Losses Disguised as Wins Affect Game Selection on Multiline Slots

Abstract

Multiline slots are exciting games that contain features which make them alluring. One such feature is a loss disguised as a win (LDW); wherein, players win less than they wager (e.g., bet 2 dollars, win back 50 cents), but this net loss is disguised by flashing graphics and winning sounds. Research to date concludes that LDWs are both rewarding and reinforcing. Here, we investigated whether LDWs affect players’ game selection. Thirty-two undergraduate students with experience playing slot machines played 100 spins on four games—two had positive payback percentages (115%) and two had negative payback percentages (85%) after 100 spins. For each payback percentage condition, there was a game with no LDWs and a game with a moderate number of LDWs. For the 100 spins, players could choose to play whichever game they wished. They then rated their preference for each game following the 100-spins and chose a game to continue playing. The majority of players preferred playing the positive payback percentage game with LDWs and chose to continue playing this game over the three other games. We conclude that in addition to LDWs being reinforcing and rewarding, LDWs do in fact influence game selection. We conclude that responsible gambling initiatives should educate players about LDWs.

Losses disguised as wins evoke the reward positivity event‐related potential in a simulated machine gambling task

“…A similar, albeit stronger, pattern was observed following clear wins. This result is broadly consistent with behavioral and self‐report findings that participants prefer to gamble on multiline slots that present LDWs relative to machines that do not (Graydon et al., 2018), as well as observations based on user account data by Leino et al. (2016) that consumers were more likely to terminate a gambling session following a loss, relative to an LDW.…”

Cognitive neuroscience can support public health approaches to minimise the harm of ‘losses disguised as wins’ in multiline slot machines

“…Behavioural experiments suggest that players prefer multiline slot machines that allow LDWs compared to single-line variants, or games that do not allow for LDWs (Delfabbro et al, 2005;Dixon et al, 2014a;Graydon et al, 2018). Interviews with regular slot machine players (Livingstone et al, 2008), analysis of actual play data (MacLaren, 2015;Templeton et al, 2015), and observation of play (Landon et al, 2017), suggest that players adjust their playstyles such that the probability of LDWs occurring is maximised.…”

“Losses disguised as wins” in electronic gambling machines contribute to win overestimation in a large online sample

“… Jensen et al, (2013) reported that LDWs were frequently mis-categorised as wins by a majority of research participants who were asked to verbally describe gambling outcomes aloud while under observation by experimenters. When offered a choice between EGMs that offer an equivalent expected financial return, but differ in the number of LDWs they produce, participants self-report a preference for, and are more likely to continue gamble using, machines that include LDWs ( Graydon et al, 2018 ). Consistent with LDWs being a salient outcome, a number of lab studies have also reported that LDWs elicit autonomic arousal in a manner comparable to small wins ( Dixon et al, 2010 , Wilkes et al, 2010 ).…”