The Motivation of the Gambler: Is There Something Wrong With Casino Players?
Have you ever tried casino gambling? Do you know someone who’s been on it for years and you can’t really figure out what is so special about those casinos? Well, in that case, you might want to try diving deeper into the psychology of casino gambling since there are numerous reasons and even chemical processes in our brain standing behind our desire to gamble. As of now, the five-factor gambling motivation model is the predominant scientific paradigm explaining why people keep on coming back for more and why some people just cannot stop betting their money. Let’s get straight into it!
Socialization and Self-Actualization
The first group of players engages in casino gambling behavior because they enjoy social interactions that take place there. Casinos are swarming with people, there are people of all ages and social statuses, so it is easy to have a good conversation there, get to know new people, and make some friends. The same effect can be achieved in mobile pokies for real money in New Zealand in case they support live chat with other players. So, the developers of online and mobile casino games know exactly how casino psychology works and use it to attract the players. Communication with other people, winning in front of a crowd of people, and all of that make a casino a perfect place for socialization and self-actualization, which makes many people come back.
Amusement
Having fun and being entertained is the second main reason why people get into gambling. Some people just love the process of gambling, all those flashy lights of the casinos, drinks, people around, beautiful women, handsome men, and all of that good stuff combined with the opportunity to win real money make these places so popular. This is a sort of entertainment where you don’t necessarily have to pay, this is a sort of entertainment where you can win and go home a rich person. That is exactly the reason why it might be so tempting for people to go to a casino: money, high stakes, drinks, new people — all of that looks and feels like a forbidden fruit to some people, and that is why they keep on coming back for more.
Monetary Motives
Surprisingly, the analysis of gambling behavior shows that money is not the main reason why people gamble. This is just one of the reasons and not even the major one at that. Still, the chance of winning actual money in the real money slots makes people come back again and again. This is simple: let’s say you pull out a lucky nugget real money jackpot once, and now you know you can play slots for money and win even more money. Easy, right? And after that, you’ll probably want to win more just because it is so fun and easy. People love game apps to win real money too because it is a convenient way to win cash fast, so money is one of the main reasons as to why people play casino games either online or in the actual gambling places.
Avoidance
As much as with video games, some people engage in gambling to escape some traumatic experiences, avoid boredom of their daily life, and just hide from their real-life problems. This is the most problematic aspect of online gambling psychology because in that case an individual clearly has a problem that needs to be addressed. Studying the psychology behind gambling, the scientists came to realize that avoidance is the most critical problem that gets people into serious financial and psychological troubles. That is why you need to be careful about this happening to you or people you care about. If a person gets into gambling as a mean of avoidance, this might become a highly dangerous habit that can ruin one’s life. Unlike with other factors that are more positive in their nature, you need to be extra careful if you feel like a casino is a way to escape the reality for you or someone you care about.
Excitement
This is the most basic level of behavioral psychology in casino gambling — excitement and stimulation. In most cases, the casinos are flashy and colorful, and that’s the first thing that makes your neural system overload. You see all of those blinding lights, you hear those sounds, you feel the atmosphere of the place, and you get dazed and excited, almost as if you were drunk. Add free alcohol here, and here you have it — a client ready to spend tons of money. You get excited and more susceptible to what the casino offers: you start to consider going hard on that money, spend more, play bigger, and before you know the meaning of high stakes decisions in gambling, you’ve already spent hundreds of bucks. That is why most professional players would recommend you play sober at all times, stay focused, and not go crazy on your bets.
Wrap Up
So, as you can see, there are tons of reasons as to why people gamble and keep on indulging in their gambling hobby again and again. This is a kind of entertainment that works on so many levels and triggers so many aspects of your personality, you can hardly avoid its impact on your psyche. This impact does not necessarily have to be negative, you can enjoy your experience, have fun, and even make some money if you are mindful of what you are doing. The secret to enjoying gambling and having it benefit your life is being focused and not losing control over decisions you make — that is the key to enjoying the game, not getting lost in it, and maybe even winning some money.