Compulsive Slots

I HAVE YET to meet a rich gambler, by which I mean someone who has made his fortune through gambling (give or take the odd lottery winner). If you talk to hardcore betters, as I have, you will find that they are happy to stew in a soup of contradictions. They feel certain that a big win awaits them, rather than the loser feeding the neighbouring slot machine. They believe that they alone have the gift to defy the odds. All the while, the evidence under their noses screams online casino gambling otherwise. They may have lost their homes, their families, their jobs — but they remain convinced that their misfortune will end with the Big One, a life-changing victory over the odds.

On the other hand, I have never met a poor casino owner. This discrepancy just doesn’t seem to figure in the mental landscape of a gambler. Now two psychology professors at Drake University in Iowa have described the skewed belief systems of problem gamblers in more detail. In a paper in the Journal of Gambling Studies, W. Scott Wood and Maria Clapham show that, not surprisingly, gambling addicts differ from occasional gamblers in their attitudes to chance.

In particular, problem gamblers believe much more strongly than the general population that they are in control. “Gamblers often display what psychologists call cognitive errors,” says Wood. “The first belief is an illusion of control. For example, they may believe that, if they watch slots closely and see one lose over and over, then the machine is ‘due’ for a payout. Or they may think that they have a particular skill in playing one particular casino game or another. Such beliefs are incorrect.” The second cognitive error is a belief in superstition. Wood and Clapham are developing a questionnaire to assess these two beliefs. They reckon that people who score highly are more likely to develop a gambling problem. Wood sums up: “The odds always favour the house. The more you play, the more likely you are to lose — and there is no skill, insight, or lucky charm that can change that.”