Why do gambling addicts often believe they can “win back” losses ?

[JoyMarsha]

Addiction to whatever is not a good thing to happen to us as humans because it is in every human's habit not
to accept failure as an offer to what they are addicted to, even when the odds of getting a win from that are against them. They will keep trying till the day they get it right(win). And that doesn't end there, it is a continuous process to be engaged in that because that's what we have got our mind and attention into, and our mind has been programmed to have wins no matter how hard it is.

That makes it an unwise approach for any of us not to be addicted to anything like gambling because it will be hard to pull out from that

[DiMarxist]

Why do gambling addicts often believe they can “win back” losses despite statistical odds being against them? Is it because a weak mind or lack of will power that they have these doubts ?

That is just the believe. Winning back the lost funds and chasing to get them back is the beginning of gambling addict for those who have not yet fully addicted and it is the continues way of addiction for those who have already addicted. And what causes the mindset is the pain of letting it go. When they loss, it pains them and they hope to win back their loss. And in the process of chasing the lose, they would win some few games which would gave them more morals to continue the chase and more lose will be secured.

[hedgeh0g]

Why do gambling addicts often believe they can “win back” losses despite statistical odds being against them? Is it because a weak mind or lack of will power that they have these doubts ?

That is just the believe. Winning back the lost funds and chasing to get them back is the beginning of gambling addict for those who have not yet fully addicted and it is the continues way of addiction for those who have already addicted. And what causes the mindset is the pain of letting it go. When they loss, it pains them and they hope to win back their loss. And in the process of chasing the lose, they would win some few games which would gave them more morals to continue the chase and more lose will be secured.

Yes, small wins do boost the confidence of such players. However, I don't allow myself to relax completely in the game, because I understand that this could give me more confidence, and the next step could be making unnecessary bets. In any case, we all want to believe in the best for ourselves; it's fundamentally human, and that's why we strive to do something, to strive for something. But we must remember to sometimes set limits for ourselves to avoid stumbling, for example, by limiting losses per day or week.

[Obulis]

Very simple. ordinarily, every one wants that hope of a come back in life endeavor. Addicted gambler would use the hope of winning to cover up there irresponsible attitude towards gambling. Some do this with obsessive imagination that makes them target high odds that will enable them  hit that one big win that would cover all their losses.

[Hardyrobust]

Why do gambling addicts often believe they can “win back” losses despite statistical odds being against them? Is it because a weak mind or lack of will power that they have these doubts ?

That is just the believe. Winning back the lost funds and chasing to get them back is the beginning of gambling addict for those who have not yet fully addicted and it is the continues way of addiction for those who have already addicted. And what causes the mindset is the pain of letting it go. When they loss, it pains them and they hope to win back their loss. And in the process of chasing the lose, they would win some few games which would gave them more morals to continue the chase and more lose will be secured.

you are right when people gamble with what they can't afford to lose it will be hard for them to let go of such amount of money. This were the mindset of chasing after losses sterm from. Gambling with money that is meant for daily need with the mindset of winning more money also leads to chasing after losses because once we lose this money the pressure of winning it back will always be there.

[Makus]

They keep trying to recover even when they know that the odds are against them because they find it difficult to accept their losses. when gamblers don't accept their losses they always end up chasing knowing that it's a 50/50 thing. This is one of the dumbest things anyone can do but due to desperation they lose all form of logical reasoning at that moment when they start chasing losses. winning back losses is something that is never guaranteed the risks of doing is very high. Some gamblers even go as far as using the martingale betting system to quickly recover forgetting that there's a chance that they might lose multiple times if they keep trying

[Leahized]

Why do gambling addicts often believe they can “win back” losses despite statistical odds being against them? Is it because a weak mind or lack of will power that they have these doubts ?

Those who are addicted to gambling, they always gamble for more money. On the contrary, they lose most of the time and do so because they are mentally weak. But we should keep ourselves disciplined and gamble, so the chances of getting addicted will be very less. No matter what situation we are in we should keep a cool head and use thinking power while gambling. And our biggest mistake is trying to get back the lost money, because the casino will never be in our favor. So we have to accept defeat.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Because in their internal way of thinking they believe that they always have that hope and they don't lose it, it's a mistaken thought, because in the casino, in the game the house advantage will  Always prevail and addicts don't believe in that,  or they think that they can beat it, that they can be heroes.

[Grace333]

Why do gambling addicts often believe they can “win back” losses despite statistical odds being against them? Is it because a weak mind or lack of will power that they have these doubts ?

That is just the believe. Winning back the lost funds and chasing to get them back is the beginning of gambling addict for those who have not yet fully addicted and it is the continues way of addiction for those who have already addicted. And what causes the mindset is the pain of letting it go. When they loss, it pains them and they hope to win back their loss. And in the process of chasing the lose, they would win some few games which would gave them more morals to continue the chase and more lose will be secured.

I do not really see it as weak mind or lack of willpower either. Most times it is emotions controlling them. Losing money pains a lot, simple. And accepting that the money is gone feels like accepting defeat, so the mind starts looking for a way to fix it.

That is where the chasing starts. They will be like, just one more game and I will get it back.  Then maybe they win something small, and that tiny win messes with their head again. It gives them hope and confidence, like they were close, so they keep going. Meanwhile, the losses are quietly piling up.

So it is not that they do not know the odds are bad, it is that the pain of letting go is stronger.

[Ishicryptic]

Why do gambling addicts often believe they can “win back” losses despite statistical odds being against them? Is it because a weak mind or lack of will power that they have these doubts ?

Believing that they can win back loses is what keeps addicts going, without that strong believe they wouldn't reach the level of addiction, as they keep believing they will keep chasing loses. It is possible to win back loses but we shouldn't dwell on it, when you lose you should move on, if you win another time and it covers for the loses you should take it. When you are desperate to recover loses that is when you can do everything possible to continue gambling even if it means selling off your property and borrowing. There is need for a total self control when it comes to gambling, if you don't have it you will most become an addict.

[Versatile_choice]

Because in their internal way of thinking they believe that they always have that hope and they don't lose it, it's a mistaken thought, because in the casino, in the game the house advantage will  Always prevail and addicts don't believe in that,  or they think that they can beat it, that they can be heroes.

You're right when you said that it's a "mistaken thought" I'm about to agree with you because the reason why  it's a mistaken thought it's because this hope/ or feeling of recovering from their losses don't happen, they keep giving themselves unnecessary hope. Some times I used to imagine how a gambler who have lost millions of $$$ to gamble will still hope to get this whole money back? This is more like a fantasy to me honestly because there's no way you would get it back, so the earlier we understand that getting our loses back its very hard the better for us.  For me I don't have this hope of recovering from my lost because I know it's almost impossible.

[purple_sparkles]

Because in their internal way of thinking they believe that they always have that hope and they don't lose it, it's a mistaken thought, because in the casino, in the game the house advantage will  Always prevail and addicts don't believe in that,  or they think that they can beat it, that they can be heroes.

You're right when you said that it's a "mistaken thought" I'm about to agree with you because the reason why  it's a mistaken thought it's because this hope/ or feeling of recovering from their losses don't happen, they keep giving themselves unnecessary hope. Some times I used to imagine how a gambler who have lost millions of $$$ to gamble will still hope to get this whole money back? This is more like a fantasy to me honestly because there's no way you would get it back, so the earlier we understand that getting our loses back its very hard the better for us.  For me I don't have this hope of recovering from my lost because I know it's almost impossible.

I think that the main thing that prevents people from accepting a loss is their own pride. They do not want to appear as losers in their own eyes, which is exactly why they are ready to engage in all kinds of foolish actions just to save face. In such moments, critical thinking clearly switches off, and in the pursuit of self-assertion they drive themselves into even greater trouble and debt.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Because in their internal way of thinking they believe that they always have that hope and they don't lose it, it's a mistaken thought, because in the casino, in the game the house advantage will  Always prevail and addicts don't believe in that,  or they think that they can beat it, that they can be heroes.

You're right when you said that it's a "mistaken thought" I'm about to agree with you because the reason why  it's a mistaken thought it's because this hope/ or feeling of recovering from their losses don't happen, they keep giving themselves unnecessary hope. Some times I used to imagine how a gambler who have lost millions of $$$ to gamble will still hope to get this whole money back? This is more like a fantasy to me honestly because there's no way you would get it back, so the earlier we understand that getting our loses back its very hard the better for us.  For me I don't have this hope of recovering from my lost because I know it's almost impossible.

I think that the main thing that prevents people from accepting a loss is their own pride. They do not want to appear as losers in their own eyes, which is exactly why they are ready to engage in all kinds of foolish actions just to save face. In such moments, critical thinking clearly switches off, and in the pursuit of self-assertion they drive themselves into even greater trouble and debt.

You are right though, but those who will engage in telling their own self this type of lie often end up in a bad state in gambling, when one loses money in gambling and in other for them not to feel bad lie to their self, they will not consider even knowing what made them lose that money and how to not make that type of mistake again..

Well, speaking of mistake, I think this is more common with trading though since a gambler can't consider their loses in slot or casino games as a result of making a mistake, but I think gamblers do make mistakes in sports betting of which I myself have in previous times made a couple of 'em.
It is best we always tell ourselves the truth at all times concerning our gambling outcomes, this will help us not only make better decisions but also help us to gamble more carefully to minimize our loses.

[VashaUdacha777]

Hi 

I think it’s because all players are optimists. That’s probably how a gambler’s psychology works: even after losing all their money, they’re sure that tomorrow they’ll definitely win it back.

I had a similar situation recently. My friend lost his salary betting on football. The next day he came to me to borrow money so he could place another bet and try to win it back. I’ve never seen such a confident person, so convinced in his own skills as a tipster. For almost an hour he was telling me that Bayern would 100% beat Mainz. Of course, I didn’t lend him any money.

[rachael9385]

Have you ever been addicted or close?

This is when chasing losses is most frequent as a phenomenon. But you don't necessarily have to have reached life ruining levels of addiction. Maybe no one has noticed or you are just by yourself and can hide it. Buy still you can win or lose in a way that will affect your psyche. So this is when it happens. When you have the false pretense that you can change things by gambling more.

when gamblers get to the point where rhey think that they can only change or fix the mistakes that they made is by gambling more but this only makes them more addicted to gambling. if you think about it, it actually makes no sense to lose and try to get it back by gambling more, but like you pointed out this happens when their psyche is already affected, they are obviously not thinking clearly

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Gamblers found in this category for addiction often believes that the more they keep on trying the closer they get to their own luck, not knowing that it does not work in that kind of pattern with the casinos, while if we are to have the privilege of reaching out to others that fall in the same category of addiction to win back their losses, all we could learn from them is how they have been always disappointed each time they made the same struggle.

[Orpichukwu]

Very simple. ordinarily, every one wants that hope of a come back in life endeavor. Addicted gambler would use the hope of winning to cover up there irresponsible attitude towards gambling. Some do this with obsessive imagination that makes them target high odds that will enable them  hit that one big win that would cover all their losses.

Everyone has the hope we don't just want it, and when we are already on a losing streak, it takes us to be disciplined before we can convince ourselves of that belief that we can actually win it back, and that discipline is what someone who is already addicted to gambling doesn't have, which makes it difficult for them to defeat those feelings.

[wiss19]

Gamblers fallacy!!!

When you are playing heads or tails, and you face 10 times heads, then you think the odds of 11th one being tails is more likely, because you think every time it's heads back to back, the chances of being tails finally is bigger, but the reality is that if you flip it 100 times and 100 times it's heads, 101th one is still just 50-50% heads or tails, nothing more.

That type of fallacy makes gamblers lose a lot of money because they also think they will finally start to win.

[Bright0515]

Why do gambling addicts often believe they can “win back” losses despite statistical odds being against them? Is it because a weak mind or lack of will power that they have these doubts ?

Addicts don't always believe that they can make the money that they lost back they know the risks involved but they go ahead to take it because they cannot accept their losses, this is the main reason why so many gamblers chase losses. like the question you asked, it can sometimes be connected to having a weak mind, not being able to control themselves. chasing losses is a choice and every gambler can decide to avoid it if they are disciplined enough. some gamblers chase not to even recover but because they are addicted

[blockman]

Let's not be one-sided that it's only the gambling addicts think that they can win back the money that they have lost. Because even beginners and the usual gamblers, we all do believe that it's always possible to take back what we have lost. But that will be a challenge if we try to chase them because it's not as easy as it can be. We'll go through several breakdowns and even more losses if we keep on chasing them. For the record of most gamblers, not addicted ones, the chasing of losses have become the very reason why we continue. Because of that wrong thought.