Ironically, certain coping mechanisms, used in part to sustain participation, in the long run usually result in the player's losing money, rendering continued participation problematic.
The following is a description of of these less than successful mechanisms:
Many losing gamblers bet on more than one horse in a race or purchase multiple combinations of exotic or daily double tickets, a technique known as 'saving'.
Bettors who regularly use this technique appear to share an intolerance for losing, tried to save following a few continuous losing races to boost their chances of collecting a winning ticket, albeit for less financial gain.
These horse players thus cope with the psychological pressures of an infrequent reward pattern by increasing their short-term rewards.
The practice of saving, if used regularly, virtually guarantees long-term financial loss.
Most racing experts agree that in the long run, the effective financially gratifying method is to set these wagers straight, that is, to bet and only to win and only on one horse per race.
Using this method, the gambler may lose the majority of races but stands to gain enough from an occasional win to offset prior losses.
Behavioral research has empirically demonstrated that individuals tend to short-term rewards more attractive than long-term rewards. The appeal of saving techniques to horse race bettors find it hard to exchange the comfort of the impending benefit for achieving a larger, profitable gain.
It is awfully bothersome to be impoverished race after race, and perpetually waiting for a skewed reward structure to pay off.
Gambler's attempts to improve the reward structure even in the short run, often prove unsuccessful.
Some bettors, unsettled by losing, take rash risks, letting the need for instant reward preclude all logic.
A similar behavior pattern can be identified in the practice known as 'hitting the tables'. Gamblers with access to a casino may, in the midst of a losing streak or after a particularly disheartening loss, try to recoup their waste on good money instantly by playing craps or twenty-one.
Some of the calm and steady race handicappers--- transform into daring casino gamblers.
Horse players, who barely wages that exceeds fifty dollars can be seen betting a fairly good amount of a hundred green bills--- on every card turned, or on a dice thrown, hoping for a fortuitous profit in the end.
Such table activity is rarely successful, and the resulting losses can be substantial and traumatic.
What happens when a gambler's coping mechanisms prove totally inadequate? An analysis of such situations illuminates the origins of problem gambling, and challenges traditional views of the progression of problem or compulsive gambling.