Casino Gambling Psychology
The game is a serious matter, and this is something many psychologists will tell you, and they will be right. In psychology, sociology, and political science, various game concepts of human behavior have long been studied and widely distributed. We recommend focusing on such an intriguing aspect of the game as gambling psychology. Despite a long history of gambling, gambling psychology is an understudied area of the human psyche. What drives players to a gambling table or a slot machine? We will try to answer this question today.
I want to know everything
Psychologists have established some evolutionary patterns of human psychology and found that gambling psychology is embodied in the inner human desire to understand the cause and effect of events surrounding the world. For example, you know why the sky is blue and the grass is green. A three-year-old needs to know the answers to these questions and thousands of others.
Those who have children will understand us. A more complicated example: Medieval historians describe wars, describe their results in such phrases “and God gave the Prince a victory” or “God moved away from the Prince”.
Looking for excuses in situations
If the cause cannot be explained in the materialist world, there are various signs, predictions, astrology, and other magical things. Why don’t people even accept uncertainties? The answer is clear: we cannot control them and thus lose control of our lives. You will be surprised, but gamblers are often driven to find order in the game. Everyone knows that there is no more superstitious person than gamblers. Everything works like lucky numbers, signs, small daily rituals, even prayer, swimming with waves. Being excited to find patterns of light reminds of the passion of a scientist obsessed with his subject.
Is it too sophisticated? Perhaps it is only at first glance. We recently wrote a new study proposed by Boston scientists on gambling psychology and combating gambling. During their studies, they learned that most patients do not know how slot machines, roulette, and card games work. But they eagerly approach successfully: a lucky place on the table, the row of buttons pushed on a slot machine, lucky jacket, etc. During the therapy, the doctors explained to the patients how the random number generator works. What is probability theory, what are video slots and other gambling patterns? The result of this “Mathematica” therapy is striking: 80-90% of patients have been cured of gambling addiction forever.
I’m the best
Everyone has to prove themselves. I’m right, right? At least I do better at everything? Have you seen an old car with a high label on the back window on the road? This is a perfect example.
Everyone at the bottom is sure of his exceptionalism. This illusion alone attracts some players to a gambling table. This player knows all the game mechanics but is still confident that he can overcome the probability of beating the slot, probability theory, and the “casino always wins” laws. Perhaps the stack of rapidly melting chips convinces him, but in practice, it seems unlikely. Indeed, the belief of exceptionalism is not explained or refuted by logic. In this case, this man’s gambling psychology lies in the realm of irrationality.
Moreover, our confidence in our ability to control gambling addiction will doubt that “Gambling is not about me, it’s all about weaknesses but I’m the best, I always control myself.” Meanwhile, the same arguments are made by those who started smoking or taking drugs.
I’m still calling for that magical moment
S. Dovlatov once wrote in his memoirs: “Our memories are selective, like ballot box.” Indeed, he had long observed that memory permanently stores those associated with intense emotional experiences relative to less important events. And where else can we feel such an adrenaline rush in everyday life, except for a game table or slot machine?
Ah, that hectic feeling going through the actress! But what is most interesting: While winning and losing produce similar emotional experiences, the memory remembers the “winning” emotions more quickly, influencing the decision when considering whether to place another bet, go to the casino or stay home. In turn, the playhouse will try everything possible to correct the “rippled” moments in the visitor’s memory: congratulations from the casino, respectful attention, and free champagne will be offered to enhance the winner’s emotional experience.
It is noteworthy that novice casino employees often come to these numbers, especially young clerks. Oddly enough, their memory is also fixed to other players’ big winnings, and they ignore the far more common examples of bad luck. Many novice clients have an itch to take the player position at a table and pull the lucky Blue bird’s tail. Fortunately for them, this is strictly prohibited under casino rules.
Summary
Gambling psychology has several components. First of all, powerful emotions that you rarely experience in everyday life. Gambling is a great remedy for boredom and melancholy. The second component is the competition. With the dealer, with the other players, with the probability theory, with himself. Everything is to prove ourselves to the world: We are better than anyone else. We are not trying to complete a study on a complex subject like gambling psychology, but we have summarized the main results of a modern study. I hope an understanding of gambling psychology helps you to control yourself and your game with confidence.
