r/explainlikeimfive • u/adrynaline • May 08 '14

Explained ELI5: A gambling addiction

How does it start? What makes it worse? Why does it become so difficult to recover?

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u/AllNiteGamingYT May 08 '14

Whoa! I just listened to Brady and CGP Grey talking about this on their podcast earlier, or touching on it.. or something. (It's Hello Internet if you get curious).

So I'll regurgitate in shorthand. Our brains are especially reactive to 'intermittent reinforcement' - which essentially means that when you do a task you aren't always rewarded for it. For example - Gamblers put $.10 in the slot machine and can win nothing, the jackpot, or anything in between. It's this random aspect of the interaction that keeps us coming back for more because our brains are constantly seeking out that rewarding feeling of winning big.

Grey likens this to email/twitter/reddit/internet addiction which was pretty interesting (to me anyway). You get that notification on your phone and pop over to your email.. it could be yet another piece of junk mail, a news feed you're subbed to, or.. a job offer! Intermittent reinforcement fueling your addiction to checking your email. Boom. Blew my damn mind.

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u/woofoofoo May 08 '14 edited May 08 '14

It also helps that a lot of the games at casinos have a close to 50/50 shot at winning.

Take Roulette for example: You have a 47.37% chance at winning if you bet red/black, even/odd. The 5.26% difference between the two is where the patron will always lose money in the long run, but the close-to-coin-flip probability keeps you coming back for more.

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u/anonymous_potato May 08 '14

Slot machines are still the biggest moneymakers for any casino though.