I never understood how people can enjoy gambling or be addicted to it.
Yeah I get that it’s exciting, but spending money on actual goods and services can be exciting too.
If you find gambling using a $1000 exciting, wouldn’t using that $1000 on other things be even more exciting?
Winning money is only fun because said money can be used for fun. It wouldn’t really be a problem if it was points instead of currency. If what gives gambling its excitement is spending your winnings, just spend money from the get go.
If you’re not wired that way you simply aren’t going to “get it”, same as not really understanding any other addiction - at least in any way other than intellectually.
This is like the complete opposite feeling I had the one time I went to Vegas. I played slots for all of an hour and I felt sick at all the money I flushed down the drain, even though I ended up pretty much breaking even. I spent the rest of the time there just wandering the strip people watching and taking in the sights.
It’s the variable reward that does it. That’s also true for animals. Give a pigeon a button that when pressed gives sometimes nothin or some food and they go haywire and become addicted to pressing the button.
Then the money men saw it works the same in humans. Hence loot box mechanics everywhere. Press bottom and get variable reward. Whaddya know, some folks are really susceptible to this and hit that button like a pigeon.
Sports betting is the same, but with the illusion of skill around it.
Give a pigeon a button that when pressed gives sometimes nothin or some food and they go haywire and become addicted to pressing the button.
My dog goes nuts when I’m in one particular part of the kitchen because her treats are in one of the drawers, even though 9/10 times I’m doing something other than getting a treat for her. The payout is often enough that she puts on a show to try and get a treat out of me lol
We used to play poker when I was at university, but because we were all nerds we used to play for Pokémon cards.
It is fun but playing for money is a really bad idea because even if it’s all amicable and no one actually cheats it will still result in one person being happy with the outcome and everyone else being mad at them.
But I’m with you I’m much rather just spend money that I own rather than take a risk on it especially because I can do the odds. I’ve often thought I would rather play the stock markets than in a casino, the odds are better because there is actually an element of skill involved.
Gambling addiction is about the high like any other addiction. It comes down to brain chemistry, and personality. There’s the high from anticipation, and a second from the payoff just like every addiction. Gambling is just easier than most because it’s money, something we all have to use. Like food addiction, it’s something we all need to consume.
It’s basically a skinner box + the unknown, if I spend $1000 then I’ve spent $1000, but if I gamble $1000, I could win all this money, or I could lose it all, no one knows, and every time it’s new + dangerous. It also just ruins your perspective/ respect for money, because if you gained/lost 20k in an afternoon, what are you going to do go back to working for $20 an hour for half a year for what you made/spent in 2 hours?
I don’t gamble, I just spend thousands of dollars and several years on an education and hope I will be able to make more in the future and be able to support my family.
Both gotcha games and loot boxes start with the user wanting to use money to get items. The chance factor is just there to mask the cost since the user might just get a rare on their first try.
My point was gambling to win money isn’t like normal addiction cause you already start with what you want.
I guess it just taps into greed and the desire to always have more? Why spend the $1000 when that can become $2000? Wonder if gambling is more of a problem in our capitalistic system as we are all trained to be as greedy as possible.
you don’t get a real gambling addiction from losing, you get it from that one proper win.
get lucky winning 50-60k once (average yearly salery, for working class american) and it really fucks with how you view your own time. why would you spend 30-40hr a week all year just to make that again?
Oooh, that’s an interesting psychological study! You could asses people’s gambling tendencies and their political leanings, and look for a negative correlation between communism and gambling!
I’ve been gambling before and it was fun when I won money. The thing is I know how, with few exceptions with games like poker and blackjack (and only then if you’re skilled), you will ALWAYS lose more money than you win over long enough of a time period.
I’m a big, walking math machine, though, so I’ve been the person getting a little too tipsy at the roulette table and telling everyone exactly how probability works and that numbers are never “hot”. The roulette dealer was surprisingly amused.
Reading your comment, I’m imagining that the “likes gambling” trait has much overlap with the “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” trait. These are people who do not get excited from regular purchases because regular purchases do not strike them as a way to get out of their temporarily embarrassed rut.
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I never understood how people can enjoy gambling or be addicted to it.
Yeah I get that it’s exciting, but spending money on actual goods and services can be exciting too.
If you find gambling using a $1000 exciting, wouldn’t using that $1000 on other things be even more exciting?
Winning money is only fun because said money can be used for fun. It wouldn’t really be a problem if it was points instead of currency. If what gives gambling its excitement is spending your winnings, just spend money from the get go.
Idk, I just don’t get it.
It’s “intermittent” or “unpredictable reward” coupled with the addict’s brain wiring. The thrill and relief of a win is addictive.
If you’re not wired that way you simply aren’t going to “get it”, same as not really understanding any other addiction - at least in any way other than intellectually.
This is like the complete opposite feeling I had the one time I went to Vegas. I played slots for all of an hour and I felt sick at all the money I flushed down the drain, even though I ended up pretty much breaking even. I spent the rest of the time there just wandering the strip people watching and taking in the sights.
It’s the variable reward that does it. That’s also true for animals. Give a pigeon a button that when pressed gives sometimes nothin or some food and they go haywire and become addicted to pressing the button.
Then the money men saw it works the same in humans. Hence loot box mechanics everywhere. Press bottom and get variable reward. Whaddya know, some folks are really susceptible to this and hit that button like a pigeon.
Sports betting is the same, but with the illusion of skill around it.
That’s pretty much Lemmy too
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning_chamber
My dog goes nuts when I’m in one particular part of the kitchen because her treats are in one of the drawers, even though 9/10 times I’m doing something other than getting a treat for her. The payout is often enough that she puts on a show to try and get a treat out of me lol
We used to play poker when I was at university, but because we were all nerds we used to play for Pokémon cards.
It is fun but playing for money is a really bad idea because even if it’s all amicable and no one actually cheats it will still result in one person being happy with the outcome and everyone else being mad at them.
But I’m with you I’m much rather just spend money that I own rather than take a risk on it especially because I can do the odds. I’ve often thought I would rather play the stock markets than in a casino, the odds are better because there is actually an element of skill involved.
Gambling addiction is about the high like any other addiction. It comes down to brain chemistry, and personality. There’s the high from anticipation, and a second from the payoff just like every addiction. Gambling is just easier than most because it’s money, something we all have to use. Like food addiction, it’s something we all need to consume.
Same, but many people are wired very, very differently from you and I here.
The diversity of the human mind is truly the most wonderful and terrifying thing about our species.
It’s basically a skinner box + the unknown, if I spend $1000 then I’ve spent $1000, but if I gamble $1000, I could win all this money, or I could lose it all, no one knows, and every time it’s new + dangerous. It also just ruins your perspective/ respect for money, because if you gained/lost 20k in an afternoon, what are you going to do go back to working for $20 an hour for half a year for what you made/spent in 2 hours?
I don’t gamble, I just buy pallets of equipment at auction in the hopes that I can resell it for a profit.
I dont gamble, I just bid on abandoned storage units and hope for the best.
I don’t gamble, I just spend thousands of dollars and several years on an education and hope I will be able to make more in the future and be able to support my family.
That’s different though,
Both gotcha games and loot boxes start with the user wanting to use money to get items. The chance factor is just there to mask the cost since the user might just get a rare on their first try.
My point was gambling to win money isn’t like normal addiction cause you already start with what you want.
I guess it just taps into greed and the desire to always have more? Why spend the $1000 when that can become $2000? Wonder if gambling is more of a problem in our capitalistic system as we are all trained to be as greedy as possible.
you don’t get a real gambling addiction from losing, you get it from that one proper win. get lucky winning 50-60k once (average yearly salery, for working class american) and it really fucks with how you view your own time. why would you spend 30-40hr a week all year just to make that again?
Oooh, that’s an interesting psychological study! You could asses people’s gambling tendencies and their political leanings, and look for a negative correlation between communism and gambling!
I’ve been gambling before and it was fun when I won money. The thing is I know how, with few exceptions with games like poker and blackjack (and only then if you’re skilled), you will ALWAYS lose more money than you win over long enough of a time period.
I’m a big, walking math machine, though, so I’ve been the person getting a little too tipsy at the roulette table and telling everyone exactly how probability works and that numbers are never “hot”. The roulette dealer was surprisingly amused.
I think it’s because they think they’ll win more money. I’d be happy having fun while getting money at the same time.
Reading your comment, I’m imagining that the “likes gambling” trait has much overlap with the “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” trait. These are people who do not get excited from regular purchases because regular purchases do not strike them as a way to get out of their temporarily embarrassed rut.