Gambling, too, seems to be in our genes and hard-wired into our brains, which might explain why such a potentially ruinous behavior is so common.
Even monkeys gamble. A study that measured monkeys' desire to gamble for juice rewards found that even as potential rewards diminished, the primates acted irrationally and gambled for the chance to get a wee bit more.
A study published in the journal Neuron last year found that almost winning activates win-related circuitry within the brain and enhances the motivation to gamble. "Gamblers often interpret near-misses as special events, which encourage them to continue to gamble," said Luke Clark of the University of Cambridge. "Our findings show that the brain responds to near-misses as if a win has been delivered, even though the result is technically a loss."
Other studies have also shown that losing causes gamblers to get carried away. When people plan in advance how much to gamble, they're coldly rational, a study last year found. But if they lose, rationality goes out the window, and they change the game plan and bet even more.
Here's one of my faves taken at the DCC at my all-time favorite hotel, the Executive West in Louisville. Players of all caliber from around the world came together with a common goal: ACTION! Those were the good 'ol days for sure.![]()
I prefer tournaments because I think there is more pressure in tournament pool. This shot, right now means everything. Lose and you go home. When gambling there is always the next game, the next set. You can play all night. Plus all the big time gambling I see no one is playing for their own money. Where is the pressure in that?
Good poll.
To put it another way, which do you think would get more YouTube views:
Highlights of this year's APA
or
Dippy v. Scooter for $100,000
My thoughts exactly. Play bad for fifteen minutes and you go to the B side. Play bad again and you're out. That's pressure. Oh, you beat one champion, here's another. Beat that one, too? Here's another. Wanna be the champion, you'll have to beat many champions and players having different strengths, different weaknesses, and different playing styles.
Bring all the stars of the game to one place. Last man standing is the best. Wanna win? It takes almost non-stop excellence. There sure are a lot of guys who can win in a gambling match, but just a few have the pedigree to beat champion after champion when they have no control over which champions they will have to beat and in what order. In the end, those select few who can triumph over truly elite fields are often called BCA Hall of Famers, and that's just as it should be.
Great pool is about sustained excellence. You can win a gambling match withotu it, but you've got no shot to win a prestigious tournament without it.