If you are someone who enjoys worldwide gambling and the thrill, then you probably got into it with the hope of enjoying yourself while earning money. This rush for excitement accompanied by money as a reward leads to overindulgence making people go overboard and creating a feeling of dependence. The brain is then slowly conditioned into asking for more and more of these rewards despite the possibility of loss. In other words, a game of pleasure and leisure turns into a game of compulsions wherein the anticipation overpowers the risks. So let us understand the games that your mind plays with you while you place some bets on sports.
The “Almost” Effect
When betting on sports events online, European gamblers over-justify their loss through the “near-miss, almost-win” reasoning. This includes, for example, betting on a certain horse or the outcome of a football match, when the winning result is just slightly different than the one you bet on. Near-misses are more stimulating than losses wherein players become more committed to placing bets. The mechanism of gambling addiction works like this: when events like these happen, your brain has a very unique response to it wherein it increases the desire to play and keep gambling till you get your guess right. Thus, a constant release of the brain chemical called dopamine then takes place resulting in increasing an individual addiction to gambling.The Thrill of Uncertainty and Chance
One of the trademarks of gambling is its uncertainty wherein individuals never know when they are going to change their tomorrow – both through losses and wins. The role of rewards is crucial to understanding this. Just like we humans enjoy surprises (related to something we like), gambling does the same with money. What happens is that your happy brain immediately releases the same chemical that is released right after any enjoyable event or activity that you are a part of. The anticipation of that uncertain potential win then becomes the foundation for future sports events and eventually an addiction.The principle here is very similar to that of consuming drugs and alcohol or even chocolate. This has been seen through several types of European and foreign research on brain activity wherein the same areas that light up during enjoyable activities also light up at the thought of winning a game of gambling. Further study has shown how continuous exposure to this thrilling uncertainty changes one’s innate response to loss as well thus, confusing the brain to release dopamine even when losing. As a result, individuals constantly chase the loss by continuing their betting rather than being disappointed.
Appealing Interfaces
Well, it wouldn't be fair to say that it’s just rewarding that makes gambling addictive. The environment around us also has a big role to play. European sites for sports betting often use bright colours and upbeat music accompanied by stimulating sounds that are bound to capture your attention even if you want to look away. But are these cues that effective?The answer is YES, 100%. Studies reveal that EU gamblers are more inclined to gamble in an attractive environment in comparison to just the urge to play, even when it’s paired with a near-miss or reward uncertainty factor. The small jingles and appealing voice commands increase the player’s excitement eventually blinding their senses. They fail to perceive the environment and wrongly assess their losses, creating an illusion of wins and also increasing the duration and speed of your play.
The Illusion of a Winner
All EU sportsbooks make sure that the house is at an advantage in comparison to the players. To make sure this system is not disrupted; many betting sites have now added electronic versions of sports events with alluring sounds and colourful lights enabling the players to engage in a series of tries or spins.In other words, while some bets are lost, other bets are won, creating the illusion of a winner. The losses are then disguised as wins, making the gamblers overestimate the number of true wins while lighting up the brain's reward pathways. Betting on sports events online also seems to cause the effect of “dark flow,” a trance-like state during which gamblers get wholly absorbed by betting, sometimes for hours on end.