A limit that lives only in your head will be renegotiated by the first strong result. A checklist moves the decision to the hallway, where the result has not happened yet. Five items are enough. More than five becomes a ritual you skip.

Money in a separate pocket

Choose the amount you can lose without touching rent, food, or a bill. Put that cash, or that single transferable amount, where you can see it. Everything else stays somewhere you will not reach during the session. When the pocket is empty, you are done. If you are ahead, you may pocket the profit and keep playing only with what remains of the original amount. You may also leave. Both are consistent with the plan. Reaching back for a second pocket is a new session, and it does not get to borrow the old plan's excuses.

The longer version of choosing the figure is how to set an entertainment budget. The checklist only asks that the figure already exist before you sit.

A clock you cannot argue with

Pick a time and set an alarm you will hear over the room. When it rings, you leave, whether the current shoe is interesting or not. Interesting is not an item on the list. People who refuse alarms because they trust themselves are describing the version of themselves who wrote the plan, not the version who is mid-session.

Time limits and breaks go further into pauses. The pre-session version is blunt on purpose. One alarm, one departure.

Mood is a reason to cancel

Angry, humiliated, exhausted, already drinking, or trying to forget a specific bill: any one of these is a cancel. The game will still be there on a better day, in places where it is legal for you. Playing in order to change a mood is a different activity from playing as entertainment, and it is the activity that ignores checklists. If you notice the motive is relief, or proving something, stand down for the night.

This is not a clinical test. It is a door you can use without diagnosing yourself. Warning signs are for patterns that repeat. Tonight's mood is enough of a reason on its own.

Company and the exit

Know who you are with and whether they share the stop. A friend who teases people for leaving early is a risk factor, not a neutral companion. You can still go. You say the leaving time once, at the start, so it is not a debate later.

Name the exit in practical terms. The train, the car, the person you text. An unnamed exit turns into one more hand while you decide. Decide in the hallway. If you are under the legal age where you live, or if the game is not legal there, the checklist ends at stay home. There is no responsible version of an illegal session.

Afterward, one sentence

On the way out, say whether you kept the pocket and the clock. Yes or no. Skip the story about the hands. A yes means the checklist held. A no means the next checklist needs a harder barrier, not a more detailed story. Patterns of no are worth a conversation with someone you trust, or a look at a local helpline.

Frequently asked questions

What if I am winning when the alarm rings?

Leave anyway, or pocket the profit and end the risk. Extending the clock because you are ahead is how an early win becomes a later loss.

Is a bad mood always a cancel?

If the mood is the reason you want to play, yes. Entertainment on a calm day is a different decision from chasing relief.

How much should the separate pocket hold?

An amount you can lose without affecting bills or obligations. If you cannot name that amount, you are not ready to set the pocket.

Steps

Fix the money: Put the session amount in a separate pocket. When it is gone, the session is over, including if you are ahead and then slide back to it.
Fix the clock: Choose a leaving time and set an alarm. A winning streak does not extend the clock.
Check your state: If you are angry, exhausted, or drinking, cancel. Those states bargain with limits.
Say the exit out loud: Name the ride, the friend, or the door you will use. An exit you have not named is easy to postpone.