Near Misses Feel Like Wins to a Gambler's Brain

May 5, 2010— -- Coming up one cherry short of the slot machine jackpot still provides a rush for a problem gambler, even though this near-win technically still is a loss.

"When you look at the machine and the first two [matching symbols] come down, the excitement and adrenaline builds up for that final one," says Donna Zaharevitz, 66, a recovering gambler.

"Even if you don't win, you know it's going to hit [eventually], because all the near misses keep you more entranced in the machine itself," says the Connecticut native, who has been gambling-free since 2001.

This near-miss rush, while mild among recreational gamblers, is almost as intense a rush for the brain as an actual win for those with gambling problems, according to new research from the U.K.

Though the near-miss rush has been observed among gamblers for decades, a University of Cambridge study offers a biochemical explanation for why compulsive gamblers get such a rush from the game even when they are losing.

Using fMRI scans, researchers compared brain activity in a casual gambler to that of a compulsive gambler when they played a computerized slot machine. They found that problem gambler's brains reacted to near-wins almost as strongly as with actual wins, with the areas of the brain associated with reward lighting up.

In this way, problem gambler's brains reward them for almost winning, and "this encourages more and more play," says Dr. Luke Clark, the lead author on the study.

Clark says that this research may help explain why problem gamblers keep playing when they are losing, while causal gamblers will give up and go home.