Before you sit down
- Pick your number. Decide the most you're willing to lose before you leave home. If you bring $300 to a $1/$3 game, that $300 is the night. When it's gone, you rack up and go home. Leave the bank card in the car or at home so a reload isn't one ATM trip away.
- Pick your finish time. Set a phone alarm. Get up from the table every hour or so, even for five minutes.
- Keep poker money separate. A poker bankroll that lives apart from your chequing account makes it obvious when you're dipping into money you need.
- Don't move up to win it back. Down $200 at $1/$3? Jumping into $2/$5 to get even is how a bad night turns into a bad month.
- Don't play angry, drunk or broke. If you're tilted, drinking or under money pressure, your decisions are worse and so are your results.
Our bankroll and session limits lesson goes deeper, and the buy-in calculator helps you size a session before you go.
Skill doesn't remove variance
Poker has real decisions in it, but luck still decides a lot of single hands. Get A♠A♦ all-in preflop against K♣K♥ and you win about 81% of the time. That means you lose roughly one in five, even though you did everything right. The reverse happens too: a bad call can win.
That's what makes chasing so dangerous. A losing session doesn't prove you played badly, and a winning one doesn't prove you played well, so "I'm due" is never a reason to keep going.
Signs it's becoming a problem
Stop and talk to someone if you notice any of these:
- chasing losses;
- raising your stakes quickly;
- failed deposits;
- hiding how much you play;
- borrowing money to gamble;
- carrying on even though it's causing you money worries or distress.
Ontario help and resources
Reaching out isn't a big dramatic step. It's a conversation, and that's what these services are there for.
Playing online in Ontario
If you play online, make sure the operator is on iGaming Ontario's regulated list; our Ontario-regulated poker sites page shows which ones are. Then use that operator's own responsible-gambling controls, such as deposit or time limits, and set them before your first session, not after a bad one.
How much should I bring to a poker session?
Only an amount you can lose without it affecting bills or essentials. Decide it before you leave home and stop when it's gone.
How do I know if my poker playing is a problem?
Warning signs include chasing losses, quickly raising stakes, failed deposits, hiding your play, borrowing to gamble and continuing despite money worries or distress.
Where can I get help for gambling in Ontario?
ConnexOntario, PlaySmart and iGaming Ontario's Find Help page all point you to support in Ontario.