Basic Record-keeping – Worth the Effort

There is a basic rule of thumb every gambler should keep in mind when playing online. When I say basic, I mean basic — one that should be common knowledge to new and veteran gamblers alike and it isn’t a strategy that will make you a better player or increase your bankroll.

Just as you would — or at the very least, should — keep a list of your usernames and/or passwords for everyday access to conveniences such as ABM’s, frequently-visited sites, message boards, newsletters, dial-up accounts, or long-distance calling cards, you should always keep track of your usernames and passwords for all of your online casino accounts.

First of all, the most obvious reason is that because our brains can only contain a certain amount of information at a time, and because many of us suffer from short-term and long-term memory loss as we age. Aside from the personal issues resulting from a failing memory, such as facing our own mortality, there are reasons directly related to our online gambling experience that can suffer.

Say for instance you have accounts set up at five different casinos, and for one reason or another your computer goes on the fritz, causing you to lose all of your usernames and passwords, you may erroneously sign up for a new account.

As is widely-known, clients are permitted only one account per individual, and should a casino discover a customer with multiple accounts, it could result in a dispute when it comes time to cash-in your winnings.

Additionally, there are personal/financial security reasons that should factored into your decision to maintain a running log of your usernames and passwords.

Because many of us gamble online from work (shhhhh), there are several thousand instances in which we share computers. Given that our usernames and passwords are automatically logged, we are essentially leaving the door wide open for a co-worker to have access to our accounts and rack up credit card bills. Hopefully, the people we work with wouldn’t be so morally-lacking, but every office has someone who they wouldn’t trust with the last cup of coffee, much less access to their online casino account.

There is yet another good reason to maintain a diverse list of passwords. Many of us fall into the trap of having repeat passwords for virtually every service that requires one. It wouldn’t take Mafia Boy to figure out that if somebody were to uncover one password, they would likely apply it to every account you have available.

If this is common practice for you, don’t be surprised if one day your credit card has been blacklisted and you spend several weeks trying to restore your credit rating.

This isn’t something that requires a new software program to put into place. Simply using a little black book or closely-guarded piece of paper would more than suffice.

It doesn’t take too much effort to save yourself a big headache down the line.