Yeah, I admitted that is very difficult to reach $500 with a capital of $12. Only those who are lucky that will get that win including you because you are one of them. I will not deny that the emotion will interfere us to stay calm but when we almost lose control of our emotion, we must stop gambling immediately and not continue gamble.
I can not imagine if I use increase and decrease the bet can stay calm because the lose will be bigger for me. I prefer to stay with the smallest bet so that will not bother me when I lose in the game.
I prioritize to have fun in gambling because I realize that I am difficult to win in gambling. The lose will be too many for me comparing with the win that I got.
Well for me in setting a strategy to increase Bet or decrease Bet, we need to win from our deposit capital first. For example, you make a deposit of $50 where in every manual spin you get a profit and also get FS accidentally, so with luck it will increase your balance from the FS win you get.
Well if that happens, then the game journey for the next spin I will increase the bet and keep the initial capital untouched, if it is touched then I will follow the bet to the initial pattern or $0.2 per spin.
However, sometimes it is not in line with my expectations, so sometimes I can't control my emotions and that's when I experience defeat. But if the mind is calm and can control emotions then it will be easy to play a pattern in increasing bets or decreasing bets when the spin is not profitable.
I am also like you, I used to just want to have fun but after addiction became one with my body then I often gambled every week, or 3 times a week or even more. I think if you are not addicted you can say that but if you are addicted to gambling then you will gamble more actively than before.