Intermittent reinforcement is the psychological term for the phenomenon that turns rational people into compulsive gamblers, who carry on gambling – and losing – in the full knowledge that they are harming themselves and their loved ones, financially and emotionally.
Only a fraction of the people who gamble develop problems, but as gambling in its various forms becomes more accessible and pervasive, thanks to the internet, the number of problem gamblers will rise, as will the number of shattered homes this addiction generates.
Intermittent reinforcement, according to one online definition, is “the delivery of a reward at irregular intervals. The subject does not receive a reward each time they perform a certain behaviour or according to any regular schedule, but at seemingly random intervals.”
This, according to psychologists, “produces both the highest rate of responding and the greatest resistance to extinction,” when compared with, say, being rewarded regularly and consistently. In other words, winning money intermittently and irregularly (even if you’re losing most of the time) results in an increase in gambling activity, and this behaviour shows high resistance to change.
Only a handful of professional gamblers who can masterfully assess the risks make money from gambling. And they stick to games such as poker, where the risks are more in their favour and where skill is involved.
Everyone else will lose money, perhaps not in the short-term if you’re on a lucky winning streak, but over the long term. This is because the odds are stacked against you, literally, and in favour of the casino or betting operator. To restate a truism, the only real winners at a casino are the casino’s shareholders.
Rise in online activity
Having said that, shareholders in brick-and-mortar casinos have reason to be worried. The rise in online betting, especially since the onset of Covid-19, has been phenomenal.
Note that, although many people do it, using offshore online casinos, where you can play slots, roulette and card games online, remains illegal in South Africa. However, the same cannot be said for sports betting.
I was amazed when watching the recent Olympics and other sports on TV at the dominance of sports betting companies in advertising and sponsorships. This phenomenon has not gone unnoticed by heavyweight financial institutions such as Capitec, which flagged the issue at a recent media briefing. According to news reports, Capitec has noted the surge in sports betting in South Africa, saying “it is something that the country has to have a conversation about”. A widespread concern is that, because it is so accessible through smartphone-friendly apps, online betting is reaching a younger market.
The latest annual report of the National Gambling Board, for its 2022/23 financial year, reveals how the industry had changed over the past four years.
- Gross revenue from the gambling industry as a whole in South Africa rose from R32.7 billion in the 2019/20 (pre-Covid) financial year to R47.2bn in 2022/23, an increase of over 44%.
- Gross revenue from casinos fell during the pandemic and has not yet recovered. Revenue was R18.4bn in the 2019/20 financial year; it plunged 50% to R9.1bn in 2020/21 and rose to R17.3bn in 2022/23.
- Betting revenue (including horseracing and online sports betting) was R8.8bn in 2019/20. It grew exponentially in the following three years, bringing in almost three times that amount, R23.7 billion, in 2022/23. This represents about half of total gambling revenue for the year, up from 27% in 2019/20..
Problem gamblers
The South African Responsible Gambling Foundation is a not-for profit company funded by the gambling industry. Through its flagship programme, the National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP), the foundation provides free treatment and counselling to individuals negatively affected by gambling and partakes in public awareness programmes. Over and above these programmes, the Social Interventions Unit provides counselling and support to vulnerable groups: children, teenagers, the elderly, and social grant recipients.
According to the National Gambling Board’s 2022/23 annual report, the NGRP received 64 239 calls for assistance, of which 2 299 people requiring support were referred for professional treatment. There were four categories of referrals: problem gambler (1 435), self exclusion (790), family referrals (46) and relapse clients (28).
Self exclusion is a legislated programme whereby the gambler requests to be blocked from access to casinos and online sites for a period of six months, during which he or she receives counselling.
The worrying thing about these statistics is the high numbers of problem gamblers among younger people: of the 2 299 referrals, 35% were in the 25-35 age group and another 32% were in the 35-45 age group.
Seek help
On its website, the SA Responsible Gambling Foundation has a self-check quiz to determine whether or not you have a gambling problem. If you think you do, contact the foundation for help.
- Website: https://responsiblegambling.org.za
- Phone: 011 026 7323
* Hesse is the former editor of Personal Finance
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