Online gambling's main and pretty much only purpose is to provide online entertainment and by no means a steady source of cash for players. The fact that some players will manage to turn it into a money-source is a different matter, and they usually achieve this through years of hard work and study. Never regard online gambling as an investment that needs to yield a revenue for you, or else... this is the most certain way to end up chasing your losses and thus find yourself neck deep in trouble before you know it...

Most people play according to this rule, however, unfortunately there are exceptions too.
Underage gambling is something that should be limited by all means and - if it ever becomes possible - completely eliminated.

Until than, there are things you can do in order to make it extremely difficult for an underage person to access an online poker room or an online casino:

- Never leave your computer on, with you logged in to your poker room, and go about some other business you might have.

- Never let a minor know your credit card or bank account information.

- Most poker rooms provide you with a "save login name and password"option on their login screen. Do not use this option. It'll automatically fill in your user name and your password for everybody who starts up the client software. All it'll take for that person to log in to your account is to hit the "login' or "OK" button.

- There are commercially available site-blocker programs that'll block all gambling sites for anybody who tries to access them from your computer. If you have children, consider installing such a software.

- Create separate profiles for any underage person who will have access to your computer. Keep your own profile details under lid.

- Whenever you hear about (or see) an underage person using online gambling software, immediately report the incident to the site you saw him/her using. All respectable online gambling sites have extremely strict rules regarding underage gambling, and they'll block him/her on the spot.

Remember, by allowing an underage person to use your online gambling account, you will not only cause harm to him/her and to your own gambling bankroll, you'll also be breaking the law. Do not take this matter lightly, it's extremely serious indeed.

Another category of problem-players/gamblers are compulsive gamblers. Contrary to public belief, these guys are not every online casino's and poker room's dream come true. As a matter of fact, most respectable online gambling establishments use specialized software to filter out unusual gambling behavior and stop it before it ends up seriously hurting someone. Again: gambling should be fun. The moment it stops being fun you should stop playing.

Some of us more than others are prone to letting things spiral out of control. If you feel like you could become one such person pay extra attention to the following:

- What is online poker for you? A way of having a bit of fun, or a serious income-source, one that you grew to depend on? If it is the second, it's time for you to get a job.

- What do you do when you're hit by a bad beat? Do you chase your losses? If so, quit doing that, take a walk and come back to fight another day.

- Are you gambling within your means? (I've read somewhere that you should only gamble on money that you could afford to take to the back of your garden and burn. - good advice)

- This may come as news to you, but most online poker rooms and casinos will provide options for deposit and time limits you can set for yourself. This way you'll be able to keep track of the time and money you spend gambling.

- There are also self-exclusion options you can use whenever you need to take a break from it all.

In case you do not consider yourself a compulsive gambler, avoiding the above-named issues will probably protect you from becoming one in the future. But how do you know you're not already there?

- Did gambling ever intrude on your other ( more important) activities like work and quality time with your loved ones?

- Are you pondering about your gambling when you should be doing something more important ( like work) ?

- Did your gambling ever make you feel miserable?

- Did gambling cause you to be less efficient in the work you do?

- Did you ever borrow money to recover losses occurred previously and then repay the loan?

- Did you ever lose all your money and found yourself in trouble as a result?

- Do you physically neglect yourself and your relationships with other people because of gambling?

- Have you ever thought of doing something illegal to gain undeserved benefits which you would use for gambling?

- Have you ever found yourself gambling longer than planned and missing out on some previous engagement because of this fact?

If your answer is "yes" to most of the above asked questions, you may want to check out one of the following links:

http://www.gamblersanonymous.org
http://www.ncpgambling.org