Blackjack: Don’t borrow
Playing blackjack, or any card game for that matter, is fine as long as you’re playing within your means. What that’s saying is if it’s to kill some time and you’re going into low stakes, no problem. If you’re doing it to learn the game and playing affordable tables, go for it. If you’re trying to make money to pay rent, you really have to know what you’re doing, but hey, it’s worth a shot as long as you’ll still have a place to live if you lose.
But take my advice on this one, do not under any circumstances borrow money from others to play blackjack. This isn’t the movies, so I can’t imagine a realistic scenario where you’d need $20,000 from your rich uncle for a gambling “investment” opportunity. No, odds are you’ve lost the expendable income you were playing with, and feel the urge to continue playing. Forget whether you’re borrowing from a friend or someone you don’t know (although I can’t imagine a situation where someone you don’t know would loan you money). Owing money to a friend is another story altogether. What you need to do if you get to the point where you’re considering this, is look at how you got there in the first place. Did you lose everything you’d set aside for online blackjack? Are you now unable to walk away from the game?
If you answered yes to the last question, you might have a serious gambling addiction, and should probably call a help line.
But let’s say you don’t have a problem, and we’re just talking about whether it’s a good idea to borrow money. If you’re friends won’t help you out, you’re next avenue is probably to get a loan from a bank, or at least try to. This, as well, is a poor idea, as you’ll have to pay interest on the loan win or lose. As someone who plays blackjack and understands statistics, you know going into the red and then getting bled each week or month on that principle amount is a lose-lose situation.
The bottom line is, like most situations in this economy, borrowing your way out of debt is not the answer. Paying down your debt through other methods of income is your preferred option. And if you’re asking to borrow money because of how much you love blackjack and have to keep playing, then as mentioned earlier, we’re talking about a possible addiction that has nothing to do with the finances of it.