No one likes to lose – even pathological gamblers. And yet they keep on betting. If the house always wins, why roll the dice again? People addicted to gambling frequently report that, despite losses stacking up, the buzz keeps bringing them back to the card table or slot machine.

“I wanted to gamble all the time,” one former addict recalled toScientific American in 2013. “I loved it — I loved that high I felt.”

And recently, one Wall Street executive admitted defrauding family, friends and others out of $100 million to feed his habit.

“It was just a way for me to get money to feed a gambling addiction,” he told the court.

But if someone is ultimately losing money – perhaps even losing their job or house as a result of nursing their addiction – how can that high possibly outweigh the sacrifices?

The first thing to note is that people don’t just gamble for the prospect of winning. Mark Griffiths, a psychologist at Nottingham Trent University who specialises in behavioural addictions points out that gamblers list a wide range of motivations for their habit.

Even when you’re losing while you’re gambling, your body is still producing adrenalin and endorphins – Mark Griffiths, Nottingham Trent University

In a survey of 5,500 gamblers, the prospect of the chance to “win big money” was the strongest factor. But it was followed closely by “because it’s fun” and “because it’s exciting”.

“Even when you’re losing while you’re gambling, your body is still producing adrenalin and endorphins,” he says.

“People are buying entertainment.”

This is backed up by a 2009 study by researchers from the University of Stanford in California, who found that around 92% of people had “loss thresholds” below which they would not go. However, the fact that they lost money overall after visiting a casino, for example, did not necessarily impact their overall enjoyment of the experience.

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