Rookie and veteran gamblers alike have had thoughts like these run through their minds at times:<\/p>\n
“Since black has hit the last nine times, red is overdue to hit on the next spin.”<\/em><\/p>\n
“My ticket was one digit away from winning on the last draw, so I must be close to winning the jackpot.”<\/em><\/p>\n
“Because the underdog is performing well against the spread this season, I bet they’ll beat it again this game.”<\/em><\/p>\n
These are all examples of cognitive bias, or thought patterns that convince us (incorrectly) that we know what is going to happen next.<\/p>\n
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But as anyone that has gambled more than a couple times can also tell you, our brains can convince us of some irrational things.<\/p>\n
The Gambler’s Fallacy<\/h2>\n
Expecting something to happen less in the future because it has happened frequently in the recent past (or visa versa) is called the gambler’s fallacy<\/strong>, or ‘betting the hot hand’.<\/p>\n
Roulette, like the first example above, is a game where this type of bias runs rampant. One reason for this is because the game is designed that way.<\/p>\n