I love the stories but I'd by lying if I didn't admit that some of the stories remind me of myself. It's so easy to let a small, manageable loss turn into a monster. I'd be lying if I didn't admit to occasionally going deeper into a game than I'm comfortable with.
When I was in my early 20's and just learning the ropes of playing poker and gambling, still learning obviously, I used to just go to Commerce with what I was willing to lose that day. If I ran out of cash I kept plenty more at home but I NEVER went back twice the same day. This surprisingly simple strategy worked quite well. Maybe it had to do with Commerce being more than thirty minutes away from where I lived with no traffic and that time could easily triple during rush hour. If I had lived much closer to the casino this strategy would have been pretty worthless obviously.
I wonder if the online sites are set up so you can have daily stop losses? Meaning you can't lose more than a certain amount in any 24 hour period. If they don't they should certainly consider it.
Last note. For younger players keep this in mind. You have NO shot at being a professional poker player if you have any leaks and can't control losses. And I do mean ZERO shot. Ok maybe if you run like Durrrrr you have some sort of shot. lolz
ps please keep the stories coming
my most degen moment = losing 10k in one session of BJ at the Palms. I may have mentioned it earlier in this thread and I may not. It wasn't memorable except I lost every single hand for 90 minuts. I left the casino feeling like the biggest sucker of all time. They did offer me free rooms for a while after and I used my degen session of bj to get a room for four nights over New Year. And no! I didn't give the pit any action during my four day stay in case you were wondering. And yes I still remember the look on the pit-boss' face as I kept digging into my pocket and pulling out ten more c-notes. Couldn't he have just leaned over and said "son, don't you think it's time to go home?" As you can see I'm still very bitter.