How to Control Your Spending when Gambling Online

Online gambling is a multi-billion dollar industry. While there are gray areas about legalities of online gambling for U.S. residents, the fact remains that most of wagering online is done by folks living in North America. So if you are going to gamble online, I'd like to offer you some serious money advice - track your spending. Because no cash actually passes through your hands, it is easy to get caught up in making large deposits (or a large number of small deposits), which can add up to some serious financial trouble. To safeguard your online spending, there are three ways to limit your gambling deposits.

Set daily limits with the online casinos. All online casinos promote responsible gambling (and if you are gambling at a casino that doesn't even mention this aspect, just uninstall the application and go elsewhere because you are likely getting scammed). Each casino software has a banking page. On this page, you can set your daily, weekly and monthly deposit limits. Set deposit limits before you even begin gambling. It is important to limit how much you are willing to lose.

Do not use your credit card. Use one of the e-wallets available for online wagering or a pre-paid debit card. Most e-wallets have automatically pre-set daily spending limits of several hundred dollars (if this amount seems severe, I am here to tell you that people easily develop compulsive gambling habits and have spent in access of several thousand dollars weekly). This will help you in controlling your spending. It is also important that if you use such sources as Solid Debit Card to fund your online gambling activity, you link these accounts to a checking account rather than a credit card. You will be less likely to overspend - think of this as playing within your means.

Have someone you are close to monitor your spending. Don't panic at this idea. You may argue that having someone else monitor your financial activity violates your sense of privacy. But I tell you this for your own good - you need someone you trust to know that you are gambling so that if your spending gets drastic they can take preventative measures. Again, it is so easy to spend money you don't have gambling online. It helps having someone who can "cut you off" if necessary.

Not buying into my advice? The following resources can help you control your online gambling activities:

- Responsible Gambling - www.responsiblegambling.org
- National Council on Problem Gambling: 1-800-522-4700 or www.ncpgambling.org
- Gamblers Anonymous: www.gamblersanonymous.org

My thought process is, if you are going to play, play smart. Good luck!