The Tension of Gambling
The gambler feels the need to act rational in the eyes of society.
He presents, therefore, 'logical' explanations for his gambling. The two lines that are commonly known are 'I simply do it - to accumulate more money,' and 'I get thrilled with this game.'
Gamblers who are not too pretentious admit that they find the strange tension they were, in the game itself.
Upon comprehending fully of this enigmatic tension is one of the crucial factors in determining the psychology of gambling.
An altogether depictive analysis of this thrill factor, however, would be almost empty.
Infamous as this sensation is to any person who gambles, it has not been precisely described in either scientific means or in abstract.
This is not coincidental, for it is a psychological frame of mind impossible to comprehend without enough knowledge of uncelebrated factors.
This tension is a hybrid -- part enjoyable, part painful; it can be compared to no other kind of sensation known to man.
The formation itself, 'enjoyable-painful' tension, shows the illogical principles involved. It is quite mysterious, to begin with, to achieve any kind of pleasure from assumptions when the outcome of the much-awaited affair is most likely, uncertain.
The average person does his best to steer clear of such painful uncertainties; but uncertainty is exactly what the gambler seeks.
A glib analyzation for this might be that he is counting on to win and therefore, that elated feeling in advance. Even if this were positive, it would still leave anonymous the presence of the painful aspects in the tension of gambling.
To appoint the painful factor to the fear of bad luck merely ends up a vicious circle. However, it remains the question - Why does the gambler take risks?
He looks forward to that break, and to the tension it brings. This is true, whether it comes to his mind or not, his feelings either conscious or unconscious.
The urge for this enigmatic thrill frequently overshadows the need to win. Even professional card players become unsuspecting victims of this urge from time to time, they gamble for its sake, and lose.
Casanova is a well-known example of the professional gambler who was a victim to this thrill-seeking itself.
Marked evidence of the predominance of the thrill factor was offered by a patient treated for pathological gambling - he recalled a game played by two people, and that he found the cat-and-mouse play financially advantageous, even an intelligent but amateur opponent could be assumed to play ten or fifteen games before getting on the trick.
After a while, though, it bore him. His words, 'There was no thrill to it.' Needless to say, once the tension leaves, the pleasure of gambling is abandoned.
The element of self-worth issues, win or lose, is of major importance, and one of the basics for that strange thrill.
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