Science of gambling

Science of Gambling
David Brill looks at the psychological, biological and social factors that drive people to gamble.
Gutshot is London’s first dedicated poker club and now the biggest of its kind in Europe. In a little over two years it has acquired some 15,000 members, expanding from a few tables in a dingy basement to take over the spacious bar complex next door. The success of Gutshot is symptomatic of a wider trend – and it’s not just poker that is on the rise: gambling is everywhere and spreading fast. Britain is on the verge of opening its first ‘super-casino’, in addition to over 130 existing casinos. Fruit machines, blackjack, roulette – even bingo is becoming more popular.
So why do people gamble? What makes it so enjoyable? Why do some people become addicted while others simply enjoy a flutter on the horses every now and then? And could drug therapy be the answer to problem gambling?
John Ioannou is the card room manager at Gutshot. With a firsthand experience of gambling, Ioannou understands the emotion that accompanies success at the poker table. “The elation of winning, obviously, is great. It’s a buzz you can’t tell anybody about unless they’ve actually done it themselves. You’re on cloud cuckoo land for a little while.”
But losing also involves its fair share of emotion. Ioannou remembers feeling sick after losing up to £1,000 ($1,898) in one session. Gambling involves abandoning self-control and he says that even if a gambler limits the amount of money he will gamble, once at the poker club, his mindset often changes. “You go to the card-room, you do your 200 quid ($380), pull up another 200 quid, then another 200 quid. Now your mind’s not straight, it’s not as clear as when you left home”, he says.

Gambling psychology
So what exactly is going on in a gambler’s mind? Professor Peter Collins, director

of the Centre for the Study of Gambling at Salford University, does research related to ethics and gambling, problem gambling and internet gambling. “Why people gamble is a good and puzzling question,” he says. “On the face of it, it looks very strange that people should stand in front of machines and pour money into them, knowing that they’re going to lose.”
But gamblers don’t seem to be thinking of the financial loss when they’re in front of a slot machine – what draws people to gambling seems to be the thrill of playing and the hope of a big win. Collins says that if you asked a gambler how much he hoped to win and then offered him that money provided he didn’t gamble, the gambler would refuse. Similarly, if you told him he could gamble but there would be no money involved, it would take the fun out of it and he wouldn’t be interested.
Different forms of gambling each have their own appeal and someone who plays casino games gets a different kind of thrill from someone who buys lottery tickets. Collins says that the buzz experienced from playing a casino game is similar to the thrill of riding a rollercoaster. In contrast, buying a lottery ticket fuels a person’s financial fantasy life. “I sometimes describe it as soft financial pornography,” he says. “It spices up the fantasy of being suddenly and fantastically rich.”

Neurobiology and problem gambling
Tax calculations suggest that 78% of the British population gambled at some point during 2005. Yet the rates of problem gambling in this country are relatively low, standing at less than 1% of the population.