Stake limitations (self restriction)

[VikingsAF]

Hi guys, this is probably going to be a long post, but I find it important that I take the time to make a nice and clear post. (notr: finished the post on my phone so the layout is not what I hoped to do) 

To get to the point of this post, you can just scroll to the end. 

It's mainly directed towards Unibet, one of the most welcoming gambling sites, who just misses out on one critical thing. In my opinion ofcourse.

Player safety (as in, keep your money safe from throwing it away) is okay at this site, but could be 10 times better. The last 2 days I experienced some stuff that no one ever wants to experience, I guess. In my case it's not that bad, because it happened with money that I played up from 5 euro in one day. But for people who deposit these amounts it should be horrific. 

Friday this happened... 

On Thursday I won the community league game for 90 euro, and played a few sngs for 1 euro each. After I play poker I often flatten out my BR by playing Buster Blackjack in the casino. (e. G. When I have 52,5 euro, I will play that game until 50 or 55) I do this with stakes of 30 cents (20+10) and double up max twice. (so max stake is 1,20 but mostly it's just 30c)

So Thursday it was late and Friday I decided to go and flat out my BR. I did this and ended up with 100,04 (=100, because min stake is 10c). But I really like the game and had some time left, so I wanted to play a bit in free, where I can play with higher stakes. 

I think it was because my internet was bad and I had to refresh to load the game (although I'm not sure), but I ended up in the real money game... And only realised this after the following pop-up came up. "Your account balance is to low to place that bet" (but then in Dutch)

Goodbye well earned poker money. And casino goes on lock until there is some extra safety. 

What could be done here? If we would be able to place a limit on our real money stakes, this wouldn't happen. I'd put a 2 euro limit, and that's that. 

Or... A notification that makes clear you are playing for real money when you start. This could be a notification you can set or deny, so that players who never play free don't need to get it.

Second day. What happened yesterday. 

Again I played up from 5 euro to a little above 100 in poker. And went back down because I tilted after a few bad beats and went to play a bit higher then I should. At least. Higher then I should when I'm tilted. 

Again this wouldn't have happened if it was possible to limit your stakes (which is possible at a lot of other sites) . I would play at 1,4,5 and 10 NL/Pl and wouldn't be able to lose it at 20,25 or even 50. Same goes for the sngs. 

Tldnr unibet should introduce some extra self restriction options. With the main focus on being able to limit your stakes in poker. Or even excluding from cash and only being able to play mtt or sng (or the other way around). Feature can be helpful in casino or other sections aswell. 

A lot of players play here as a hobby and just for fun. But those players can get influenced by tilt the most (I think) and that can turn a good experience into the worst. 

Hope it's all clear and feel free to discuss. I don't think this should be hard to implement tough. 

Kind regards

Vikings

Ps. Gonna tag @DavidP_Unibet as head of poker. And don't know the head of casino... @JeppeL can you help? :D

[FeelsBadMan]

I completely agree with VikingsAF.  The ability to limit your stakes by yourself for certain predetermined periods of time would be a great feature that fits with the unibet ethos of keeping players alive for longer. If a recreational has a bad experience like this, which yes it is his fault, but could be prevented, they will be less likely to return, and could be bad for them in general.

In the case of poker, I guess the limitations could be done separately for cash games, sngs, not sure about MTT's tho since it might stop you from playing something you sattied into. Maybe make the limit stop cash buy-ins but continue to allow ticket based entries. 

Even though some of us don't have this issue, and it might increase our winrates to have people tilt off all their money at the tables to us in one go, it's good to protect players from self destructive behaviour and probably good long term for everybody. 

As for the timeframes, maybe have timeframes ranging from a few days to a few months, and when the period expires then send an e-mail to the customer that his limitations expired. If by this point he thinks that he can now handle playing higher or set a bit higher limits then great, if he wants to continue having the same limit he will know immediately that it expired so he can renew the limitation.

[polarbear]

for me seems to be a gambling problem.

you have option to self exclude for a period of time from any product.

 

if you indeed want to have some free play on casino you may google easily some free sites without involving any account created just type the name of the game and free money on the end and you ll find it

[VikingsAF]

@polarbear  I think you don't understand the situation :) 

I know when to stop and I play low stakes. I don't really need to play these games. I just wanted to try stuff out. 

What happened was pure by accident... And okay. What happened in poker was a tilt, which occurs with every hobby player I guess. Nothing dramatic either. 

I mean I love the poker game. Certainly on Unibet. But just they miss some features imo which would make unibet even better for hobby players like me

[Livertool]

Yeah, i don´t see the reason too, surely you can avoid from getting to tables you dont want to play or not to bet too much on slots? Or you maybe have some issues with gambling.

I don´t mind if you would be able to make such limitations but i guess it would be lot of work for unibet to make it happen and how many would use them in the end. You can always withdraw money from your account so you can´t play more than you are willing :)

[polarbear]

@VikingsAFif i know i dont like a thing or i do gambling to much i stop playing at. as i settle myself self excluding from other products. regarding poker i never ever in my life touched a limit that i never handled ( as in my history) . so is still a gambling problem let's be honest.

you ll never get rich if you play poker a higher stake or gambling on casino so you need a limit on them both but not a poker stake is the limit in special in Unibet

[WuDu]

@VikingsAFBut what about personal responsibility and self-control? I mean, if that proposal would help you, I don't mind for Unibet to implement it. But the main question for you personally is, what/who stops you from playing those stakes/games on another site once you feel the urge again?

[VikingsAF]

@WuDu i don't feel the urge to play higher in normal. It's only at those Tilty moments. And since I only play here, because all other sites feel so unpersonal, I won't be playing there :D 

But actually it's not only about me :p it's rather about players who maybe have the same experience as me, but with their own deposited money. 

I just wanted to give some background. 

[polarbear]

so you have a gambling problem but still want to have a limit on your problems? you may stop as it is as per gambling control you may found them on the gambling responsability support

personally i have received a phone call after i was online most of the time and playing 20 sng / day on the same limit and they asked if i have gambling control and i feel comfortable after in their history shows only 20 sng/ day at 1 euro stake and i am profitable so in your case they should close your account since this is a bigger problem @ gambling support

[FeelsBadMan]

Wow, all the trolls ganging up on VikingsAF for no reason. Just have some self control bruh, it's so easy bruh, I never go to higher stakes, just attack everyone in your path when you run bad, and claim that the site is rigged and should be shut down like other people do, easy self control. 

Tilt has been an issue for so many poker players, and until he and others, cause there are many players like him, manage to deal with it, it would be preferable if they could limit the damage they can do.

[jonny2192]

I agree with @FeelsBadMan stop picking on @VikingsAF 

We can all have mad moments in life where we do something we shouldnt, 

if you know about a problem that can occur when emotions run high, then you take steps to stop it being a problem.

Limiting stakes is a very good idea and stops people from doing daft things on tilt.

We all know what we should and shouldnt do our brains tell us that, just sometimes emotions take over, We cant all act like robots(well nmpfan can) and
sometimes emotions get the better of us. 

[Livertool]

Cant say about others but at least i wasn´t picking on him, just giving my opinion. It is very easy to look from the upper corner, or your money balance are you playing real or play money on slots. Maybe the poker limitation would be useful in some cases but even if you would have limit to stakes, you can still lose as much money on lower stakes when tilting.

So maybe it is better to think about your playing if you can´t control yourself playing too high stakes, even in tilt mode. I have tilted many times too and played more than i should have but you have learn from them too. So like i said, i found that easiest way to not lose more than you are willing to, is to withdraw all the money that you are not willing to lose, in low or high stakes.

 

[VikingsAF]

@polarbear I'm gonna comment on more  time on you, until you can make an adult reply. @jonny2192 and @FeelsBadMan thanks :) 

I play poker because I like the game. Like I would love playing on a Playstation sometimes, but that doesn't make me a gaming addict either. I play when Im feeling good, have time and want to enjoy the game for a bit. I can safely say that I do understand the game and would be able to be profitable until a pretty high stake. (that's why I sometimes play higher for a bit) 

It's such an interesting game, because there are so many aspects which you have to take into account when playing. And since a lot of these aspects are uncontrollable it's always better to be safe than sorry. 

And as I said above. I play whenever it's right to play, but sometimes emotions get the upper hand. And for some people emotions can be stronger than with others. (and I know I am one of those...) so I find it safer if I can limit the effects of that :) and there are many more than just me. So that we can play the game just for fun on a low stake. 

So this is not about me, because I play money which I can affordably  lose. (I'd invest the same amount of money that others would use for a beer in a club, it's just what you rather prefer ) 

I hope you finally understand what I'm trying to say here? Because I won't waste any more time explaining it to you xoxo

[VikingsAF]

@Livertool small comment to you :) for me it's that it all happens in one session :) so no time for withdrawing :D

I play 5 euro in an mtt. Play a bit of cash. Up to 100 And then boom :p at that moment you feel this 100-0 drop. But in the end my actually loss is 2 beers :) I mean after a night of sleep I can place everything :D it's just that one moment that isn't fun. 

About the slots. In my case it was by accident. But you're right about the tilt in real and fake money. 

[Livertool]

@VikingsAF

Yeah, i can understand what you are saying and dont have anything against it if there were these limits but dont know if they would help anything as you can lose as much for playing 4 tables on lower stakes or 1 table higher stakes. Especially when tilting. I wish it could be fun all the time :D

[VikingsAF]

True @Livertool for some that might indeed give the same issue. But I think, of you normally only play 2 tables (and would do anytime, like I) then I know I won't play more when tilting :D

Ofcourse that could be different for some others :D

[Magicadil]

Terrible idea because it takes away personal responsibility. If you're sometimes spewy on tilt then try yoga or other forms of meditation. If you can't control tilt online then what happens in real life if some1 cuts you off while driving or accidently bumps into you?

[VikingsAF]

@Magicadil

... Are you seriously saying that? These are 2 completely different things. I'm on of the most calm responsible person in any situation in life. Yet I find it hard to control my tilt. + it's all in personal responsibility to self restrict yourself on certain stakes. I find that more personal responsible than that you say. "oh I'll be fine I can control myself at the tables.... Oops I cant" 

I can drive a car perfectly. I've never been in an accident although I've had some experiences with crazy drivers doing crazy ❤️♥️❤️. 

Yoga and all those hipster things are a temporary relief from the world. These can help you when you have a bad time in your life, but they don't help you controlling tilt. 

If I can be honest I find your answer the least useful here. Even less than what @polarbear did. 

[radge1]

I'm with @FeelsBadMan and @jonny2192 on this one (well actually two quite different things going on in @VikingsAF's post).

It would be good if it was always obvious when you are in free or real money mode...though I don't usually have an issue getting mixed up on that point, I have on occasion ended up playing slots at a higher stake than intended.

I don't agree @Magicadil that using the gamble aware options is a sign of weakness or abdication of personal responsibility...I've used the "take a break" option a couple of times on Unibet when I feel tilted and salty....I feel that was a responsible choice. Additional options to control how you gamble must surely be a good thing.  

[Rushbie]

I got no idea, how on earth restricting yourself from the games temporarily can be somehow related to becoming holy-one, or enlightened one. We are talking about money and gambling here.
If some people want to become supreme being, go to the mountains. Leave as common people here.

Otherwise, more options to self restrictions, is always good.

[Livertool]

Once there was this alcoholic who got really pissed off because he always lost control of his drinking in some point of the evening and end up passed out to who knows where. Especially after he started to do shots after six pack of beer. So he came up with this clever idea that he forbids his liqour store to sell him any booze or hard alcohol, only beer or wine allowed, that should solve the issue he thought. And since that, he never drank any booze anymore, lots of more beer and wine though but didn´t end up passing out anymore in miscellaneous places so he patted himself on back for job well done and getting rid of his drinking problem....... 😏