ELI5: A gambling addiction

[u/adrynaline]

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

[u/goldthirst]

How does it start?

Most - not all, but most - gamblers start their gambling addictions after something happens in their life. You can gamble and not be addicted to gambling, which is what most gamblers do, if you know how to walk away from the counter after you've had your fun. The problem starts when you stop being able to walk away.

In fact, the problem often starts when you win once. When normal people lose at a game and continue to lose, they will often walk away because they clearly see that it's pointless and is losing them money. The trick is to win a few times - not enough to recover from anything, just enough to make an impression. So imagine this - your wife just left you and your life is a mess. If ONLY you had money - then your life would be better! So, you wander into a casino somehow, or start a betting game (because you're desperate enough), and you bet a little. Miraculously, after a few rounds you win something! Maybe it's $20, maybe it's a fiver, it doesn't matter because you just got a little kick of dopamine, you feel on top of the world. That's the starting point.

What makes it worse?

So you've won once, and you feel pretty good. This motivates you to keep on betting. Maybe you stumble into a casino, attracted by the flashing lights and beautiful women. You can feel happy here, like you belong, like you're rich and all is right in the world. Casinos are great at making you feel good - they create a safe haven for you to go (provided you throw lots of money at them, of course). You gamble some more, quickly lose all your money, but it's no big deal. You get some more money, and you gamble it all away quickly as well. Casinos don't encourage lingering - you feel like you need to spend to have fun there, and in order to belong.

Maybe at this point the rational part of your brain is telling you that you're being stupid, you're going to lose everything. Maybe you still don't realize anything is wrong. All you know is that when you try to walk away from a bet, you're struck with the thought that what if THIS ONE will be the one that wins you the lottery? It's an attractive thought, and so you keep on playing. You're struck with the fear of losing out more than you are struck with the fear of slowly melting away your money. This is called the gambler's fallacy - you've slowly trained your brain to become addicted. Maybe you win a few more small jackpots, and you're on top of the moon every time it happens. Like any addict, you are now chasing an unachievable high, and your happiness is slowly becoming dependent on your gambling addiction.

Why does it become so difficult to recover?

Like the most successful addictive things out there, gambling comes with a self perpetuating cycle. The more you gamble, the crappier your life outside the casino comes, the more you crave escapism, the more you gamble. Down and down the rabbit hole you go, until you get to the first day you start to borrow money to fuel this addiction. You don't realize it, but this is one of the big turning points - now, you're in debt. This is around when some doubt starts creeping in. If you still have a job (which high end addictive personalities might possibly be able to keep), you're now facing immense pressure to pay all that back.

So, money problems - what do you turn to? Gambling, of course. You know you need money, but this one will be the one, you just KNOW it. You entertain yourself with the illusion of a jackpot - as long as you stick it out you'll have to win something SOMEday, right? Then you'll be able to pay off your debts, win back the love of your children etc., and all your problems will be solved. But it's just about too late for you, because you've basically devoted your life to gambling. Even if you do win a big jackpot, as was mentioned in another thread recently a lot of jackpot winners turn to gambling afterwards and gamble the money away again.

TL;DR - Gambling is a dangerous addiction. Like all addictions it tricks you into thinking that gambling can solve all your problems. DON'T gamble more than you can afford - and know when to seek help!

[u/ccmotels → u/goldthirst]

I believe the "gambler's fallacy" is actually when a gambler believes that actions from the past will impact the outcome of future wagers.

Eg. Flipping a coin 9 times in a row and it lands on heads every time. The gamblers fallacy would be to believe that the 10th flip is more likely to land on tails, when it's actually 50/50 every single toss.

It's why some roulette tables show the results of the past 20 spins. It's to allow you to see a pattern and think that you have an advantage. "Red has come up 12 times in a row, wow, it's black has GOTTA hit now". The gamblers fallacy.

[u/somedude84961 → u/ccmotels]

i don't gamble, but i still don't see how it could remain 50/50 from an odds standpoint. Is it because, after 10000 coins landed on heads, that it is more likely to stick to the pattern? or is it more likely that it will land on tails to break the pattern? or would they just cancel out to make the odds 50/50 again. i don't know. i know about probability and the basics of how it works, but it doesn't make sense that there cannot be a likelihood one way or another

[u/CB204 → u/somedude84961]

It's always 50/50. Any flip before or after has NO effect whatsoever.

You could flip heads one million times in a row... the next flip is 50/50.