I used to be apart of Stanford’s undground poker scene when I was a freshman.
I feel like it’s very common for college students, particulary people that work in tech or finance, to get addicted to the game of poker. I used to play poker with Stanford’s underground poker group my freshman year and it was obvious that some players were addicted to gambling their money. I was somewhat able to experience this addiction first hand when I went all in with about $70 and lost it all.
Obviously losing my money wasn’t the addictive part of the game. The addicting part is wagering alot money in hopes you make even more money, that small moment in time after you put in your money and wait for the results (similar to the small high you feel when you flip a coin and are waiting for it to land). The only difference between poker and flipping a coin is the risk involved and the sense of control over the outcome. In poker, you stand to gain/lose money, and there are ways to know/predict the outcome. For example, a very easy trick to predict the probability of getting the card you need to make you hand is called the 4-2 rule. If you need the turn (4th card) to be a spade, and you know there are 9 spades left in the deck, simply multiple 9 times 4 to get 36, so a 36% chance you get the card you need (time 2 if you’re on the river or 5th card, hence the “4-2 rule”).
This simple mechanic of calculating your chances of getting the card you need makes you feel like you have control. It makes you feel like you know something your opponent doesn’t so that you have an advantage. In some capcity, knowing the 4-2 rule might make you win more often, but there’s no guarantee. The 4-2 rule and other mechanics like it are just an illusion of control because you can never know for sure if will win or lose.
I say that the only real control you have in poker is when you decide to sit down at the table or not. If you decide not the play, you have control because you know you won’t lose or win money. But if you sit down to play, you should understand that you no longer have any control, cards are dealt randomly and knowing some mechanics will never guarantee you to win money.
An example of how this illusion of control contributes to addiction happened during one poker session. It became evident that players attributed their successes and failures to a combination of luck and skill. A player would lament their lack of luck “damn, you got lucky” while others firmly believed in the existence of lucky streaks “I’m hot baby”. Interestingly, even when luck played a significant role in determining the outcome of a hand, players often attributed their victories to their own skill. Some players would rebuy for hundreds of dollars after blaming their lost money on luck, but when they win money they explain it with their skill.
The game’s reliance on probability and randomness, combined with the psychological allure of control, makes it a potentially dangerous activity for susceptible individuals.
