Mike Dixon
Waterloo Gambling Research Lab, Ontario, Canada
Kevin Harrigan, Jonathan Fugelsang, Candice Graydon, Madison Stange, Chanel Larche
University of Waterloo
Depiction of our simulator emulating a mechanical three reel
slot machine, rudimentary visual and auditory feedback
Depiction of our simulator emulating a
modern multiline slot machine
Players can bet 1 line
Or Players can bet up to 20 lines
THE ALLURE OF MULTILINE SLOTS
• Losses disguised as wins
•• NearThe
sweet
sound
of
losing
money
Misses promote the urge to continue gambling (Clark et al., 2009)
• Near Misses promote the urge to continue gambling (Clark et al., 20)
• Near Misses lengthen the amount of time spent playing slots (Cote et al., 2003?)
• Near Misses lengthen the amount of time spent playing slots (Cote et al., 2003?)
• The “Zone”
Losses Disguised as Wins
CREDIT =
running total
LINES = # of
lines wagered
LINE BET =
credits/ line
BET = total
bet per spin
When players spin and win more than they wager, the machine
shows the winning lines and plays celebratory songs
Here the player
bets 20 credits
and gets
26 credits
This outcome
results in win of 6
credits
When players spin and win back LESS than they wager, the machine
still shows the winning lines and plays celebratory songs
Here the player
bets 20 credits
and gets
2 credits
This results in a
net loss of 18
credits
Because exciting
feedback occurs
for these net
losses we call
these outcomes
“Losses
disguised
As wins”
Does this disguise fool anyone?
Undergraduates brought in to the lab
Skin conductance responses and phasic heart
rate changes were recorded
See Dixon et al., 2010, Addiction for details
Losses Disguised as Wins
• 40 Novice players
• Played for 2, 15 minute sessions on a
commercially available slot machine
Skin Conductance Response Amplitude(us)
p<.05
p<.05
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
Losses
Wins
LDWs
Players somatically miscategorize
LDWs as wins
Are they cognitively fooled as well?
Can LDWs make players remember
winning more often in a slots session
than they did in actuality?
LDWs and win over-estimations
Novices overestimate wins in game
with many LDWs
# of
wins
Game with 7 LDWs
Game with 18 LDWs
LDWs appear to trick novices into
thinking they won more often than
they did in actuality…
• To be answered concerning LDWs…
– What particular aspects of the celebratory
feedback are part of the disguise?
– Will experienced slots players be fooled by the
disguise?
What particular aspects of the celebratory
feedback are part of the disguise?
The sweet sound of losing money
Sweet sound of losing money
• 96 players
– 46 Non-problem Gamblers (0-2 on PGSI)
– 31 Moderate risk gamblers (3-7 on PGSI)
– 19 Problem gamblers (8 + on PGSI)
• 200 spins:
– Standard game
• winning sounds accompany all wins and LDWs
– Modified game with no sounds following wins or LDWs
In the standard game winning sounds
accompany all wins and LDWs
♫♬♪♫
♫
In the modified game no winning
sounds accompany all wins and LDWs
X
♫♬♪♫
♫
Subjective Measures
• Game Preference
• Win estimates
– Estimate the number of times you won more than
you wagered (give a number between 1 and 200)
Do sounds affect players game preference?
• 72.5% of players preferred the game with the
sounds following the wins and LDWs.
• Gamblers rated the game with these sounds
as significantly more arousing than the game
without sound (p=.04)
Do sounds help to disguise losses as wins?
• In each condition there were 28 actual wins
and 28 LDWs
40
38
Win estimates
p=.02
Win Estimates
36
34
32
30
28
26
No Winning
Sounds
sound off
Winning
soundSounds
on
Sounds help to disguise losses as wins
when players get back less than they
wagered
Will experienced players be fooled by
the LDWs?
60
Win Estimates
50
40
30
20
10
0
Correlated PGSI scores with win
estimates
R=.232 (no sound), p=.026
R= .321, (sound), p=.002
Replication with n=110 playing a different
simulator R=.265, p=.005
Sounds affect players game preferences and
experience.
Sounds are an integral part of the “disguise” in
losses disguised as wins.
LDWs fool both novices and more seasoned
gamblers
The Zone
“You go into that trance, that zone, that box.
Nobody can touch you. You have escaped from
reality. No one can ask you for anything”
The Zone
Many players who gamble to escape claim the only time they are not thinking about
their life problems is when they are in the zone
Credit changes across spins for single – line and multiline games.
1-line game
A “smoother ride”
multiline-line game
Jagged experience
Do Gamblers Prefer Multiple Lines?
Recorded the game play of 83 participants (36 Female 47 Male)
Used standard cutoffs of the Problem Gambling Severity Index
29 Non-problem gamblers (0-2 PGSI)
25 Moderate Risk gamblers (3-7 PGSI)
29 Problem Gamblers (8 + on PGSI)
Played 2 actual slot machines for 250 spins each
told to play as they would in a casino
Players could select 1, 5, 9 or 15 lines
Do Gamblers Prefer Multiple lines?
• Players chose to play all 15 lines on 71% of
spins in game 1, and 72% of spins on game 2
– only 5.2% and 4.7% of spins were single-line
spins
• Replicates an Australian study by Livingstone
et al., (2008)
The zone
• .”
• In this study we asked players to subjectively
rate their game experiences
• Two items were of particular interest
– “I forgot everything around me”
– “I felt completely absorbed”
• Not at all, slightly, moderately, fairly, extremely
Absorption ratings
PGs give higher ratings of Zone Entry
Interim Summary
• In free choice using commercially available
machines
– Players spent most of their time playing maximum
lines
– Problem gamblers appear to enter THE ZONE during
play
– Questions unanswered
• Do players prefer multi-line games because of the LDWs
• Compared to single line games, do multi-line games
preferentially foster entry into the zone?
LDWs, multiline slots and the zone
• 102 gamblers
• Used modified category cutoffs of PGSI (Currie
et al., 2013)
– 30 non-problem gamblers (0 PGSI)
– 48 Low risk (1-4 on Problem Gambling Severity
Index)
– 21 High risk (5-27 on Problem Gambling Severity
Index)
Used a simulator
• Given $15.00 to play – told they could keep whatever
was left
• 1-line game (250 spins – 0 LDWs)
• 20-line game (250 spins- 75 LDWs)
• 1-line game
– Bet 1¢ on each of 20 lines (20¢s per spin),
– Players lost only 20 ¢ overall
• 20-line game
– bet 1¢ on each of 20 lines (20¢s per spin),
– Players lost $3.75
• After slots session
– Asked which game they preferred.
• After each game we subjectively measured:
– Arousal/Positive and Negative affect
– Absorption/ entry into “the zone”
• Gathered win estimates for:
– the 1-line game
– The 20-line game
Predictions & Results
• Most players would prefer the 20 line game
• 91 out of 98 players preferred the 20-line
game
• Even though they lost way more on this game!!!
• Most players would find 20-line game :
– More pleasant
– More arousing exciting
– Less negative
p=.001
p=.003
p=.01
Do players prefer multi-line games
because of LDWs?
Players might prefer games on which they
thought they won more often…
Win Overestimate Effect
• In 1-line game there are 0 LDWs
– predict no overestimation in 1-line game
• In the 20-line game there were 75 LDWs
– Predict significant overestimation in 20-line game
70
Win Estimates
p=.01
60
Win Estimates
50
40
30
20
10
0
1-line
20-line
Win Overestimate Effect
• Players think they won more often playing
multiline games than single line games
• Could contribute to the allure of multiline
games
• Single line games long chains of full
losses (6.1)
• 20-line games celebratory feedback
almost every other spin
• If players view LDWs as rewarding,
they might prefer multiline games
since they experience rewards far
more often than in single line games
Measuring Reward using PostReinforcement Pauses
• Measure the time between the last reel
stopping, and the initiation of the next spin
• In slots play gamblers tend to spin quickly
following a loss
• Following a win they pause as if to mentally
celebrate the win
• The bigger the win the longer the pause
Post-Reinforcment Pause Duration (ms)
2500
Single-Line Game (Dixon, MacLaren, Jarick, Fugelsang, & Harrigan, 2013)
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Spin Outcome
Can we show that LDWs are as
rewarding as actual wins using
PRPs?
Consider gains of 2 credits in single
and multiline games
NET WIN 1 credit
NET LOSS 18 credits
Post-Reinforcement Pauses (ms)
Predictions for 1-line play
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1-line
20-line
1500
1000
500
0
Loss
2 credits
10-19
credits
20-29
credits
Post-Reinforcement Pauses (ms)
Predictions if LDWs are as rewarding
as wins
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
+1 -18
1-line
20-line
1500
1000
500
0
Loss
2 credits
10-19
credits
20-29
credits
Post-Reinforcement Pauses (ms)
Actual Findings
4000
3500
n.s.
3000
n.s.
2500
2000
+1 -18
1-line
20-line
1500
1000
p<.001
500
0
Loss
2 credits
10-19
credits
20-29
credits
• Players have equivalent PRPs for true wins and
LDWs
• Suggests that players find LDWs as rewarding
as true wins
Zone Entry
• Predictions
– If playing multiple lines leads to a “smoother”
game experience that fosters zoneentry for PGS
then…
– “Zone” entry for PGs but only for the 20-line game
Absorption Ratings
p=.003
High – Risk
Gamblers
particularly
prone to enter
zone, but only
for the 20-line
games!
THE ALLURE OF MULTILINE SLOTS
• Losses disguised as wins
• LDWs trigger equivalent SCRs and PRPs as wins
• LDWs cause players to overestimate wins
• The sweet sound of losing money
• Players prefer games with “winning” sounds
• Near Misses promote the urge to continue gambling (Clark et al., 2009)
• Near
Misses promotewins
the urge
to continue
gambling
(Clark et
al., 20)
• Overestimate
more
games with
“winning
sounds”
with gambling
problems
mostplaying
proneslots
to win
• Near• Those
Misses lengthen
the amount
of time spent
(Cote et al., 2003?)
• Near Misses lengthen the amount of time spent playing slots (Cote et al., 2003?)
overestimation
•The zone
•Players prefer multiline games
• only get win overestimation effect in multiline games
• Problem gamblers enter zone more for 20-line games