Should You Set Loss and Win Limits?

Although they acknowledge that it would require a player to be extremely disciplined, economists Douglas M. Walker, Stephen W. Litvin, Russell S. Sobel, and Rene´e A. St-Pierre suggest that in order to truly partake in responsible gambling, players should practice and casinos should suggest setting self-imposed “win limits” on individual gambling sessions. Their paper, aptly titled “Setting Win Limits: An Alternative Approach to ‘‘Responsible Gambling’’?”, explains how they tested their assertions by running slot machine simulations. The results, although limited, aren’t entirely surprising. They found that, overall, players lost less when establishing both loss and win limits.

They dutifully noted that their claims were only tested for slot machines, but could easily be adapted via table games as well. Even though table games were not scientifically simulated, it’s a logical conclusion. I’m all for responsible gambling, as I often preach it in the show. And even though I consider myself extremely disciplined when it comes to gambling, I have no idea if I can hold myself to a win limit. As I noted in episode # 2, while it means you will, on average, lose less, it also impacts your win ceiling. While I don’t expect it, it’s always fun hoping for that big, windfall win.

You can download the paper here: Setting Win Limits: An Alternative Approach to “Responsible Gambling”?