BETTER CHANGE
they are bound to win soon. False hope is a sign of vulnerability and it is our duty to protect our players from messages of false hope as well as interacting with those where we notice a vulnerability. That doesn’t mean we have to tell everyone who gambles that they will lose i.e. “the house always wins”, gambling needs its winners just as much as its losers, as I said at the start, the industry needs its stories. Advising players to sensibly budget their gambling by using safer gambling tools, to bet only what they can afford to lose and to balance their gambling with other activities are all good messages.
Gambling fallacies or gamblers fallacy is a false belief that either the gamblers actions or the actions of those facilitating the gambling have an infl uence on the result. It is not to be
confused with harmless superstition, for example a Roulette player choosing numbers based on birthdays hoping it will give them a bit of luck is just superstition, a player insisting that a “0” will only come in if there are no chips on it is a fallacy, it eludes to the fact that somehow the game is being fi xed. A fallacy can also lead to harmful play if the player believes that certain conditions will lead to a result, they could chase their losses convinced that a win is around the corner. Take two identical slot machines as an example, both have been played the same amount of times, the player on slot machine A has doubled their money whilst the player on slot machine B has lost theirs. Which machine would you choose to play? The correct answer would be that it doesn’t matter, each spin or session is independent of the other. It may be that you have a preference for a machine that might be due to pay out or a preference for a machine that appears to be running hot, that is ok as long as you understand that there is no guarantee and that it doesn’t affect your regular spend or time spent gambling. This becomes a potentially dangerous fallacy if the player makes their choice based on a belief that a machine is guaranteed to play a certain way, couple that with a situation where the player is potentially dependant on this outcome and you have a signifi cant risk which may require action in terms of an interaction or intervention.
24 JULY 2025
Compared to the offer of false hope which we can negate through our messaging, our marketing and they way in which we interact with people, fallacies are a little harder to disprove as they are based on the beliefs of an individual. For example I encountered an individual who told me in a bar that a slots machine I was playing would pay out better if I used the auto spin function! Now whether they wanted me off the machine quicker so they could play themselves or whether this belief was based on an experience where they had won whilst using auto play didn’t matter, it was obviously a false statement but they certainly believed it as when I tried to correct them, they just remarked “your loss”. To help reduce potentially harmful fallacies our tactic at Better Change is to promote good gambling literacy. People tend to engage in conversation about games that they like to play so being open and transparent, running learn to play sessions and being aware of levels of gambling literacy when interacting with our customers can be very effective in reducing potential harm and promoting Positive Play. It’s vital in our messaging and communications that we are fair and open and that we don’t mislead our customers. It is just as important that we don’t suck all the fun out of gambling either. There is nothing wrong with a little hope and some harmless superstition. Now, where can I get my Euromillions ticket! Play Positively
Rob Mabbett
Rob joined Better Change from the charity Gordon Moody where he spent 5 years running their international gambling helpline “Gambling Therapy” as well as helping to raise their profi le and ensure suffi cient treatment spaces were available in their residential treatment centres to meet demand. With over 12 years industry experience, including being a previous winner of the Racing Post and SiS Betting Shop Manager of the Year award, Rob brings a unique insight into the
prevention and treatment of
gambling harm and is keen to focus his efforts further upstream as we aim to
prevent against gambling harm at Better
Change through Positive Play.
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