Problem: Article: Don’t try to pull mutual friends into your disagreement and try to get them to take your side. Be the bigger person.  If your friends ask you what happened, you could say, “I don’t want to talk about it right now,” or “That’s between Isabella and me.” Don’t unload on mutual friends about your frustrations; you may end up pressuring them to take sides. While it may be tempting to feel like you have allies in your fight with your friend, think about how it would feel if the roles were reversed. Don’t talk about your friend behind their back. Gossip usually has a way of getting back to its subject matter. You may make your fight even bigger and more painful. If someone gossips to you about the friend you are fighting with, you could say, “I don’t want to gossip about her right now. I don’t want to make our fight worse.” If you need to vent about the situation, talk to someone who is not in your social circle. Better yet, take it outside your everyday social setting. Find someone who goes to a different school or a friend who lives far away to chat with. You could say, “Do you mind listening to me vent about something I’m dealing with at my school right now? I know you don’t know these people, but I could use an outside perspective.” Even if you’re not getting along, you can still be nice toward your friend. Treat your friend like you would treat someone you don’t know very well: distant, but respectful. You may be forced to interact with your friend at some point, whether it is working together on a project or attending the same party. Stick to the business at hand. If you want to talk about your disagreement, find another time to do it. If your friend tries to bring up your fight, you could say something like, “We’re here to celebrate Jesse’s birthday. Let’s talk about this later.” While it may feel good to get under your friend’s skin, it’s not a very mature way to respond. Just act normal and do your best to prevent causing more drama.  Trying to make someone jealous makes you appear insecure. It also makes you place unnecessary importance on what someone else thinks of you.  Avoid showing off around the friend you are fighting with, like you are having so much more fun without them. Don’t let the fight with your friend get in the way of your relationships with other friends. Try to get on with your social life as best you can.  Hang out with your friends even if the friend you’re fighting with is there. You can think of some ways to avoid the friend you’re fighting with, like standing away from them or striking up a separate conversation with another friend. It can feel awkward, but you don’t have to put your whole social life on hold because one person is upset with you. If your friend has turned others against you, you may be feeling isolated. Stand up for yourself without trying to turn others against your friend. You could find a friend you are close with and say, “I know Laura has told you about our fight and now you’re mad at me, too. I didn’t want to talk about it because I didn’t want people to feel like they had to choose sides. But if you want to hear my side of the story, I will tell you.” In this situation, it might be best to start building a new circle of friends. If it’s been difficult to hang out in your normal group of friends because of your fight, you may want to look outside your usual circle for other social opportunities. You might choose to make new friends or grow closer to acquaintances.  Make plans with friends in other circles, perhaps others you don’t hang out with as much. For example, maybe you’re friends with people on your athletic team, but don’t hang out with them much outside of practice. Try to get together with them off the field.  Make some new friends by participating in new activities and meeting new people. If your friends have turned against you and are unwilling to hear your side of the story, you might want to start hanging out with other people instead. Spend some time thinking about the fight and your role in it. Could you have done anything differently to prevent the fight from happening? Did you exhibit behavior that routinely causes you problems?  If you see a pattern of behavior in your life that contributed to the fight with your friend, consider examining that behavior more closely and taking steps to change it. For example, perhaps you contributed to the fight by blurting out some hurtful words before you really thought them through. If you have a history of speaking before thinking, you might want to look into ways you could address that problem and prevent future, similar situations from happening. You could spend some time writing in a journal about your thoughts and feelings. Talk to another friend or someone you trust about how you are feeling. Maybe that person can offer their own perspective on your situation.
Summary: Don’t bring other people into it. Avoid gossiping. Seek outside support. Be respectful. Avoid trying to make them jealous. Stay connected to your mutual friends. Expand your social circle. Reflect on your behavior.

Problem: Article: If you want to see what the casino game is all about, decide on an amount of money you're willing to lose as a way of investing and then know when to quit. Gambling is addictive and can be dangerous, and spending more isn't a reliable way of making your losses reappear. Games in which you play an active role in the outcome of the game result in smarter bets than games in which chance plays a larger role. In general, the smartest game is always poker, both in video form and in person, as long as you've got the skills to play. The smartest casino bets are those made in the midst of a poker game by a player who knows how to play. Learn to play poker well and make smart bets if you want to make money at the casino.  Pure chance games like roulette, keno, and state-run lotteries offer the worst odds, making your investment worth the least in the long-run. If you want to make smart bets, bet on games in which your decisions and your play have some effect on the outcome. Games like blackjack, craps, and baccarat offer better outcomes and smarter investments than other kinds of casino betting. . Blackjack is still a game in which chance plays a huge role, but learning the proper strategy can help you make smarter bets and blackjack offers decent player odds you can learn to take advantage of. Basic strategy is a tabulation of odds that smart plays memorize and use to make the most probable bets and decisions at any point in the game. Learn when to stand, when to hit, and when to split or double down. If you want to really improve your chances of winning and making good bets, learn to count cards. It's not illegal, but it is generally against the house rules, making it something that pit bosses have learned to keep an eye out for. . If you want to shoot craps with the high-rollers, bet against the roller. No-pass bets offer slightly better odds than pass bets, even if the roller makes point. Consistently placing no-pass bets still gives an advantage to the house, but it's not a bad one. . Like craps, baccarat is a relatively simple up or down game when you learn the ins and outs. In baccarat, you either bet the dealer will win or the player will win, and the game is played by passing the shoe around the circle and dealing out two hands (one dealer hand, one player). The rules for taking a hit favor the house slightly, though the odds are incredibly close, making dealer bets always the smarter option, by a hair. While it's bad form to patrol the casino floor for people about to leave slot-machines (and is against the rules in some places) keep an eye out for people who've been sitting at a machine for hours without hitting any big pay-offs. When they get up to leave, play a few rounds. Those machines are statistically more likely to hit now.
Summary:
Set aside an amount of money to invest and stick to it. Play games of skill over games of chance. Learn basic blackjack strategy Make no-pass bets at the craps table Bet on the dealer in baccarat Look for recently-abandoned slot-machines.