Like I mentioned in one of my first articles, slots are actually one of the best investments you can make if you’re playing on a small budget. It may sound like a very counter-intuitive advice, because aren’t slots extremely random? When you’re playing blackjack, the probability to win is higher than if you play slots, so why not just play that? Well, that’s because they’re two entirely different systems when you’re playing on a budget. Let’s imagine, for the sake of argument, that you’ve got a budget of £20 that you need to use to maximize your gambling enjoyment. With blackjack, you’re going in a high-risk, high reward play where if you win, it’ll definitely help you out a ton, but if you lose, it’ll cripple your budget significantly. People with far bigger budgets don’t care about that, but 2-3 losses in a row can really knock you out of the running when it comes to blackjack, even if a few wins will put you ahead. Slots, however, have far lower limits, and while their odds are lower, you can usually beat them simply through perseverance. But that doesn’t mean every slot is eligible for that treatment.

1. Pick Slots With High RTP and Low Limits

Remember – not all slots are created equal! Some give you a higher chance to win, other – a lower one, and the trick to maximizing your winnings is to, naturally, look for the slots with the highest possible RTPs. Now, keep in mind that most online casinos don’t really show off that information readily, but if you just use Google to look up the name of the slot and add “RTP” to it, you’re going to receive that information pretty easily thanks to review sites that look it up. You should always be aiming for slots with an RTP of 96% or higher, and if you have a choice between two slots which both look good, but one of them has a slightly higher RTP, you should pick that one. With that said, that’s not the only criteria you should be judging slots on…

2. Look For Bonus Games

Free spins, bonus rounds, gamble features, you name it – they’re all extremely helpful to gambling on a budget. Why? Well, because it’s essentially free money! Most of these bonuses activate randomly and don’t depend on the size of your bet or how long you’ve been playing (and in case they do, you should pick a different game where they don’t), so you can earn a whole ton by betting very little, provided you get lucky. I’ve seen instances of people earning over £100 on a bet of under £1 simply by getting lucky on a particularly good bonus game. While my opinion is purely subjective, I’d have to say that the best game you can play for bonus games is “Spider-Man: Attack of the Green Goblin”, and I’m not just saying that because I just watched the best Spider-Man movie ever. “Attack of the Green Goblin” has TONS of bonus games that activate left and right, and some of them allow you to play practically indefinitely as long as you’re lucky!

3. Jackpots Are Your Friend

Now, let me make one thing perfectly clear – you are not going to win the big, multimillion jackpot. Let me say that again. You are NOT going to win the big, multimillion jackpot. Out of hundreds of thousands of people who have tried the slot, those that have won can be counted on one hand, and it’s absolutely and utterly ridiculous to think that you’re going to be one of them. But then again, even if there’s a 0.00000001% chance of you winning, that’s 0.00000001% more than you would’ve had if you played a slot that doesn’t have a jackpot, right? And most jackpots, such as the Marvel Jackpot or the one found in “Mega Moolah”, can be triggered no matter how big your bet is. That’s something worth considering, isn’t it? So if you had a choice between a slot without a jackpot and one with, maybe lean towards the jackpot, especially if it also follows the first two steps. Follow my advice, and you’ll be winning money from slots while playing on a tight budget in no time!

The Poor Man is all about playing casino games on a very tight budget (and I do mean “on a budget”, not “without money” – if you don’t have the money to be gambling, you shouldn’t be gambling, plain and simple). With that said, a surprisingly small number of articles on here have actually been about playing casino games on a budget! I mean, we’ve had, like, one? Maybe? At some point in time, perhaps? Whatever, my point is that we should really, seriously, totally, absolutely look into doing another one of these, and boy do I have a topic for you this time! In my previous article, I recommended that you guys play slots or roulette, since those are games pretty much designed to be played with low stakes. But what about blackjack? Blackjack can, technically, be played with low stakes, but it’s definitely a “high risk, high reward” type of experience. So, with that said, if you want to feel like the main character of “Bringing Down the House”, but be even cooler because you’re on a budget, this is what you gotta do:

1. Learn All There Is To Know About Blackjack

As I said, blackjack is a “high risk, high reward’ type of game, so the more you minimize the risk, the better off you’ll be in the long run. Take the time to absolutely learn the ins and outs of the game, and I’m not really talking about card counting (more on that later). I’m talking stuff like when to bet, when to hold, when to split, odds, probabilities, that sort of thing. At its core, blackjack is a game about math, NOT about chance. Chance plays a big part of it, sure, but odds play an even bigger one. If you know exactly how to play, your wins will increase dramatically. When put that simply, even a child could tell it to you, but it bears saying out loud. Ordinarily, I’d advise you to read books, but since we’re on a budget, there’s PLENTY of YouTube videos that you can learn from for the low, low price of absolutely nothing.

2. Play Online

When playing on a budget, online casino tends to be better than physical casino for several reasons. First and foremost, there are bigger social pressures to spend and bet more at a physical location than there are online. “Oh, sir, you seem like you’re on a streak! One more game, perhaps?” The dealers will ask you, casually trying to make you lose the cash you just earned because if you win too much at his table he might get in trouble. Online, however, there are no distractions of this sort. You can play with real money as much as you want, stop whenever you want and pick up whenever you want. You allocate your own budget without social pressures, and can play without really needing any excuse to do so. Though when it comes to online casino, there’s one thing I need to tell you…

3. Live Casino Is a Double-Edged Sword

On one hand, live casino’s pretty great – it gives you that extra bit of real life interaction, both with a dealer and with fellow players, without really all of them pesky social pressures (live casino dealers don’t really care all that much whether you win or you lose), and they’re available 24/7 from the comfort of your own home, too! It sounds like a great proposition, and it usually is, but keep in mind that limits for live casino are typically higher than limits for standard blackjack, so if you’re playing on a budget live casino may not be the best idea for you in particular. Take your time, discover the limits (especially the lower ones) of all blackjack games and tables, maybe make an OpenOffice table (because we’re too poor to afford Excel) with all of them, and then play on the cheapest one. Remember – you want the most bang for your buck, so the lower the limit, the better!

Okay, okay, I know that I typically only write about slots, but come on – I know for a fact that there’s plenty of people who read my site and play games other than slots, such as bingo. As a matter of fact, I’ve received several requests (the way that you can also send me messages and requests, by clicking the big, bright “contact” button at the top of the page) by readers to write an article about playing bingo on a budget. Now, it’s important to keep in mind that I don’t really play bingo. Hell, I don’t even know the rules to bingo! But apparently people are passionate about it, so who am I to deny a request? I thought pretty hard about what topic I could select that could appeal to both bingo-lovers and general gamblers who are trying to save a penny, and I think I came up with a nice solution!

We all know PayPal, right? I mean, at the very least you must have heard the name! For the five of you that don’t know, it’s basically an e-wallet service which is supposed to hold your money for you and/or help you manage your credit cards. Let’s say that you don’t want to enter your credit card information every time – you just input it once, store it within PayPal’s safe and encrypted servers, and then all you have to do from that point on is to click a single button whenever you want to buy something from an online retailer (provided that they work with PayPal, but most do). On top of that, you also get purchase protection in case something goes wrong and a nice receipt in the e-mail.

Or, alternatively, if you don’t want to have your credit card information on the Internet at all, you can just input it once, deposit a certain amount of money directly into your PayPal account and then remove all traces of your information. That particular trick of PayPal is precisely why I wanted to talk to you about it – because it makes it SO much easier to manage budgets! Let’s say you have a £20 budget for online bingo for the month, which you want to spread among your favourite bingo sites. What do you do? Well, a very easy way to manage everything is to simply deposit £20 into your PayPal account and then remove your card information. That way you’ll then be able to choose where you want to deposit them without being tempted to deposit more. It’s a great system for those of us that lack self-control!

There’s plenty of bingo sites that accept PayPal, as you can see in this list here, so really, you should have no problem using it instead of your card to make deposits! And the best part? Often you can also withdraw wins directly into your PayPal account as well! That way you eliminate the necessity to give the bingo site any of your bank details (which remain secure with PayPal), and thus keep yourself even safer while gambling. What more could you possibly want?

Now first, let’s make something clear. There is a massive difference between problematic gambling and gambling for fun. Just like with alcohol, cigarettes or sex for example (or in fact – most things that we, adults, find pleasurable in life, hey!), some people can enjoy those responsibly without it having anything but positive effects on their life (alright, alright I can’t really claim cigarettes have a positive effect…maybe in shamanism…But you get the point) and the one of their loved ones. Others however, seem to not know when to stop and often what started as fun and games ends up ruining lives. So it is very important for oneself to be able to make the difference. It is a popular belief as well that there are people who simply have an addictive personality. Those categories should avoid gambling altogether. But it is not always so easy to spot the problem. So let’s quickly look at how can we diagnose compulsive gambling.

Even though it is not clear on what leads people into it, it is pretty evident the following signs should be flashing red lights. If you can recognise yourself or someone you know displaying those, you need to be asking for some professional help asap.

• Trying to hide when gambling/betting/playing
• Gambling getting in the way of family/work relationships
• Increase of spending/Money struggles
• Stealing, asking for loans
• Detached relationships with loved ones

Once that has been determined, the next step is to seek assistance. If it is yourself we are talking about, be sure that it is ok to ask for help. There are a number of organisations in the UK that are well established and professional, with everything in place to handle any situation that’s spun out of control. Know that however bad it all seems now, this is your first step to improving and resolving it and soon in time you will be looking back and feeling proud for overcoming that issue. It is also worth reminding yourself that you are by far not the only one – in the UK alone there are nearly 600,000 problem gamblers. The NHS has a good resource with options and institutions you can turn to for help.

If it is not yourself but someone you know – a member of your family, friend or colleague, the best thing to do is voice your concern. If you want someone to be honest with you, be honest with them. Don’t be afraid to point to facts, share your views, your own experience and that of other people around. It is often the case that people with addictions lie not just to others but to themselves as well (if not first), so pointing to the issue might be the first step for them to admit there is one. And that is a good start. Don’t blame yourself and don’t overdo it with responsibilities – unless you are a professional in the field, you cannot solve the problem. You can only support whoever is going through it, whilst they fight the addiction.

As a conclusion – if you have spotted an issue or have any doubts – for yourself or others – don’t delay action. Often catching a problem at the outset is all that matters to a positive outcome. There are hundreds of ways to get help, especially now with online communication – you can do so without even leaving your house or/and having to disclose your identity. Use them wisely.

Let’s face it – we can’t all be rich. That’s how capitalism works, after all – some of us have billions, others have millions, and others still have hundreds of thousands. And me… Well, I’ve got two dollars and eighty-five cents American money! Okay, that was actually just a Twilight Zone reference, I may be the Poor Man, but I’m not that poor, nor am I American (so I actually don’t have any American money… I guess in that way I’m pretty poor, yeah). Still, it’s a fact of life that I adore gambling with all my heart, and yet can’t always afford to part take in it. I mean, sure, there’s always gambling videogames and practice modes where you don’t really play for real money, but it’s not the same, is it? No, to truly gamble you need to have money on the line! So, in a blog post that’s waaaaay overdue, we’re going to be examining some tips and tricks for gambling on a very tight budget!

1. Low-Limit Tables Are Your Friends!

Whenever you try to play a game online, you’ll often be able to choose the table where you want to “sit”, especially when playing live casino. Be sure to always pick the low limit tables! And when I say low-limit tables I mean the ones where the minimum bet is 1p. Where the tables are located, or even if they’re there at all, depends on the casino in question. Try finding an online casino which is friendly to poor people like us. I can’t really give you any concrete suggestions, but honestly, it’s not that hard to find, especially since you can view many of the limits without even registering by going into practice play. Keep in mind that live casinos generally keep their limits a bit higher.

2. Take Advantage of the Bonuses!

Casino bonuses are really going to be your best friends here, trust me! For those of you who don’t know, sometimes when you make a deposit into an online casino (especially your first deposit) you get some extra spending cash for your commitment. Now, obviously there’s some strings on that money, because otherwise people would just deposit, get the bonus and then withdraw their cash, doubling their investment for free. But hey, since we’re poor, we have no right to complain about that. You can view the various deposit bonuses offered online on sites such as realmoneyonlinecasino.co.uk, so at least you don’t have to go and check them one by one.

3. Focus On Slots!

Now, this tip may not be for everyone, but slots (generally) have one of the lowest entry prices in all of gambling. You can absolutely play a whole ton of slots for 1p, where it might be harder to play games like blackjack with that amount of cash. Coincidentally, many slots also offer jackpots to players regardless of how much they bet – I even spotted a couple of news stories about people winning thousands on a 1p bet, so you never know!

With the tragic death of an English young man at the beginning of this year, over a loss on a gambling machine, the focus has been raised on responsible gambling all across Britain. The guy committed suicide over what would seem a silly loss of around GBP 500. For anyone who has had a closer experience with the issue though, it is clear that this, same as any other addiction, is a very serious issue not to be overlooked by both – bookmakers and players alike.

Just a week ago, one of the giants of the industry – Paddy Power – was held responsible for a problem gambler as it was accused for encouraging the man as he lost five jobs, his home and access to his children. The information became publically available after a report by the Gambling Commission, stating the company has failed in providing their customers with sufficient methods to fight addictions and has also not been clear on ensuring the machines have not been used to launder money and in other criminal activities. Paddy Power responded with donating £280,000 to a socially responsible cause. This didn’t seem enough though, with anti-gambling campaigners pointing to the fact that it would’ve taken the operator less than three hours to generate those funds, according to their recently published financial results. Based on the numbers submitted the firm is cashing in an average of £97,000 every hour.

The issue is rather serious and worth taking a closer look at. And not just at one side of the coin. After the tragic incident and the subsequent few scandals with gambling operators, the tabloids went crazy, practically staring a war on the betting industry altogether.

The Senet Group (the betting industry self-appointed governor, with members including Coral, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and William Hill and Scotbet) was joined last week by Sky Betting. Sky is the only one of all members who conduct their business solely online and so is best placed to help the rest to take things positively forward.

The group of operators launched a response to the relentless campaign, targeted particularly at the Daily Mail, Times and the Mirror. As an example, the Times claimed the recently launched by the government campaign to fund medications for trouble gamblers is costing over £10k per patient to the National Health Service, making the average brit furious of course – is that why we are paying taxes? To fund gamblers? However, it appears that the medicines cost only £68 per patient over a 3-month course. The number of cases that were documented in the UK over the past year is only 5, meaning the budget spent on all barely went over £1000. A massive difference when you are trying to scare off the average tax payer that their money is being wasted by certain industry’s fault. The newspaper did eventually have to admit the facts but that of course wasn’t done on the front page (it went to p.28 to be exact).

The Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) also stood up for its members, writing that the tabloids have launched “little more than a litany of non-evidenced campaign assertions that lacked any proportionality or reference to evidential sources such as gambling prevalence and health surveys”. They mentioned official UK gambling studies, showing problem gambling levels remained below 1% (and in fact much to everyone’s surprise dropped!) from 0.6% to 0.5% in the period between 1999 and 2012. The number of betting shops has also drastically decreased by over 300 in the past 3 years. The ABB nicely wrapped it up with “don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.” Of course, both the Senet Group and the ABB are by far biased. Still, I would advise you, as with anything else, to keep your eyes open and stick to facts.

The controversy of the poor man gambling is that he will gamble the little that he owns, or even what he doesn’t own, in the hopes of getting rich. One would think that poor people do not have the necessary funds to gamble and they would be right. However, in many cases, poor people see no other way of getting their hands on that big win that will make them rich. I am here to show you how to play casino games without having to risk what you cannot afford to.

The first thing you need to understand is that there are games that have a higher house edge, which means that the chances of you winning are a lot smaller than by playing other games, so a good idea would be to avoid them. Otherwise put, the RTP (return to player) percentage is a lot smaller, making them a bad choice, especially when you are on a tight budget. There are certain roulette, poker and blackjack games that have a 90% or lower RTP, which means that for every £100 that you put in, you expect to get back only around £90. Not a good deal, right?

Slots, on the other hand, are always a better choice and not only because they feature huge jackpots. Ok, that too, but the chances of winning are also higher and the stakes are a lot lower than when playing table games. Take for example The Incredible Hulk slot, where you can wager as little as 50p, but you play for 4 progressive jackpots that are tied to all Marvel games. And let me tell you right off the bat that the biggest one reaches millions of pounds every time someone hits it and this happens once every couple of months. This means that even if you have a rather small initial capital, you can still afford to play and hope to win big.

This is why I am such a huge fan of slots, because aside from them being action-packed, with amazing graphics, you can play for life-changing jackpots with very small wagers. And let’s not forget that most of the popular slots offer fun and engaging bonus rounds, which also hide some pretty profitable surprises and will definitely help you take your mind off other things and worries. So, my friends, there are ways of gambling without having to risk money that you can’t afford to lose and that the best way to go about it.

What’s this? You want to play slots, roulette, blackjack, bingo and more, but you’re on a budget? Your disposable income is too small for you to afford a trip to the casino with your friend? You feel left out and unappreciated? Your significant other is cheating on you because you’re dull and boring and didn’t get your promotion? I thought so! But fear not, citizen! Poor Man is here to save the day! Poor Man is the superhero that many need, but few are willing to admit they do! If you’re here, that means you’re among those lucky enough to be graced by his presence, and rest assured – he can help with at least some of your problems!

Gambling on a budget has been a concern of many over the years, but thankfully a wonderfully simple solution has reared its head, much to the delight of gamblers everywhere – online casino! Yes, now you no longer feel pressured to spend hundreds for a “proper” casino night, you can bet as little as $1-2 and still have a proper experience! Yes, depending on the casino, you can bet about 20 cents per spin for a slot machine, and about a dollar per bet for games such as blackjack and roulette! Throughout this journey, we’re going to be teaching you the ins and outs of gaming on a budget – which slots you should be paying attention to, which casinos and bingo sites you should look towards and more!

Keep in mind that Poor Man does NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT encourage gambling when you can’t afford to do so. Only ever gamble if you have enough income that can be classified as disposable (meaning that you’ve already paid for rent, clothes, food, commodities and have some saved for unexpected expenses). If you aren’t sure you have enough, or any, disposable income, DO NOT gamble! While there is a possibility that you might win, there’s also a possibility that you may lose, and if you can’t afford that then don’t take that risk!