplined from the start. But there are many gamblers who learn discipline only after experiencing severe losses, even worse, there are those who never truly learn discipline at all, even after experiencing significant losses. But as we say, experience is the best teacher, a person learns when they first experience it, and this is what makes a gambler better and more disciplined in their gambling because they understand the pain of experiencing severe losses.

Indeed, we as humans are different in groups, like it's often said that just as our faces are different, so is our behaviour and attitudes to alot of things in life, some people learn from their own experiences while there are others who are wise enough to learn from other people's experiences, not allowing things to happen to them first before they learn.

And if you ask me, I did say the best way to or of learning is to learn from other people's experiences, as gamblers, we really don't have to wait until something happens to us before we learn, people share their experiences all the time, we can learn from those but unfortunately, there are many people who are wired in a way they can't learn from others and sometimes, even learning from their own experiences is also a thug of war.

[Findingnemo]

Learning the lesson in the hard possible way will give us the real wisdom, it is bitter to learn that way but it's the best thing that happen. So in gambling too the same thing applies for someone to have the self discipline over their bankroll management, no matter what they win they might stay high for a while but with few loss they will be back to their normal which can help us to avoid a lot of bad financial decisions in my opinion.

[HONDACD125]

Let’s be honest, most gamblers don’t really care about limits when they are still winning or when the losses are still small.

It’s always “I can stop anytime” or “I’ll just recover this one first.” But once the loss becomes heavy, that’s when all the lessons suddenly become clear. Bankroll management, self-control, knowing when to stop, all those things we ignored before.

Funny thing is, many of us already know the advice. We just don’t take it seriously until it hurts.

So maybe gambling discipline is not really learned from reading tips, but from getting burned once or twice.

Has that happened to you too, or were you able to control yourself before reaching that point?

To be honest, people don't learn or become disciplined after losses, they start chasing their losses because discipline or self-control can't be learned that way, it must be within your nature from the beginning. If you are naturally indisciplined or have no self-control, losses in gambling can't teach you anything. So many gamblers lose so much money, but what happens then? They lose more money because they try to recover what they have already lost. Do you think people lose millions of dollars just in one sitting? No, they lose some money initially, and then they try to recover their losses so they lose more, and then they do the same thing again and again until they finally exhaust everything they had.

Those who are disciplined, patient, and have self-control won't think that they can stop at any time, but they just stop when they know it's time for them to stop because they know it's gambling and anything is possible in it, but those who think this way are basically fooling themselves, they are making excuses with themselves so that they can continue gambling.

[coin-investor]

Funny thing is, many of us already know the advice. We just don’t take it seriously until it hurts.

So maybe gambling discipline is not really learned from reading tips, but from getting burned once or twice.

In my experience, I learned to discipline myself to cut my losses; if not, I would still be in a vicious cycle. I know all I need to cut my losses, but when you're playing, and you are already there, the knowledge flees your mind because the emotion is just too high to remember all this stuff.
Emotions in gambling are far superior to knowledge; it's when you hit the lows that you take it in your heart to do what you learned.

[Davidvictorson]

Has that happened to you too, or were you able to control yourself before reaching that point?

It is quite true that people learn most from losing than winning. It seems like the amount lost becomes the tuition paid for some disciplined and responsible gambling. However, there are players who ignores the call for disciplined and responsible gambling despite their losses and they continue to pay for it in money, relationships, career, mental health and many more. I lost once due to my own fault and it hurt me more that I never made such mistakes that could lead to that again.

[Fiatless]

What you have said here is not different from the truth. Majority of the gamblers today once had such experience including myself where you gamble and loss, you win and you keep playing to win more or to recover what you have list and you claim to be disciplined while gambling but at some point in your gambling life, you realise that all you have been doing are just a sign of one who is addicted to gambling because there is no way that you will loose games and still continue with the mindset of recovering all which is not possible but rather you keep losing the more. So in that note you will learn to discipline yourself while gambling so you don't keep losing more.

I also had to learn from an unpleasant experience. I was chasing losses and gambling with money budgeted for other purposes. I understood that an uncontrollable gambling habit could lead to debt or even health problems when I had several months of losing streaks. I was lucky that I took a break and gained control because I would have suffered serious financial problems.

[abaeze]

Let’s be honest, most gamblers don’t really care about limits when they are still winning or when the losses are still small.

It’s always “I can stop anytime” or “I’ll just recover this one first.” But once the loss becomes heavy, that’s when all the lessons suddenly become clear. Bankroll management, self-control, knowing when to stop, all those things we ignored before.

Funny thing is, many of us already know the advice. We just don’t take it seriously until it hurts.

So maybe gambling discipline is not really learned from reading tips, but from getting burned once or twice.

Has that happened to you too, or were you able to control yourself before reaching that point?

To be honest, I strongly believe that people usually learn more from experience than from advice. That is why those who have learned from their own experience often try to warn newcomers with the wisdom they have gained from their own mistakes. However, most new gamblers do not listen to or pay attention to such advice until they themselves face the consequences. For this reason, I believe that a person's mindset towards gambling usually changes when they learn from their own mistakes and experiences.