Common Beliefs and Myths Surrounding Gambling

Illusion of control

When you believe that you control an outcome that is uncontrollable. Attributing success to skill and failure to bad luck is a misleading thought process that is common in many people, and not just amongst people who gamble.

Normalising behaviour

People experiencing harmful gambling may overestimate the number of people who behave as they do, thinking “lots of other people gamble just as much as I do, so it can’t be that bad.”

Ignoring the odds

People who gamble may ignore that the house edge makes it mathematically unlikely to win in the long term.

‘The gambler’s fallacy’

People tend to look for patterns and expect events to be predictable. Dice, roulette wheels, slot machines, bingos and lotteries are all random events: the outcome of these games cannot be predicted or influenced by the players

Superstitions

Some people who gamble mistakenly believe they can improve their luck by repeating superstitious habits falsely connected with past wins. Wearing a ‘lucky t-shirt’ or ‘playing their lucky numbers’

Money does not solve all problems

Most commercial gambling activities offer infrequent large wins and frequent small wins. The player will then keep gambling in the hope of hitting a big win, ignoring the true odds of the game.

Forgetting the law of averages

Although short winning streaks are common, long winning streaks are extremely rare. People who appear to win more frequently than other people have usually played
more often.

Confusing ‘often’ with ‘memorable’

Wins are memorable because they tend to be larger and more exciting, though less frequent, than the smaller, more regular losses. People who gamble may remember their wins better than their losses, and therefore believe that they are ahead when they are actually losing.

Early wins and occasional rewards encourage false hopes

Most commercial gambling activities offer infrequent large wins and frequent small wins. The player will then keep gambling in the hope of hitting a big win, ignoring the true odds of the game.