Why Do Casino Games Get So Thrilling and Addictive?

Us humans love to think of ourselves as purely rational. There are countless books on philosophy and ethics that call upon using “pure reason”. But the lesson of life and class 101 roulette is that you never know and we can only guess.

But, the fact that we can reasonably ascertain that we can’t ever know something will never stop us from trying to gleam the truth. We are bound to be the main characters of our own story and because of that, we are certain that there is a higher power guiding and looking over us.

Heck, most religions exist exactly because we need something to exist beyond us. And this becomes very apparent in gambling. Even though we can mathematically calculate the exact chances we have of winning, our psychology will tell us that 2.63% is somehow winning odds.

While completely expected from a human standpoint, from a purely rational standpoint it should be weird how winning a single number in 101 roulette where the chances are even less than 1% is somehow more exciting than regular roulette.

God Lives Beyond Reason

It’s easy to reason things we understand. Nobody needs their sixth sense if they are doing mundane tasks where they know what the result will be. To have a sense of awe, we need to do things that are beyond our ability to calculate.

And, there are incredible benefits for our brain chemistry if we are able to survive and thrive in such situations. Gambling is a great example of this process because we want to believe how our luck will turn and we will come out on top.

This is the same thing as the psychology of adrenaline junkies where the thing we are seeking is the sensation of not really knowing what will happen.

When you are jumping out of a plane with a parachute, if you open it on time and everything is done correctly, the risk of injury is minimal. But, will everything be done correctly? Will the parachute open?

For poker, it is relatively the same. In poker, the deal is technically set once the deck is shuffled. We can know exactly who will have the best hand in the end. But, the players don’t see the deck and don’t know that. It is their belief that makes the game fun.

101 Roulette Rule: Nothing Risked, Nothing Gained

Even if something is completely out of your control and you can’t comprehend it, there is no thrill if there is no risk. Our minds work on rewards and the larger the expected reward the more chemicals will be released to our brain.

Even though we know the biggest chances to win in roulette are by only playing odd or even, the almost 2:1 odds are not as exciting to us.

Here is a full list of roulette odds:

Roulette Bet	European Roulette	American Roulette
Single number	2.70%	2.60%
Two numbers	5.4%	5.3%
Three numbers	8.1%	7.9%
Four numbers	10.8%	10.5%
Five numbers	13.5%	13.2%
Six numbers	16.2%	15.8%
Column	32.40%	31.6%
Dozen	32.40%	31.6%
Even bet	48.60%	47.4%

As we can see, the lower the odds the bigger the thrill. While someone can strategically play even bets or columns, the real games start when you drop under 10% of probable success.

There is a physiological reason why we love betting on the underdog, and we even prefer betting on ourselves as the underdog.

Balance in the Universe

The psychological impact of gambling is not restricted only on the anticipation of winning, but also the anticipation of not losing anymore. Instead of your desire to play diminishing once you lose, for a low of players, it grows.

We know that the odds in future games will be the same as in former games. But, we feel that the universe owes us a win. That everything needs to balance out.

This has saved our ancestors from depression countless times in the last couple of million years. We are the descendants of those who were correct in thinking a win is just around the corner.