Research highlights brain's poker flaws

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by Change | 22 Jan 2010

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The brain is often unable to offset a heavy poker loss against a series of much smaller wins, new research has discovered.

The more someone experiences a series of small wins in poker, the likelier they are to suffer a significant loss.

This is according to a new study by Cornell University, which revealed that the more hands players win, the less money they are likely to end up with.

An analysis of 27 million poker hands revealed that multiple wins are likely for small stakes, but if this trend continues a player will eventually suffer a heavy loss.

The findings are of concern for players who may have an addictive personality, with researchers warning that the brain often cannot understand how one loss can be of detriment to their game, no matter how large it may be.

"People overweigh their frequent small gains vis-a-vis occasional large losses, and vice versa," explained sociology doctoral student Kyle Siler.

He went on to say that the findings help to explain how humans "handle risk and uncertainty".

This may be a reason why people eventually seek gambling addiction support, with a significant minority of gambling enthusiasts finding themselves in serious levels of debt.

Separate research from the University of Minnesota published last month suggested that pathological gambling can be treated with medications able to raise inhibitions and decrease urges.

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