Study Finds Gambling Near-Wins Inspire More Gambling
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have found that sometimes losing when gambling can stimulate impulses to keep playing as much as winning. Dr. Luke Clark of the Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience Institute at the school determined that a near miss in gambling may lead to impulses to keep playing.
Dr. Clark and his colleagues tested activity in brain areas which had been found to link to risk and reward stimulation. They found that certain areas of the medial frontal cortex were activated both by winning unexpectedly, and by almost winning.
While the subjects said they found close misses even more unpleasant that losses which weren't close, the tests revealed that the near misses led to greater impulse to continue gaming. The result was most pronounced when subjects felt they had some control over the game, whether that control was illusory or real.
The results apply to casino games like blackjack and craps, where deciding how to play cards or handling the dice give the feeling of some control. Even more affected would be sports gambling, an area in which players feel they can interpret data to give them an edge, frequently losing to what is perceived as "one bad bounce."
The data may be an indicator of how problem gamblers develop compulsions to play after losing repeatedly.
Dr. Clark wrote in the psychiatric journal Neuron, "Gamblers often interpret near-misses as special events, which encourage them to continue to gamble. Our findings show that the brain responds to near-misses as if a win has been delivered, even though the result is technically a loss."
