Atlassino Academy · Money and risk · Lesson 3 of 3
Chasing losses
When the money set for the evening is nearly gone, the pull to get it back is strongest. What chasing a loss looks like, the signs to notice, and what keeps the plan.
You set 100 units for the evening. 80 units of it is gone, and there is an hour left. What is the next move?
The short answer
Play the 20 units as planned, or stop. Both keep the evening inside the amount you set at home. The pull to put in more and get the 80 units back is called chasing losses, and it is the one move that most likely makes the evening dearer rather than the loss smaller. The 100 units is only an example amount for an evening, not a suggested one.
A bar for the money set for the evening, mostly used up, and three ways on: two of them inside the amount set at home, and one of them going past that amount.
80 units gone. 20 units left, and an hour.
- Play the 20 units as planned.Inside the amount set at home.
- Stop now, with the 20 units kept.Inside the amount set at home.
- Go past the plan to get the 80 units back.Chasing a loss.
Two of the three ways on stay inside the amount set at home; the third is the one this lesson is about. Amounts are in betting units, not pesos: a unit can stand for any amount, and the arithmetic is the same at any scale.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
The hardest moment of an evening is rarely the first bet. The hardest moment is when the money set at home is nearly gone, and a voice says that one more try would put the evening right. That voice has a name, and once the voice has a name it is easier to hear for what it is.
What chasing a loss looks like
The responsible-gambling pages of Argentine provinces and operators describe the step this lesson is about in a few words: money is lost at play, and the player keeps trying to get it back by playing again, or by playing more.
- Playing onThe money is lost, and the play goes on to get it back.
- More betsMore is bet to recover what is gone.
- Past the amount setThe evening runs on past the budget set before the first bet.
Three shapes of one step: each of them goes on with the evening in order to recover what the evening has already cost.
The same pages give their advice as briefly: do not fall into the trap of trying to recover losses, do not chase them, do not try to get them back with more bets.
Two of them add a warning about when to play: not in a time of emotional crisis, because self-control drops then.
The signs to notice
One operator’s responsible-gambling page says that problem gambling can develop gradually and that recognising the signs in time is what matters for asking for help, and it lists the signs. A provincial program adds longer sessions and bigger bets.
- Betting more money than you can afford to lose.
- Trying to get losses back by playing more.
- Lying to family or friends about the time or the money that goes on gambling.
- Borrowing money to gamble.
- Longer sessions or bigger bets, to get the same satisfaction as at first.
A list to notice, in yourself or in someone close, and not a score: nothing here adds the signs up.
Three provinces ask one question, in almost the same words, among the questions on their responsible-gambling pages: when you play, do you go back to get back what you lost?
Psychiatrists keep a separate, longer list: the signs of gambling disorder. One of them is chasing: coming back again and again to try to get money back after losing it. A diagnosis is made against that longer list, by the manual it follows, DSM-5-TR, the 2022 revision, and it takes several of its signs over a year. The signs above come from pages written for players, lists for noticing, and a self-check is not a diagnosis either, as a province that publishes one says on the self-check itself. One sign is not a diagnosis, and nothing on this page diagnoses anyone.
Official self-checks, written by the services that run them, are listed in Helplines by province.
One more hour on what is left
Here is what one more hour holds at an example bet of 10 units a spin on red, at a wheel with a single zero. At an example pace, a wheel like that runs at 35 spins an hour.
- A full hour9.46 unitsThe average cost of 35 spins at an example bet of 10 units a spin, 350 units bet in all.
- The same hour on the 20 units left8Spins before half of these evenings are out of money.
Evenings that play the whole hour on what is left.
22.56% of evenings.
The average cost of a full hour is the price of an hour played to the end. On the 20 units left, most evenings never reach the end of the hour, and in each of those evenings one more hour goes on only with money from outside the plan.
Playing on does not make a result due either: each bet is independent of the bets before it, and a run of losses does not make the next bet any more likely to pay.
Money from outside the plan, and a system at the next seat
Two provincial pages advise leaving the debit and credit cards at home, so that the limit you set is kept, and not using a card to take out more money than you meant to play. The same pages say not to borrow money to play, and borrowing to keep playing is among the warning signs the provincial programs list.
- In the pocketThe money for tonight’s plan, and nothing more.
- At homeDebit and credit cards, so that the plan is the only money there is.
- NeverMoney borrowed to gamble.
The money in the plan is one number chosen before the first bet: a budget set before you walk into the casino, and kept to whatever the result.
A player at the next seat with a system is offering a different way to get the loss back. No system of play turns a game that favours the house into one that favours you. Why the order of bets cannot change what each bet costs is worked out on a roulette wheel in lesson 10.2.
Leoformer dealer · rules and maths
I dealt for years, and the system at the next seat was a regular at every table I worked. The systems changed from month to month. The share of each bet the house kept did not change once.
A loss is the price of the evening, not a debt
The pages put it plainly: accept the money lost as part of the game, and do not try to get it back; take it as the cost of the entertainment.
A loss read as a price
- Paid for an evening you have had.
- Its size was set before the first bet.
- It ends when the evening ends.
A loss read as a debt
- Owed back, the way a loan is owed.
- No amount was ever set for it.
- It carries on into the next bet, the next hour and the next evening.
One way to see it, and it is our reading rather than a line from those pages: chasing begins at the moment a loss changes columns, from the price of an evening to a debt to be paid back.
Money and time
The plan for an evening is two amounts decided before the first bet: the money for the evening and the time for the evening. The provincial pages also ask for frequent breaks along the way, to reassess and keep perspective. How far an evening swings, and why a rule for when to leave does not change the price of a bet, is lesson 10.1.
- Before you goThe money and the time for the evening, decided at home.
- At the tableFrequent breaks, to reassess and keep perspective.
- Stop whenA bet goes up after a loss; play runs past the time you set; a hand reaches for money outside the plan.
- If it stops being funThe helplines below, and the programs in the guide to self-exclusion.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
A loss is what the evening cost. It is not a debt the table owes you, and it is not a job left to finish tomorrow. Set the money and the time at home, plan the breaks, and leave when either one is used up.
If getting it back has started to feel like the point of going, the lines below are there for exactly that, and so are the programs that let you keep yourself out of casinos.
If it stops being fun
If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. Minimum entry age: each province sets its own. Where we found the rule or regulator that sets it, we cite it on the page; those we found set it at 18. More on responsible gaming.
Show all provinces
If you are thinking about suicide, call 135 or 0800 345 1435 from anywhere in the country
Practice: down 80 units of 100 units
Tonight’s plan was 100 units. 80 units of that plan is gone, 20 units is left, and so is an hour. Three moments follow, one after another: a bank card in your pocket, a player with a system at the next seat, and the thought of one more hour to get the loss back. A last moment closes the evening.
Nothing is scored here. There is no strip to fill: every moment is read through once, in order, with every answer explained. The amounts are an example, and nothing is bet.
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The practice table needs JavaScript. Here is one moment from it, with the answer.
One more hour
TONIGHT’S PLAN
- PLANNED FOR TONIGHT100 units
- GONE80 units
- LEFT20 units
- TIME LEFT1 hour
ON THE TABLE: RED, SINGLE-ZERO WHEEL, 10 units A SPIN, AN EXAMPLE BET
At a wheel with a single zero, with an example bet of 10 units a spin on red, the thought comes: one more hour, and the 80 units comes back. What does that hour hold?
- Enough spins for the luck to turn and the 80 units to come back Playing on does not make a result due, and every spin keeps the same price. More spins mean more of that price, not a debt paid back.
- A full hour of play on the 20 units left, for 9.46 units, the average price of an hour 9.46 units is the average cost of an hour played to the end: 35 spins of 10 units, 350 units bet in all. On 20 units at 10 units a spin, most evenings run out of money long before the hour does, so in most evenings a full hour needs money from outside the plan.
- On the 20 units left, the money is gone within a few spins in half of evenings That is the median: on 20 units at 10 units a spin, half of evenings are out of money within 8 spins.
The whole hour is played in 22.56% of evenings. In all the others, the 20 units runs out before the hour does, and one more hour goes on only with money from outside the plan: that is chasing.
Every moment in the practice run starts from the same plan for the evening, nearly used up. The figures for one more hour come from the same engine as the rest of this track, for an example bet named in the moment.
How the practice run works
Where the moments come from. Every moment starts from the same plan for the evening, nearly used up, and every wrong answer is a step outside the plan or the thought that leads to one, such as money from a bank card, money borrowed, a system at the next seat, an hour that runs past the money, or a bigger plan for next time. Only the moment about one more hour carries figures, because only that moment names a game and an example bet; the figures are worked out when the page is built, from every way the spins of that hour can fall, and nothing in the run is random.
Your progress stays in this browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Check yourself
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Three quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.
Back to the question we opened with. The 80 units already gone is what the evening cost. The next move that keeps the plan is the 20 units still in it, played or kept; a step past it to get the loss back is chasing.
Help, tools and further reading
18+ under each province’s rules · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page
Further reading
- Introduction to Probability (open version) · Charles Grinstead and Laurie Snell, Dartmouth CollegeThe roulette example worked out, and why no system of play changes who the game favours.
- The Gambler’s Fallacy and the Hot Hand: Empirical Data from Casinos · Rachel Croson and James Sundali, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty (2005)What gamblers at a real roulette table believed about “due” numbers, measured from casino video.
How it’s worked out
Sources, numbers, help and hosts
Where this happens. Every moment on this page is an evening in a room you can walk into. A screen at home has limits and tools of its own, and it belongs to a track of its own.
Sources. The account of chasing, the signs, the question about going back and the advice on bank cards, borrowing, breaks and the money set before the first bet come from the responsible-gambling pages of provincial programs and regulators and of two operators. A page’s advice is not a rule of any room, and an operator’s page is advice from that operator. The sign of gambling disorder is told in our own words from a page of the American Psychiatric Association, which names the manual it follows; that page is not quoted, and its button links to the page. Why no system changes the price, and why a result is never due, come from a university probability textbook, lecture notes and a study of roulette players. Every other claim carries a button with the sentence it rests on, the publisher who wrote that sentence and the date we read it.
Numbers. The figures for one more hour are worked out when the page is built by the same engine as the rest of this track, for an example bet of 10 units a spin on red at a wheel with a single zero: the average cost of an hour played to the end, the share of evenings that play the whole hour on the 20 units left, and the median number of spins before the money is gone. The pace is an example pace, the one the rest of this course uses, not a measured one; no Argentine document we could read prints a pace for roulette. The amounts of the evening are an example, not a suggested plan.
Help. The helplines come from the data this site keeps for each province, and nothing on this page prints a phone number of its own.
What is deliberately absent. There is no questionnaire on this page, ours or anyone else’s: the signs are a list to notice and not a score, official self-checks are in Helplines by province, and nothing here diagnoses anyone. No page we could read says how to talk to a friend who wants to get a loss back, so this page gives no advice of its own on that. The moment in the practice run is a bank card already in your pocket. Swings, how long money lasts and why a rule for when to leave does not change the price of a bet are lesson 10.1; betting systems and the table maximum are lesson 10.2. Setting the limit itself is lesson 0.2; the end of a night out is lesson 0.8. Streaks and the idea that a result is due are taken apart game by game in lessons 2.8 and 3.17. Self-exclusion and the helplines have guides of their own.
Hosts. Maya and Leo are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former floor supervisor and a former dealer, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.
No promise. Every casino game is played against the house. Knowing what chasing looks like makes the step outside the plan easier to see before you take it; nothing on this page gets a loss back, and nothing here says how an evening would end.
A plan set before the first bet
Recomendamos establecer un presupuesto máximo antes de ingresar al casino y respetar ese límite independientemente del resultado.Free translation: We recommend setting a maximum budget before entering the casino and respecting that limit regardless of the result.
Antes de empezar, siempre establecer un límite de dinero.Free translation: Before starting, always set a limit on money.
Decida de antemano lo que desea gastar durante su sesión de juego.Free translation: Decide in advance what you wish to spend during your gaming session.
Instituto Provincial de Regulación de Apuestas (IPRA) · IPRA — Programa Juego Responsable · read
Warning signs
El juego problemático puede desarrollarse gradualmente. Reconocer las señales a tiempo es fundamental para pedir ayuda.Free translation: Problem gambling can develop gradually. Recognizing the signs in time is essential to ask for help.
Apostar más dinero del que se puede permitir perder.Free translation: Betting more money than you can afford to lose.
Intentar recuperar pérdidas jugando más.Free translation: Trying to recover losses by gambling more.
Mentir a familiares o amigos sobre el tiempo o dinero destinado al juego.Free translation: Lying to family or friends about the time or money spent on gambling.
Pedir dinero prestado para jugar.Free translation: Borrowing money to gamble.
Aumentas el tiempo de cada sesión o el monto de las apuestas para obtener el mismo grado de satisfacción inicial.Free translation: You increase the length of each session or the amount of the bets to get the same level of initial satisfaction.
Programa de Juego Responsable del IPLyC S.E. (Misiones) · Síntomas de la ludopatía · read
A loss is the price of the evening
No intentar recuperar lo perdido; aceptarlo como el costo del entretenimiento.Free translation: Do not try to recover what you have lost; accept it as the cost of entertainment.
ACEPTAR LAS PERDIDAS ECONÓMICAS COMO PARTE DEL JUEGO.Free translation: ACCEPT FINANCIAL LOSSES AS PART OF THE GAME.
Instituto Provincial de Regulación de Apuestas (IPRA) · IPRA — Programa Juego Responsable · read
Jugá para divertirte, disfrutar, pero considerá que también podés perder.Free translation: Play to have fun and enjoy yourself, but keep in mind that you can also lose.
Going back to get it back
Cuando jugás, ¿volvés la mayoría del tiempo para recuperar lo perdido?Free translation: When you gamble, do you go back most of the time to win back what you lost?
IPLyC Buenos Aires · Juego Compulsivo: Programa de Prevención y Asistencia · read
¿Vuelves para recuperar lo perdido?Free translation: Do you go back to win back what you lost?
¿Planifica volver a jugar para recuperar lo perdido?Free translation: Do you plan to play again to win back what you lost?
Instituto de Asistencia Social de Formosa · IAS Formosa — Juego Responsable · read
What chasing losses looks like
Perdes dinero jugando e intentas, constantemente, recuperarlo reiterando la actividad.Free translation: You lose money gambling and constantly try to recover it by repeating the activity.
Programa de Juego Responsable del IPLyC S.E. (Misiones) · Síntomas de la ludopatía · read
Intentar recuperar pérdidas jugando más.Free translation: Trying to recover losses by gambling more.
Do not chase a loss
No caer en la trampa de intentar recuperar las pérdidas.Free translation: Do not fall into the trap of trying to recover your losses.
No persigas o intentes recuperar las pérdidas.Free translation: Do not chase or try to recover your losses.
No intentar recuperar pérdidas con más apuestas.Free translation: Do not try to recover losses with more bets.
Do not play upset
Evitar jugar en tiempo de crisis emocional, ya que disminuye el autocontrol.Free translation: Avoid playing during a time of emotional crisis, as it reduces self-control.
En tiempos de crisis emocional disminuye el autocontrol, evitá jugar inmoderadamente.Free translation: In times of emotional crisis self-control is reduced; avoid playing immoderately.
Warning signs
El juego problemático puede desarrollarse gradualmente. Reconocer las señales a tiempo es fundamental para pedir ayuda.Free translation: Problem gambling can develop gradually. Recognizing the signs in time is essential to ask for help.
Apostar más dinero del que se puede permitir perder.Free translation: Betting more money than you can afford to lose.
Intentar recuperar pérdidas jugando más.Free translation: Trying to recover losses by gambling more.
Mentir a familiares o amigos sobre el tiempo o dinero destinado al juego.Free translation: Lying to family or friends about the time or money spent on gambling.
Pedir dinero prestado para jugar.Free translation: Borrowing money to gamble.
Aumentas el tiempo de cada sesión o el monto de las apuestas para obtener el mismo grado de satisfacción inicial.Free translation: You increase the length of each session or the amount of the bets to get the same level of initial satisfaction.
Programa de Juego Responsable del IPLyC S.E. (Misiones) · Síntomas de la ludopatía · read
Going back to get it back
Cuando jugás, ¿volvés la mayoría del tiempo para recuperar lo perdido?Free translation: When you gamble, do you go back most of the time to win back what you lost?
IPLyC Buenos Aires · Juego Compulsivo: Programa de Prevención y Asistencia · read
¿Vuelves para recuperar lo perdido?Free translation: Do you go back to win back what you lost?
¿Planifica volver a jugar para recuperar lo perdido?Free translation: Do you plan to play again to win back what you lost?
Instituto de Asistencia Social de Formosa · IAS Formosa — Juego Responsable · read
Signs of gambling disorder
Told on this page in our own words; the source is not quoted.
American Psychiatric Association · What is Gambling Disorder? · read
A self-check is not a diagnosis
No se trata de un diagnóstico sino de aportar un elemento de utilidad para conocer tus comportamientos de juego.Free translation: It is not a diagnosis but a useful element for getting to know your gambling behaviors.
Playing on does not make a result due
For example, the Gambler’s Ruin random walk is a martingale because the outcome of the current bet is independent of the outcomes of all preceding bets.
The gambler’s fallacy is a belief in negative autocorrelation of a non-autocorrelated random sequence.
Thus he believes a tail is “due,” that is, more likely to appear on the next flip than a head.
Leave the bank cards at home
Dejar la tarjeta de débito y/o crédito en casa para respetar el límite establecido.Free translation: Leave your debit and/or credit card at home so as to respect the limit you have set.
NO USAR TARJETA DE DÉBITO Y/O CRÉDITO PARA EXTRAER MAS DINERO DE LO QUE SE PENSABA INVERTIR EN EL JUEGO.Free translation: DO NOT USE A DEBIT AND/OR CREDIT CARD TO WITHDRAW MORE MONEY THAN YOU HAD PLANNED TO SPEND ON GAMBLING.
Instituto Provincial de Regulación de Apuestas (IPRA) · IPRA — Programa Juego Responsable · read
Borrowing to gamble
No pidas dinero prestado para jugar.Free translation: Do not borrow money to gamble.
NO PEDIR PRESTADO DINERO PARA JUGAR.Free translation: DO NOT BORROW MONEY TO GAMBLE.
Instituto Provincial de Regulación de Apuestas (IPRA) · IPRA — Programa Juego Responsable · read
Te endeudas constantemente por el juego o solicitas préstamos para continuar jugando.Free translation: You constantly go into debt because of gambling or ask for loans to keep playing.
Programa de Juego Responsable del IPLyC S.E. (Misiones) · Síntomas de la ludopatía · read
¿Pediste plata prestada para poder seguir jugando?Free translation: Did you borrow money so you could keep gambling?
A plan set before the first bet
Recomendamos establecer un presupuesto máximo antes de ingresar al casino y respetar ese límite independientemente del resultado.Free translation: We recommend setting a maximum budget before entering the casino and respecting that limit regardless of the result.
Antes de empezar, siempre establecer un límite de dinero.Free translation: Before starting, always set a limit on money.
Decida de antemano lo que desea gastar durante su sesión de juego.Free translation: Decide in advance what you wish to spend during your gaming session.
Instituto Provincial de Regulación de Apuestas (IPRA) · IPRA — Programa Juego Responsable · read
No system gets around the house edge
If you are in a casino, you will see players adopting elaborate systems of play to try to make unfavorable games favorable.
Unfortunately, such systems cannot change even a fair game into a favorable game.
As a rule of thumb, drift dominates swings in the long term.
A loss is the price of the evening
No intentar recuperar lo perdido; aceptarlo como el costo del entretenimiento.Free translation: Do not try to recover what you have lost; accept it as the cost of entertainment.
ACEPTAR LAS PERDIDAS ECONÓMICAS COMO PARTE DEL JUEGO.Free translation: ACCEPT FINANCIAL LOSSES AS PART OF THE GAME.
Instituto Provincial de Regulación de Apuestas (IPRA) · IPRA — Programa Juego Responsable · read
Jugá para divertirte, disfrutar, pero considerá que también podés perder.Free translation: Play to have fun and enjoy yourself, but keep in mind that you can also lose.
A break to step back
Tomar descansos frecuentes para reevaluar y mantener la perspectiva.Free translation: Take frequent breaks to reassess and keep perspective.
TOMARSE DESCANSOS FRECUENTES AL APOSTAR.Free translation: TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS WHEN BETTING.
Instituto Provincial de Regulación de Apuestas (IPRA) · IPRA — Programa Juego Responsable · read