Emotional Control: How Locals Handle Losses Compared to Tourists Ruining Their Vacation?
I went on a trip to Vegas last month and saw a guy nearly break a slot machine because he lost a few hundred bucks. It looked like his whole vacation was ruined right then and there. Meanwhile, there was an older lady next to him who just shrugged, grabbed her purse, and walked away after a losing streak like she was just finishing a grocery run. I realized I’m definitely more like the angry guy—when I lose on a trip, it sits with me for days. How do the regulars stay so incredibly calm when the house is winning?
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It’s definitely a learned skill that comes with frequency. When you only visit a few times a year, every dollar lost feels like a missed dinner or a skipped excursion, so the stakes feel much more personal. I used to get really worked up too until I started looking at it as an entertainment expense, similar to a movie ticket. I was reading a piece about the differences between these types of players on https://bdgovt.info/the-casino-tourist-vs-the-casino-local/ and it really highlighted how locals view the casino as a marathon rather than a sprint. For us regulars, a bad night is just one session out of hundreds, so there’s no reason to let it ruin your mood. Once you stop treating it like a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to win big, the emotional weight of a loss pretty much disappears.