Psychology Of Sports Gambling
Gambling has been around for thousands of years, and at one point in time we do ask ourselves these questions “why do people gamble” When a lot of people constantly lose their money?” , “What motivates us to gamble more and more?’ We all want to know what is the underlying Psychology of Gambling? The growth of Gambling Industry, as well as more and more Online Casinos, denotes that it has always been successful. It is not possible if it has nothing to offer to its users. There is much more than the thrill to win big. Many factors can contribute to a gambling addiction, including desperation for money, the element of chance, the societal stand and much more which a lot of people don’t know. Unfortunately, once a gambling problem takes hold, breaking the cycle is difficult.
Why don’t you see it for yourself? I bet at least one of the gambling reasons listed below would surprise you:
Professor of psychology Thomas Gilovich was the first to investigate the hindsight bias in gambling situations. In an experiment that attempted to establish why American sports bettors stick to losing betting strategies, he observed how bettor's interpretations of their own successes and failures influence their subsequent betting behaviour.
1. Taking Risks is likely to be Exciting
There are a lot of people on the planet who might deny being a risk taker, however, I think where it counts within every one of us there’s something that connects with the excite of taking a risk. It gets your heart rate beating, your mind dashing and your brain firing on all barrels. The uncertainty and the waiting give you so much anxiousness and an enormous load of feeling that is most likely to overwhelm you. While you wait as the ball spins, you get a natural high because it is fun and entertaining. This is the same principle amusement park works on- you feel involved, you are scared, you are anxious and at the same time excited. The rush just gets to you- no matter how little. It’s these little things in life.
- – Clinical studies show that sports betting has a higher addiction potential than playing the lottery. – Approximately 750,000 people aged 14-21 have a gambling addiction. – The families of those suffering from gambling addiction are more likely to experience domestic violence.
- This statement is as old as the world, but it is true and sin not to use them. Stick to the right psychology and the profits from betting will not take long to wait. Suggest reading: the 8 principles of a successful player, How to win in sports betting and earn 21 tips for betting on football, 5 mistakes of a beginner, Where do sports betting.
- Psychology of Gambling: Why Do People Gamble? Gambling Online, Online Casino October 13, 2018 by admin 0 comments Gambling has been around for thousands of years, and at one point in time we do ask ourselves these questions “ why do people gamble” When a lot of people constantly lose their money?”, “What motivates us to gamble more.
“Even when you’re losing while you’re gambling, your body is still producing adrenalin and endorphins”
-Mark Griffiths, Nottingham University
2. You get a chance to escape
We are not saying that you should gamble to escape from your problems, but when you gamble you are feeling so many things in your brain and heart that you feel that everything is going great. You concentrate on the game and you get a break from your everyday life. We do sometimes like to turn our brain off because it gives us time to escape responsibility and recharge our batteries before diving back into real life and that’s why there are so many emotions. Most gambling players whether it’s real money online or in the casino hall are just in it for the fun. They don’t want big jackpots and rewards or win the craziest hand to call it a lovely night. The different atmosphere, classic games, and the perfect music are all that’s needed.
3. Society and all the Glamour
The problem of compulsive gambling prevailing in the society from early days and the media has portrayed gambling by using visual cues that only depict style and glamorous. Casinos are shown to be extremely classy, where high- society folks come up very perfectly dressed, wearing the most expensive brands. The stylish and the fashionable aspect of the gambling is felt by the players when they actually gamble as they find themselves in the same scene doing similar things. Also, the people around the casino would make you feel very posh, and that is one major reason people keep going back to Land-based Casino. It is a reason why no one would miss going to a casino on their trip to Las Vegas. It is an experience in itself and people do pay for the experience.
4. Interacting with Different People
Most people are introduced to Gambling by playing cards with their friends and family, and its a game where a lot of laughs and feelings are shared. It is a social event, always. In a casino, you get to interact with so many people over a drink or not, that you can find the vibe very appealing. People come from different backgrounds to take just a break, and everyone just seems to fit it. When everyone is in a very participative mood, the best conversations tend to happen and you don’t even need to find a topic.
5. The Thrill of the Win Big
It is extremely thrilling thinking that there is even the slightest chance to hit a jackpot and win crazy amount of money. Who wouldn’t like to spend small pennies in hope for the biggest returns? According to surveys, it is shown that people still love betting on the house despite knowing the odds were against them. One reason revealed by them that they gambled to win and win big. And there’s a reason behind why it feels so good. When gamers continue to lose, their brain starts to prime themselves for the win! Although this is very unhealthy gambling habits, it is one of the reasons why people continue to place their money sometimes even without setting a budget.
People tend not to care only about the money when they are playing at a casino. It’s more about how entertaining it is and how it is an experience in itself like a day at the amusement park. It’s not a source of income and they enjoy playing at a casino because of the rush, unpredictability and the escape. The amount they end up winning is just an added bonus which keeps the game more engaging and entertaining. So in a casino, it is more likely that even when you lose, you feel high.
At Dharamraz, we consider Online Casino Games to be an entertainment activity. If you think your gambling has become a problem, please go through our gambling help, as it is very important if gambling disrupts your day to day activity.
Is there any other reason you think your brain loves to gamble? Let us know in the comments below.
Psychology of sports betting is one of the most important features of success in sports betting. Look at the most common distortions
23/09/2019
My personal psychological goal for sports betting goes like this:
You can indeed set your own goal, but let's pretend for a minute you agree with the one I set. How do you know you have reached that goal? When you created emotional distance and watch the game only through the eyes of pure chance and probability, you are there.
You don’t play the “would be nice/fair for them to win” mental game anymore and follow your football betting strategy.
On the way to reach the goal there are some, often very well hidden psychological distortions that might and will come across. Now let us look at the tricks that your mind plays with you.
You get the feeling you are a great bettor
Pride comes before a fall. Have you ever heard this statement before? Some of you could have experienced it the hard way. This is often the case if you are having a period of good results. Not seeing this as a matter of luck, you are getting self confident without any good reason.
The good period makes you feel happy but guess what. You are prone to risk more if you are happy! There is a study on betting and happiness supporting this statement. I am not trying to put the good ones among you down, but try to be honest and answer the following question just for you.
Are your betting skills really so great? Is there anything special about your betting know-how that gives you a long term advantage, or do you see luck as your skills? Try to answer this honestly using facts only!
Please look at the following Ted Talks video which might give you some more insight to this topic.
Confirmation bias
...makes you ignore what you should pay attention to. Confirmation bias is about ignoring a clear evidence. You see obscure signs that the chances for the match results are different than your prediction, but you simply ignore them.
The main problem is that we would rather seek the evidence that supports our point of view instead of being critical. We are prone to ignore the bad news. There is some more about cognitive biases in the following video. They are certainly useful in sports betting as well.
Cognitive distortion
We all have a tendency to look at what happened in the past through the eyes of today's knowledge. A very good example is the boxing fight between Antony Joshua and Andy Ruiz. Online bookies favored AJ with 78% (decimal odds 1.28) and the underdog Ruiz chances were supposed to be only 26,6% (decimal odds 3.75). Most of the punters (including me) were basically the same opinion. I even considered the odds on Joshua’s win too high as Ruiz was supposed to be just the journey-man for AJ.
The arguments were supporting it:
- AJ never looked so strong as he did before this fight
- He trained really hard
- He is humble and respectful
- On the weigh in I just couldn’t take Ruiz seriously / talking about the aesthetic of how a sportsmen 'should' look like
For those who watched the fight, this was a blow of surprise. From my point of view (and from the point of view of many boxing experts), AJ had no chance. This was not about Ruiz using his 26% of a chance to win the fight. This was about the chances being predicted completely wrong by the bookies. From what I think, AJ had only a chance to win by some accidental suckers blow. I see it as 10% AJ win and 90% Ruiz win.
And coming to the point. I sound so smart now, right! Now it is more than obvious that AJ was 2 levels below Ruiz. Now we hear many experts saying “AJ should lose 2 stones, to be quicker”. “Boxing is about being fast and not looking like an armored tank”... Because everybody is smart now...
This is called cognitive distortion. As we have knowledge about the results of the past event, now it is easy to find arguments supporting it. The crucial thing is to find them before the match. The cruel truth in this case was: I don't really know anything about boxing (watching every now and then doesn't count), I had no sports prediction tools quantifying my feelings and my bet was a great example of how NOT to do it.
You ask a good question
...but end up answering the wrong one. Let me explain this with an example. You are trying to guess the result of the match between Barcelona and Roma.
This might be really a good example since most of the punters know FC Barcelona even in detail and many have heard of AS Roma. So what would you do after you decide, this might be a good match to bet on? You most likely look at some past results of both teams and then just answer like this “I know FC Barcelona much better and think they have a good chance to win, so I will bet on them”.
Psychology Behind Sports Gambling
Many times the following scenario happens. The original question “How the match will end” ends up with an answer “I know this one or that one team better and I will bet on them”. Try to observe this mental process and whenever you see in your mind something like “Not sure from my analysis and betting model who will be the winner, but I know the team X better, so I will bet on that”.
This match was by the way played in August 2018 and AS Roma and ended up winning with the score 2:4.
So what is the right answer supposed to be?
It should sound like this:
Psychology Of Sports Gambling Book
I did a deep analysis of both teams, results in leagues, I checked the shape of players and the news. Then I compared the odds coming out of my football betting model with the odds from the online bookmakers.
You see the real odds being pushed towards the statistical chance by e.g. 30% in favour of FC Barcelona. This is the chance to bet like a bot, since a value bet has been discovered.
Time consuming? Indeed, but keep in mind that you are competing against dedicated teams of professionals. Besides that, we are offering you our football predictions, where we do the time consuming job for you. You can also use our calculator to create your own football odds. The second option is more time consuming, but the process is fully in your hands.