r/todayilearned • u/thebigchil73 • 1d ago

TIL that the ‘high’ from gambling isn’t connected to winning - the dopamine rush peaks at exactly 50:50 probability. Gamblers get a rush when the roulette wheel is spinning but their pleasure is largely unaffected whether they win or lose.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12649484/
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u/GoRangers5 1d ago

Based on my own gambling experiences, I respectfully disagree.

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u/RobbinDeBank 1d ago

Neuroscientists and psychologists have been EXPOSED by the gambler GoRangers5 on Reddit!!!

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u/GoRangers5 1d ago

Maybe I'm just a responsible gambler and not an addict.

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u/ballsonthewall 1d ago

sounds like something a gambling addict would say

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u/GoRangers5 1d ago

But I am down in the dumps when I lose.

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u/Sawses 1d ago

That actually sounds kinda like the addictive quality of an abusive relationship. Not commenting on the health or lack thereof of your gambling behavior, just a thought occurred to me.

Abusive relationships are hard to get out of specifically because they aren't always bad. The good days are made all the sweeter for being rare and interspersed with bad days. The psychology of it is fascinating, and I'm glad I learned enough about it to run from my one almost-abusive relationship before she got her claws into my psyche lol.

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u/Taraxian 1d ago

The confusion here is that dopamine doesn't make you feel pleasure, that's serotonin

Feeling happy and content isn't what dopamine is, dopamine is the molecule that makes you feel excited, engaged, "locked in"

The whole point of the distinction is that the idea people are motivated just by "feeling good" is really oversimplified and there's a lot of people who end up locked into doing stuff that doesn't make them feel good -- like the reason it's called "doomscrolling" is you don't actually feel good at any point in the process and yet you can't stop doing it

Cigarettes are a drug that mostly affects the dopamine system and not serotonin, so it's not like smoking weed or drinking booze, it doesn't actively make you "feel good", it just makes you feel not-bored and not-tired and not-checked out

Phone addiction is more like cigarettes than any other drug because it rarely gives you actual pleasure the way food or sex or molly does, it just makes you feel like you're "doing something", the feeling dopamine gives you can best be described as the absence of the anxious feeling you get when you're bored and "nothing is happening"

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u/danawhitesthrowaway 1d ago

Nah, I have the same experience. I strongly suspect this research is specifically conducted using a population of gambling addicts and not people who occasionally gamble or only gamble when they're confident in their odds because those three things are incredibly different.

I only gamble on MMA because it's the only sport I'm confident in my ability to reasonably predict the outcome and spot occasions when the odds don't match with my own evaluations of the probable or even just slightly more likely outcomes. I've either came close to breaking even, or have profited on nearly ever card I've ever bet on just through smart placement and hedging. The last three cards I've bet on I've net just around $5800 only putting down around $500 in total bets (though granted, that's a particularly successful run and a significant portion of that came from leveraging bonus bet offers on upsets, like Gable getting starched by Sean Sharif in r1 which I made $2300 on a $100 dollar bet @ +2200, and $255 on a $5 dollar bet @+5000).

I'm absolutely buzzing after a decent win, and in a complete slump when I don't break even (even if it's not that bad of a loss).

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u/TheSympatheticDevil 1d ago

Ok then, why is it that you as a gambler engage in playing a game for money where the rules are rigged against you?

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u/Crackadon 12h ago

As a former winning poker professional of 6 years, I’ve seen countless degenerates coping, and a very small handful of advantage players across casino games/sports betting.

This guy is coping lol. It is rare when Vegas messes up their sports betting odds. The only long term winners in sports betting are anomalies, and mostly took advantage of old systems that are no longer in place. You Ofc have your short term winners, rich people who bet only the superbowl or someone that hit big on an unlikely parlay, but to be a long term winner in sports betting is extremely difficult.

Sports betting isn’t terrible if you spend all your time hunting mismatched lines, but those days are pretty rare and you still have to prove those lines are indeed mismatched which 99.9% can’t.

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u/GoRangers5 1d ago

Oh I stay away from casino games, your boy knows college football.

3

u/TheLowlyPheasant 1d ago

Even if your thinking is faulty, "knowing" college football enough to consistently beat odds makers is different than a slot machine or even blackjack where you know luck has to be with you

2

u/OnMyNerves23 23h ago

Oh yeah? Name five college teams?

Kidding, I know college ball and I’m obsessed with it. Watch almost every single game, highlight, podcast etc, and I was never a consistent gambler on CFB. So more power to you.

1

u/Wowhowcanubsodumb 20h ago

uga -20.5 auburn who you got

1

u/GoRangers5 16h ago

Staying away from that one, but if I had to pick, it would be Auburn because the Dawgs are coming off an emotional victory and could be looking ahead to the Cocktail Party.

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u/lapideous 1d ago

If you genuinely understand a game, it’s not gambling anymore, it’s skill-based.

Like how Steph Curry isn’t relying on luck to hit a shot from midcourt. He won’t hit every time, but it’s still not luck when he makes it.

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u/scameron1 1d ago

I disagree unless you’re in like the top 1% of sports gamblers. Spreads and odds are set up in a way for you to lose and if not, lose slowly over time

2

u/lapideous 1d ago

The bigger problem is the books banning you if you demonstrate your sharpness.

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u/Taraxian 1d ago

Right, if the bet actually does have a positive ROI for you then that means it's objectively a bad bet for the person you're betting with, which means they have no reason to do it unless they're the one who's stupid or addicted

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u/lapideous 1d ago

It shouldn’t be legal for books to only win, imo. If they didn’t set the line right, that’s on them. Of course match fixing then should be even more illegal, if it’s presented as an actual competition of skill.

Give me meritocracy or give me death! 🔼

1

u/JackPoe 23h ago

They're just making better bets.

1

u/scameron1 1d ago

Which in and of itself is extremely difficult to do

1

u/Whole_Mongoose1854 8h ago

It’s probably even less then 1 percent, casinos(and now apps) are very good at not losing long term. I’d estimate a good 20 percent of gamblers think they are the 1 percent, and another 20 percent think they WILL be soon, just trust me bro.

1

u/Ezwazwaz 1d ago

This is a bad analogy tbh

0

u/TripleDoubleFart 16h ago

I only engage when the expected return is positive.

I've been gambling profitably for 6 years now.

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u/calinet6 1d ago

Were you a gambling addict?

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u/PIE-314 1d ago

You're wrong. Read the book Molecule Of More

1

u/ChaosToTheFly123 1d ago

Yes, winning is where all my dopamine lands

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u/Crime_Dawg 1d ago

Agreed. Hitting 7 on craps deflated but hitting the button is insane

1

u/ahhowwitburns 1d ago

When I've bet too much before it's definitely the opposite of pleasurable. Gut- wrenching dread and the urge to vomit. Less intense but still there on smaller risks.