Jarvis Buck 
Emotions can be unpredictable and easily derail your gambling experience if they’re left unchecked. One way to prevent code red meltdowns is by avoiding situations or people which provoke your emotional responses.
Positive reminders can help keep emotions under control and make the experience more pleasurable.
Understand Your Emotions
Most gamblers gamble for entertainment, but sometimes gambling can turn into an emotional roller coaster that’s difficult to decipher. You might experience anger, sadness or regret – without knowing how best to manage these emotions it’s easy to make mistakes you later regret.
If you want to avoid losing control of your emotions, try practicing breathing exercises or other simple techniques such as positive affirmations. When feeling overwhelmed, repeat positive mantras to yourself to regain focus and relaxation before gambling again with control and poise. This should allow for smoother gambling experiences overall.
Maintaining a positive outlook is one way to stay in control of your emotions when gambling, particularly if you’re winning. Remember that even professional gamblers experience losses from time to time; don’t allow a few rough sessions ruin your overall experience!
Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises are one of the best ways to regulate emotions. While understanding your triggers may be more effective in controlling them, breathing exercises may still provide relief and ease anxiety by helping take your mind off gambling situations. Simply breathe slowly from nose to mouth with focus on expanding chest.
Another effective way of controlling emotions is changing your environment and shifting focus. If you find yourself gazing longingly upon card sharks raking in chips, shift focus toward something that will bring happiness.
As an alternative, postponing gambling by telling yourself you’ll wait five, fifteen or even an hour may give your urges time to subside and will help you resist them more effectively. Distraction can also help relieve anxiety while diminishing cravings to gamble.
Take a Break
One of the best things you can do to improve your gambling is taking a break. Doing this allows your mind and emotions to reset so you can make better decisions, while helping prevent impulsive decisions that might derail your chances of success.
Focusing on the positive aspects of any situation is key to taking a break and finding peace within it. Instead of dwelling on those at your table who seem adept at laying down hand after hand with terrifying skill and piling up chips faster than you, try thinking instead about how lucky it is that you even got here in the first place.
Many gambling websites offer time-out features ranging from 24 hours to six weeks that can help reset your mindset and prevent problem gambling from developing into addiction. You can set reminders so that you stay on your time-out plan.
Identify Your Triggers
Recognizing what triggers your emotions is key to managing them effectively. Allowing frustration at casino games to build into an explosive outburst that mars your gambling experience; recognize and acknowledge what you are feeling to allow yourself time to calm down and think rationally.
Breaking away from your game and changing scenery can also help provide much-needed perspective. Doing this allows your thoughts and emotions to settle before returning back on track with decision-making processes.
Though you might feel sad or disappointed after losing, these emotions should not control the decisions you make when playing. Instead, try to understand what triggers them and use positive reminders as ways to manage them. It may take practice before your emotions can be managed effectively – however the more often you practice doing so, the better at controlling them you’ll become.
