Near Misses Keep Them Playing

When you are playing a slot machine how often do you look at the reels and think that you almost had it that time, and proceed to put in more money to see if you can get it for sure the next? This is part of the reason why slot machines are so popular. Players look at the reels and think that if they could get two of the three that they needed, why not try again because they are probably on the brink of getting all three.

That near-miss effect is one of the things that slot machine developers play on for their clients. The slot machines are programmed to do one of their near misses 30% of the time, which is optimal for keeping gamblers coming back for more. In the players’ minds they have already almost won, so why not try for the real thing?

They have also found that if they stop one reel on the highest paying target on the slot machine that it gives players confidence and they continue playing. Well, one group decided to take it to test and see what else they could find – and the University of Cambridge came up with some interesting ideas about slot machines. They had 15 volunteers let them scan their brains and then let them play. The brain showed that near misses register as a win in the brain.

This led the gamblers to play more money into the slot machines in order to replicate that “win.” Those that thought that specific colors or numbers could increase their chances had an even higher score on the amount of “win” that they felt – it was more intense than the others. Those that had a high sense of control also felt it more intensely than those that didn’t.

 

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