The psychology of gambling is a topic that most amateur gamblers tend not to pay much heed to. However, as any seasoned gambler will have worked out early on in their hobby, your psychological approach to a casino game can be just as important to your chances of winning as luck and strategy. The human brain has evolved to assess the relationship between risk and reward in a way that is not always representative of the real probabilities that dictate the likelihood of different outcomes, in life as well as in casino games.
In this post, we will take our readers through some of the most common psychological phenomena that can be seen in players across the spectrum of casino games.
1. The Gambler’s Fallacy
The gambler’s fallacy is probably the widely employed example of faulty gambling logic that exists. Afflicted gamblers the world over, it is the mistaken belief that a particular event is more likely to occur if it has not happened for a while previously (or vice versa). An example of the gamblers’ fallacy in practice may be the unfounded belief that a six is due to be rolled in craps for the simple reason that a six has not come up for a while when in reality, the probability of rolling a six does not change at all as the game goes on.
2. Poker Tells
Even those who have never played the game of poker will probably know a little about the ways that players read each other using “tells”. This fascinating psychological aspect of the world’s most popular card game consists of players studying each other’s body language in order to read them via their subconscious and involuntary tics and movements that they make in reaction to opportunity and the hand that they have been dealt. The best players will have an excellent “poker face” and react in the same way no matter what stage of the game they are in. Less experienced players are capable of being read by their opponents.
3. Winning Streaks
Many amateur gamblers subscribe to a belief in the existence of a winning streak. This faith emerges after having won a few hands in a row at poker or getting 21 in blackjack several consecutive time. Through a trick on the human brain, we can start to feel that momentum is on our side when, in reality, our success is to do with nothing more than pure chance. Beware of going all-in on a winning streak, as you stand a higher chance of losing all your money than you might think.
If you are gambling in one of the excellent games from a live casino Canada has available today, you may want to keep some of these phenomena in mind. If you learn how to dominate your own mind as well as to read those of others, you may be able to increase your chances of winning. After all, when gambling against the odds, you need to take any advantage that you can find!
