Gambling falacies.

Fallacies are false beliefs. The "earth is flat", was a common belief for many years.

Gamblers commonly have gambling fallacies, some of which are:

• Past random results affect the future:  A coin tossed nine times 'heads' will either 'be a heads coin', or it will be 'due to come down tails'.
• Gambling wins are easy - gamblers are shown that wins often happen, the real ratio of wins to losses are disguised and hidden.
• Wins and loss events are equal - gamblers commonly count their number of wins and losses, as opposed to their amount of the wins and losses.
• Gambling can be used as a source of money - gamblers may talk of 'going to the gambling shop to get some extra money'.
• Skill and knowledge will affect the result disproportionately - a person who thinks they know about football may bet on a game or team they know nothing about.
• Making more effort at the gambling will bring better winnings - that placing a bigger bet will bring more winnings.
• Misunderstood laws of averages - a coin tossed will eventually average 50/50 heads and tails.
• On a 'role' - gamblers may think that they are on a winning, or losing, 'role'. 
• The money bet is 'not really lost', it is still 'their' money - gamblers may emotionally think a bet is not finished.
• Gamblers are commonly competitive, frequently successfully (not in gambling) - a feeling that if they bet more  they will win more.

Realities:

Gambling counselling challenges fallacies. Many gambling fallacies have logic - to the gambler - even if that logic is not valid.

It can be difficult to understand how the laws of averages do not apply to some gambling situations. A example is a coin toss. Coins do not have memories - they do not remember what previously happened. Each toss has a 50/50 chance of landing on each side. 
If a coin turns 'heads' nine times in a row gamblers may make illogical conclusions; either that it is a 'heads' coin, or it is due to turn tails. Past results have no impact on current results: coin toss, roulette wheel, etc. That makes sense to most people; some gamblers will dispute that.

Changing that false belief is a challenge for some clients.

Other gambling fallacies often have the same kind of logic to clients.

Our counselling process works towards clients gaining a changed viewpoint of their gambling tendencies. Client will gain reality of gambling and work to being a 'non-gambler'.

For an appointment, email, call or text: 07757 233386 UK. Email: info@counsellingworld.co.uk Or use contact page.