I posted this somewhere else. For those of you who have not seen it, here it is. I think this is very important.

I will work on this a little at a time.

Success in gambling depends on bet selection and money management but there is another factor that a successful gambler must be aware of to have success at the tables. This factor is the psychological aspect of the game. Throughout this post I will refer to baccarat because that is my game of choice.

First, imagine that a man named Tom is about to go into an interview for an important job. Before Tom's interview he spends days preparing himself. Tom buys nice clothing, he ensures that his image is neat, he rehearses what he is going to say, and he knows his facts. He expects the interview to work in a systematic fashion that will touch on all of his successful characteristics thus Tom will win a job. Yet, there is one problem. Tom has negative feelings about the interview, he feels like he is going to fail. Tom realizes that he is being negative but he shrugs it off because he thinks that all of the other areas that he excels in will make up for his lacking of a positive attitude. As Tom waits to begin the interview he has many bad feelings about the outcome of the interview, he knows that he is prepared but he still feels like something is going to go wrong and he is going to fail. With each bad thought Tom gets more nervous. He soon becomes so nervous that he is almost convinced that he is wasting his time. The interview ends up being a failure and Tom does not achieve the job that he worked so hard to obtain. Tom was extremely upset about the poor interview. He didn't understand what went wrong. He prepared himself for weeks in advance and he knew his facts, but things did not go smooth during the interview process. This happened because Tom's negative attitude and his negative thoughts manifested themselves into a reality. While Tom worked so hard to prepare, he forgot one of the most important aspects of his preparation, which is developing and maintaining a positive attitude.

The same goes for sports, A hockey team or a soccer team that is not mentally prepared for a game can easily lose to a lower placed team.


A positive mental attitude is obviously important for anything in life. The example of Tom is symbolic of all things that we wish to achieve, therefore it is important to include gambling in this category.


Why a positive mental attitude is important for gambling:

Every negative thought that you have will manifest itself in your reality. When I think negative I notice that I seem to lose more. I begin to think bad things and more and more bad things begin to happen. Negative thinking starts a downward spiral that no gambler wants to descend upon.

What negative thinking does to your game;

Negative thinking will kill your game. You will begin to lose all confidence in yourself and you capability to make valid decisions. It will effect you on a sub conscious level even if you area not aware of it. You may begin to bet crazy. You will lose all regard for proper bankroll management. The next thing you know you are broke and more negative then ever. This will not only have a bad effect on your play but it will also begin to show in your personal life.
You must control your mentality so that you will not lose control of your gambling and your personal life.

I have seen relationships end at the casino. I have seen someone lose $10,000 because he could not stop betting. I have seen a person bet $2000 to win only $10 back. The casino thrives on negative energy.


Casinos Thrive on negative energy

Each time you lose the casino wins. If you are a negative person then you will get more negative each time you lose. If you cannot control your mental attitude then you will become more negative with each loss. This is when the casino will begin to take full control of you. Like a virus it will enter your body as negative energy and cause you to do things that a logical thinking person would not to do. You may begin to play based on wishful thinking as you hope to make back some of the money that you made.

Do not let wishful thinking full you into thinking that you are being positive. Wishful thinking in a casino is an illusion. This is the bate of the casino and so many people take the bate. If you ever find yourself in the position of thinking that you will up your bet to try to make some money back or employ some crazy progression then stop playing. If you begin to think that you will just go over to another game and hope to get lucky to make some money back, then stop playing. This has happened to me before.


How to Stay positive in a negative atmosphere;

Now I will lay out a foundation for a more positive mentality for you to add to your arsenal.

There are 2 levels.

Level 1:

1) Proper Moneyl management: You must have proper money management at all times. This is key to any system. Even a system with a great bet selection needs a money management plan. Never purchase a system that mentions nothing about money management. Money management is so important because if used correctly it will act as an antidote to the negative energy that begins to move into your mind when things begin to go bad. Money management should give you the discipline to get up and walk away when you have lost too much, when you have won, and it should give you the discipline to avoid the bate of wishful thinking.

2) Avoid substances that will alter your state of mind: If you are going to gamble to make money then you better not be drinking anything that will alter your state of mind. I do not even see why I would need to explain why this is bad.

3) Do not gamble for long periods of time: This is where the casinos really get you and this is how you weaken the immune system of your mind to allow the negative energy in. The longer you gamble, the more likely it is that you are going to lose because the odds are in the casino's favor. Gambling for too long will make you tired, you may get hungry, and your stress levels will increase. The noises at the casinos will begin to get on your nerves, the people will be annoying, and you will see people losing which will have an effect on your sub conscious. This is when your mind becomes ripe for the negative energy to move in.
So do not gamble for too long. Get in and get out. and if you lose, get out faster because that is when that illusion of wishful thinking multiplies the rate at which you become a negative gambler.

*Think about this:

The casino is filled with people who are losing constantly. Look around the casino. You see people playing the slot machines and losing. You see people playing table games and losing. You see people getting desperate and going to the cash advance windows!!! You see people mumbling and cursing under their breath. People employ the wishful thinking to get back to even or a little ahead. Even small gestures such as a person shaking his or her head in disgust will effect your sub conscious in a negative way. Now do you get why I say that the casino is filled with negative energy? If you subject your mind to this for too long then you are in for a rough time. Make your time at the casinos more enjoyable by staying for limited periods.


Level 2:

We are not at level 2. This level deals with visualization and mental preparation. Level 2 is very important to placing you in the right state of mind before you gamble and keeping you in that state of mind while you gamble.

Before I begin, it is important for me to say this again: Your thoughts will manifest themselves in your reality in some way. this is why it is so important to stay positive. If you are negative and you have negative thoughts then you are probably going to lose and make a lot of bad choices.

1) Energy: This is a technique that I use for everything in life and I have found it useful for gambling. Everything in life is energy. We are energy, the plants are energy, our food and water is energy, the sun is energy. Before you gamble talk a walk outside. Look at the trees, look at the grass, feel the rays of the sun hit your body and at that moment realize that it is all energy just as you are energy. You and everything around you is all the same. You will begin to feel a connection with the universe that will amp up your body and have you ready to plunge into any difficult task that you encounter. and as you work through your day you must constantly remind yourself that everything around you is energy. You must feed off of this energy. It will make your body stronger and it will make your mind stronger. A strong mind and body is key to gambling.

2) Momentum: When you get a win begin to build momentum with that win. You can do this one of 2 ways. You can either cheer openly or you can do it all inside your head. I prefer to do it inside my head because I feel it just as much. When you get a win you have to tell yourself that you are going to win. You have to be shouting in your head for the outcome that you want to see to show up. You want the insides of your body to be practically exploding from your body even as you look calm. Momentum will carry you a long way but remember it will not last forever so keep your casino time short. Momentum will often shift between you and the casino. When that shift occurs fight to get it back rather then thinking negative.

3) Create an invisible shield: This is one of my favorite things to do. Start by thinking that you have a wall around you. It is a wall that nobody can see. This wall protects you from all that is bad. Only the positive is allowed through the wall. Pretend that all bad things are bouncing off this wall and flying millions of miles away. As you sit there and play pretend that this wall is around you. And if something passes through understand that you are not hurt and that your wall is not broken, the wall just needs more fuel to stay strong. The fuel to this wall is your positive thinking.

4) Smile: When you win smile, when you lose smile, actually smile all of the time. One reason why you should do this is because I am tired of gambling with grumpy people. One angry person at a table will effect the entire mentality of the table. If you keep a smile on your face then you are tricking your mind into thinking that you are happy.

5) Visualize: Visualization is key to everything. You must see yourself winning your bets. More importantly you must see yourself staying positive and clam even if things go wrong. Remember that your negative thoughts will manifest themselves into reality so only visualize the positive.

6) Focus: You need to stay focused at all time. I'm not talking about focus on the system that your are playing, I am talking about focusing your thoughts, your actions, and your feelings throughout the entire time you gamble, before you gamble, and after you gamble.

7) After you gamble: Leave all of the negative events at the casino. Some bad things may have happened during your session but there is no way for you to go back and change it. Do not dwell on the bad that has happened in the past or the past will show itself yet again. If you made mistakes then learn from them. Think about how great that mistake was because it gives you insight into what you need to do to be better. Take all of the good that happened and store it in your mind because it will be important to carry that positive momentum into your next session.

If you think that nothing good happened in your session then think again. Every bad thing has its purpose. Realize what that purpose is and think about how great it is that you know what not to do or what to do better. Build momentum off the bad sessions so you can go into your next session thinking positive.

Avoid any media with negative content before a session: Before you play it is probably a good idea to not turn on the tv, to not read the newspapers, and to not open a magazine. The media is filled with so much negativity. We constantly hear about wars, death, divorce, disasters, the end of the world, and many other negative things in this world. All of this negative media is channeling your mind into a negative station.

Channel Your Mind: Pretend that your mind is like a radio and that you can channel it into any station that you want. Channel it into the station of positive thinking. If it beings to change to the station of negative thinking then change it back. You are in full control.

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If you want to have success then you must not forgot to prepare your mind. Your mind is tool just as your bet selection and money management is. If this tool is not sharp then it will not work. This is why it is important to always think positive even when something may not be going your way. If you begin to let the negative into your mind then the casino will eat you alive.

Every time you sit down at the tables take a minutes to focus. Build that invisible shield around you, district yourself from all of the negative energy in the casino, feed on all of the life energy that surrands you, smile and begin playing with a positive outlook on the game.

Excellent well written post. Useful information for anyone who is serious about gambling. keep up the good work.

Thank you very much. I think that positive thinking is very important for baccarat. Discipline is also key. I do not play unless I am in the right mentality. This goes for all of life as well.

Yes good post...Decipline or control yourself is porobably the most difficult thing to do in casino....

And even you have rock solid decipline and self control there isn't 100% gurantee that you can win... well, sorry I do not want to be negative but this is how I feel...

Yes I believe you can win... but if you want to win consistently you have to put huge amount of work.. i mean more than just fun... You stay there for long time and find the right time to bet... the only time in my baccarat career that I came ahead after perticular month was when I played very patiently... But even that I came ahead like $500.. I mean I worked hard... I was there pretty much everyday and stayed at casino for few hours to wait right moment... So considering that it isn't worth my time to do that especially I have job pays 100% if I work... .I used $25, $50, $100, $200. 4 progressive betting.. and did well.. i won 50 hands straight.. it gets scarier though... it is $375 invest so it is not so bad... but just feel strange to be at casino for many hours and not doing anything felt so strange... but this is the only way I came on top after a month... any system I tried I lost right away... i guess i am very uncky guy....

My system was like wait till 12 bank straight and start bet on player... not exactly but concept was like this.... so a lot of time after few hours i went home after even didn't bet once... anyhow.. I might play this again when I am retired lol....

John good post ... let me know if you have any system bring us money

thanks

my problem is that I have no self-discipline...

Thats the way uhh uhh I like it Uhh Uhh Uhh Uhh. THINK POSSITIVE

Discipline,that is the main factor to play.
That is the hardest thing to implement.What shall we do to be discipline in casino ,online or B&M.Any body has a specific way to be discipline during the lost session?
Joker,I think you are discipline,can watch the game without staking for such a long time,and leave the casino.Great discipline

Discipline goes W/O saying. But it isn't everything. As you say, well disciplined players lose too - just not as much.

Just as important as discipline is you MUST have an edge. You are playing with no edge at all - Thats gambling. You are betting a 4 bet prog on opposites after so many repeats. The fact that you are waiting for a set number of repeats first does NOT give you an edge. The only good it does is make you lose slower, just as, I'm sure, you've already found. You are still going to win the choppy shoes and lose the streaky shoes. And your 4 bet prog is going to cause you to lose more when you lose than you win when you win.

To get the most rudimentary edge going for you FIRST look for the chopiest or the streakiest table you can find in the whole casino. Then bet opposites or bet repeats accordingly.

Next, cut your prog down to only 2 or 3 bets. Start with 2 and decide on 3 by if you usually would have won that third bet or not. Most all streaky shoes have some chop in them and vice versa. You NEVER want to be found betting a 4 bet prog againt a run whether it be Straight or ZZ.

At least this way you'll have some edge going for you, however slim. It's far better than no edge at all. If it turns out you guessed wrong you can always switch or change tables.

Not sure? Fine, keep a rudimentary running count. Count +1 for every opposite and -1 for every repeat. If your count is + or mostly + you should be betting opposites. - you should be betting repeats.

Either way you should be usually winning your fist bet if you are playing the right way. If you have a high hit rate on your first bet, good, change your prog to 234 to take advantage of that fact.

In other words take some of the gamble out of gambling. Now the whole thing becomes finding the right table. Get it?

Yeah, yeah, there are some here that will try to tell you there is no such thing as a choppy or streaky table. Bull, they just haven't been doing this as long as I have. Try it and you will soon see for yourself.

Now, you find a day when its NOT working. Fine. That's where dicipline comes in. Go home!

Good post Ellis. Your comments are highly excepted by me. Your a very intelegnt individule. I respect you highly for your inputs. This forum needs more people like you. Thank you again

Ha, "accepted" Graylove! Thanks!

Possitve is taking the negatve off. Very simple auto mechanics

discipline is the key factor whereby 9 out of 10 gamblers can't fulfill.
when the day is bad, gamblers tend to have the mentality to fight back.
I ever won 2.5k(Sing dol) in 4 hrs, but due to greed, I stay in the casino for 36 hrs...wats the outcome...I lost back my profit & had my record lost for the mth of $4k (Sing dol). reason being very simple, I didnt want to go home & keep having this mentality to fight back...I was extremely tired due to fatigue....wats the morale of this experience????"Go home when the day is bad, the casino will still be open for you?"
I interviewed a punter who earn his living playing baccarat for 3 years....his capital is 3k....when he lost he will only allow 3k....but if his form arises...he will hit keep hitting the winning session until he had 3 losses in the row...
If everyone can budget their losses lower than their profits...many casinos will close down....But how many punters can do it in the whole wide world????

I couldnt agree more chinessechese. Disapline is the way to win. Something I still have not managed well. Its amazing how well I do at the tables and stupidity takes over instead of disapline. I will get there my freind. I WILL beat these multibillion casinos. Seek and you shall find.

Gambling has little to do with your attitude. Next hand is Player or Banker is not determined by your idea or your thought. Gambling is all about probability. Don't mix it with those high probability event with good attitude.

Yes, what you've said is true. However, maintaining a positive attitude, especially when going through a terrible losing streak, can make all the difference between continuing to play "solid" cards and completely going on tilt.

The cards have nothing to do with attitude but what what happens if someone who has a bad attitude gets on a losing streak? I would think that this person would be more likely to throw away more money. Attitude is important because it can help you walk away when things get bad. have you have had a day when things just seem to get worse and worse as your attitude gets worse? Your thoughts, whether bad or good begin to manifest themsevles into your reality. So attitude does play a role in gambling.

I agree with you. Dicipline is key to gambling just as it is important to anything in life.

Yeah, I've spent an incredible amount of time in casinos. But I noticed this loser attitude type very early on. It was like they were always under a black cloud. Blank faces. Like they were out to prove they couldn't win no matter what. All their comments were always completely negative. Then they would sit down and prove they couldn't win. Right, your attitude does not control the cards. But it controls YOU.

Exactly. And that description reminds me of nearly everyone in AC who I see playing baccarat

good and well written..

Now this is what a thread should look like. Someone makes a valid point from hard experience. Others contribute to that point. Others politely disagree and polite adult discussion ensues. That is how players learn.

But nearly every thread on this forum eventually degenerates to childish, unnecessary name calling by individuals lacking experience, maturity, and upbringing who simply can't get into the conversation legitimately any other mature way and have no valid points to offer.

That will surely happen to this thread. Then we have chaos and oblivion when we could have been learning something. Such is the free internet.

Well, Mr Ellis. With the kind of post above, you have to be responsible as well for all the criticism and negative vibes that go around here. Don't you think?

Lol. Leave it to old sillE to write another (thinly-veiled) incendiary reply like that! And in one of the few uninterrupted/old threads left on this board.

Must be getting pretty-lonely for him over at BTC, or John1234's site... . All that "positive thinking" must be like "living on love".

What's wrong now Ellis, you write all sorts of crazy stuff about me over there after banning me three or four times... and still accuse me of "starting it"? (How, when i'm neither allowed to post nor reply anything there, as if i care anymore now that you can't keep your mouth shut here. Come to think of it, i guess that's really the ONLY way the head clown over there could win anything. Lol.)

Second verse... the same as the first!

Keep trying Ellis, maybe someday you'll really fool someone other than yourself.

I agree we need to have a positive mental attitude while playing. recently i was reading a book and I think what it explains is very relevant to the topic:

"our thoughts lead to feelings and feelings lead to behaviors. thoughts are esentialy the dialogue going on in our head. This conversation in our head is going on all the time. our emotions, moods and attitudes Do Not simply happen to us, most of the time we cause them. the trouble is We Rarely THINK ABOUT WHAT WE THINK ABOUT! now think about that!"

hence the importance of keeping a positive attitude, I think if you are feeling that everything is going bad, it is better to stay away from the tables.

only my 2cents!

This is a good thread, and an important topic.
Let me add some ideas about maintaining discipline.

I am in the casino almost every week, and play baccarat professionaly.
I never play on line for a lot of reasons, but one reason is relevant to this post.

L know myself. I am not a machine, although I play like one.
I also have my demons. Sometimes if I hit a really bad streak or shoe,
I can feel myself going on "tilt" the poker expression for becoming emotionally off balance and making bad playing decisions.
I get up and walk out of the casino. I then sit down carefully and go over what just happened. Usually I take a walk and decide if I am going back in to play again. That assumes that I have not reached a daily loss limit. If the limit is reached, I am out of there..
I fear that playing on line would be too easy to keep betting and
chasing a loss, which is the last thing I want to do.
I also don't want to bring this into my home.

Second idea: develope a second game. Baccarat is not fun to me.
It is work. I never play when on vacation. Pick a game to play for fun,
and a low budget. This is if you gamble for fun. I have started low stakes limit poker as a way to relax from baccarat. $100 can last several hours,
and the money is for keeping score. If I play well, that is what counts.
If I win some money, drinks are on me. Having some low risk fun
helps lighten the mood and keeps me upbeat.

That is some great insight. I like what you said about the second game. I don't play baccarat for a living and I don't intend to. But even when I play for fun it can sometimes not be fun, probably because it is often a boring game to play. I don't usually find playing in a casino too bad, it is playing online that turns it into a grind and boring. Plus you can't touch the chips. I like being able to hold my money and shuffle it around while I wait for my next hand. Have you ever played a squeez game? They are a lot of fun but take forever.
I agree with you about poker. It is a great game to play for fun. You can make money fast with it too. My very first live cash game I won $500 in my first hand, mainly due to a few stupid people who were chasing the bad beat jackpot. And if you hit that jackpot, you will make a lot of money. That same day the table next to me won a huge bad beat pot.

You greatly overrate yourself Garnabby. Actually nobody ever mentions you on my site. Why in God's name would they? You are a nobody.

Right! I know it sounds weird but I often use my emotions as a barometer of the quality of the table. I've played an incredible amount of Baccarat. I'm guessing hundreds of thousands of shoes over 30 years. I think my emotions pick up bad vibs that my conscious brain hasn't identified yet. I've gotten to where I trust my emotions. When they say get out, for no obvious reason, I get out anyway and I seem to always be glad I did. It's sort of like a 6th sense.

I also get out on certain identifiable situations. Like if I hit my highest score for the third time in a shoe, I quit right there. It's as if the shoe is trying to tell you something and its almost always right.

It's like if you drive a lot. Sometimes your instincts save your ass long before your brain got the chance. I know it sounds absurd coming from a Math guy but I believe there is something beyond Math. And I believe it pays to listen. Have fun with that one guys.

Interesting that Ellis will use his "emotional read", my words, in choosing a table. If you find this subject interesting, go to the library and look up the book titled "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. It is in the sociology section.
Malcom studied exceptionally successful people in their chosen field.
He discovered that they all had a highly developed as Ellis calls it
"sixth sense" that allowed them to identify something before their obvious
logical thought process kicked in.

Believe it or not, his original work involved gamblers. Successful players
had a very strong instinct or intuition that could guide them .

We don't all have this. If it can help you, use it.
Personally, I am very math oriented when I play baccarat.
As I am discovering, poker is more subjective, a good player "reads" his opponents. For me , that is where these concepts are better applied.

In baccarat, if you are using a pattern recognition system, you are probably using your instincts .

very good input .. I will keep this post and study .. this post is the key to seccuess thank you very much .. for this write , I love it ...