While the first two aspects (when to stop and how much stake to bet) have been examined previously, the current research is the first large-scale study to examine the effects of wins and losses on the speed of play in real gambling. Using a large player-tracking data set (>2500 players, >10 million rounds) collected from the online commercial game Mystery Arena, we examined these three behavioral expressions of within-session loss-chasing. Furthermore, within a session, loss-chasing can be expressed in the decision of (1) when to stop, (2) how much stake to bet, and (3) the speed of play after winning and losing. Gamblers may chase losses between multiple sessions or within a single session. However, loss-chasing in real gambling contexts is multifaceted, and some aspects are better understood than others.
The tendency to continue or intensify gambling after losing (loss-chasing) is widely regarded as a defining feature of gambling disorder.
