Gambling is a spectacle that stirs imagination and fuels an ecstatic vision of wining, but when it comes to high-stake gambling, it presents a whole other array of problems.
Inside the World of High Stakes Gambling: True Stories and Winning Ways is a fascinating look at the intricacies of all aspects of high stakes, from proposition bets to professional gamblers who prey on politicos by buying bonds speculated to default, legalised gambling promoted by politicians as an economic remedy, to players hooked on wagering.
Leaderboards
Leaderboards, as a mechanism to motivate and inspire competition, are a well-intentioned tool often deployed in the gambling arena. By stoking our insatiable appetite for status and accomplishment, they inspire the players to bet bigger amounts of money in order to move up the leaderboard and stand apart in the crowd, while at the same time reward people in the long run, for milestones and personalised milestones as part of their religiously gradual psychological end-game.
While leaderboards can promote a sense of engagement in gaming, they also tend to induce an unhealthy sense of competition and hostility among gamers who are vying against one another to secure the top spot on the list. This aggressive pursuit of high scores often contributes to unpleasant behaviour and less-than-cordial social interactions online, which can spoil the experience for others. Long-term gamers, in particular, have expressed concerns about this, so it is important for counsellors to pay attention to what is going on when it comes to gaming and how – with clients at least – it might impact their ability to balance this hobby with their other commitments and responsibilities. It is also important to be on the lookout for features that might increase the risk of developing a disorder. High-stakes gambling is one such feature.
Psychology
The dangers of betting money on such games are very real, with gamblers standing to win – just as well as they could lose – vast sums of money, but that wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if professional counsellors didn’t have to step in to help addicts rebuild their lives after the games are over.
Mental resilience – remaining calm under stress, even when placing bets of astronomical proportions – is key. And the ability to read opponents as they sense their trepidation or eye twitch when they realise they may have miscalculated is essential.
However, superstitions are just one of the psychological impacts of gambling that can contribute to contrary beliefs – for example, the gambler’s fallacy (that the result of several past events can influence those in the future) can sustain irrational betting – and rituals are central to the gambling experience: slot players see Vegas as a locus of ritual activity, and many believe in lucky charms and totems that bring luck.
Risks
The stakes involved in high-stakes gambling can be enormous and, unlike low-stakes betting, have the real prospect of incurring significant monetary losses; moreover, the initial buy-in and bets and raises often require deposits that can run into hundreds or even thousands of dollars. In addition, betting often becomes habit-forming.
In addition to bankroll management, the high-stakes gambler must have self-confidence and self-control to keep him afloat on his extended streak, especially if he’s on a run of profitable sessions, and he must understand when he’s made enough, so that if he continues gambling, having just seen his profit shot up, he will soon turn his profit into a loss, and here it is admirable that he had the good sense to take reasonable profits and then stop, before greed gets the upper hand and turns everything upside down in an instant.
Rewards
People are fascinated by the adrenaline of high stakes gambling and the thought of winning big, but the cost of gambling also has to be considered, which can be monetary, but also physical. excessive gambling can lead to mental illness and addiction and cause family issues.
Professional gamblers may use statistical analysis, game theory, bankroll management (to minimise major losses), the awareness of cognitive biases in play (giving rise to gambler’s fallacy and other irrational decision-making), and cognitive dissonance awareness (to remain calm under pressure – cool in a hot gambling situation).
Regulation
While gamblers also take their share of risks because they place considerable stakes on uncertain results in every single game, robust regulatory environments insulate consumers and ensure game fairness while providing vital streams of revenues for communities that fund public services and promote cultural endeavours.
Yet regulation must also strike a balance between consumer protection and unfiltered access. Too much regulation risks channelling consumers to unregulated operators, while too little risks accruing wider social costs, such as higher rates of problem gambling and spiralling debt.
Gaming regulators need to monitor developments in the industry and increase communication with the industry itself. They also need to enforce know-your-customer (KYC) rules, requiring real ID to establish the identity of players, so that synthetic identity fraud doesn’t spread as a national problem in the United States or elsewhere.
