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 for the evening. $80 of it is gone, and there is an hour left. What is the next move?
The short answer
Play the $20 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 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 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 gone. $20 left, and an hour.
- Play the $20 as planned.Inside the amount set at home.
- Stop now, with the $20 kept.Inside the amount set at home.
- Go past the plan to get the $80 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 Canadian dollars.
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
In a story from a guide for Ontario, a player has bet the same amount a hand for an hour, hits a run of losses, and has now lost the whole amount meant for the evening. The player raises the bet to play a little longer and get most of the loss back, and the guide names that step chasing losses.
- An hour of the same betThe player bets the same amount, hand after hand.
- A run of lossesThe whole amount meant for the evening is gone.
- A bigger betThe bet goes up, to play a little longer and get the loss back.
- Chasing lossesThe name the guide gives to that last step.
The amounts in the story belong to the story, which takes place at a blackjack table; the shape of the evening is the same at any game.
A guide published in Alberta describes chasing as raising bets, changing the way of betting, or playing past the limits that were set, all to recover money already lost, and traces it to the belief that a big result is just around the corner.
- Bigger betsThe bet goes up after a loss.
- A new way of bettingThe way of betting changes to recover what is gone.
- Playing past the limitThe evening runs on past the money or the time that was set.
A guide for Ontario, writing about bets on World Cup matches, describes chasing in the heat of the moment in words that fit any table: trying to get money back out of frustration or desperation, bigger and riskier bets on thinking that does not hold up, and a deeper hole at the end. The article is advice from a guide, not a study.
The signs to notice
The guide published in Alberta lists four signs that you might be chasing losses.
- Bets rising fast after a loss.
- Feeling frustrated, anxious or desperate.
- Hiding gambling from friends and the people close to you.
- Friends and family noticing mood swings, or secrecy about gambling.
A list to notice, in yourself or in someone close, and not a score: nothing here adds the signs up.
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 four signs above come from a different list, a guide’s list for noticing. 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 a spin on red, at a wheel with a zero and a double zero. A wheel like that runs at 38 spins an hour in the Las Vegas Strip rating table. No Canadian document we could read prints how many spins a roulette table runs in an hour.
- A full hour$20The average cost of 38 spins at an example bet of $10 a spin, $380 bet in all.
- The same hour on the $20 left$7.28Of the $20, gone on average. Most evenings lose all of it; the average is lower because it also counts the few evenings that reach the end of the hour with money left, which on average end it above the $20 they began with.
- Spins before the money is gone6The median: half of evenings are out of money by then.
Evenings that play the whole hour on what is left.
18.42% of evenings.
The average cost of a full hour is the price of an hour played to the end. On the $20 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.
Chasing losses is a losing game, in the words of a guide for Ontario, and trying to chase back money already lost will likely lead to further losses. 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
The guide published in Alberta advises leaving bank cards at home and taking only the money you budgeted, so that there is nothing more to spend. The same guide says never to borrow money to gamble, and the responsible-gambling page of two rooms in Ontario lists borrowing to gamble, maxing out credit cards and betting money that cannot be spared among the things people with gambling problems may do. The guide’s lines are advice, not a rule of any room, and the rooms’ page describes warning signs rather than setting a rule.
- In the pocketThe money for tonight’s plan, and nothing more.
- At homeBank 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: an amount you are comfortable losing, kept to all evening.
A player at the next seat with a system is offering a different way to get the loss back. No strategy or system gets around the house advantage, and many systems push the bets up, which leads to bigger losses. 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
A guide for Ontario treats gambling as a line in the entertainment budget: money spent for a good time, with no return expected. The responsible-gambling page of two rooms in Ontario advises not treating gambling as a way to make money, and gambling only with money you can afford to lose. That page gives advice, not a rule of the province.
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 guide’s: chasing begins at the moment a loss changes columns, from the price of an evening to a debt to be paid back.
Ontario’s standards forbid casino advertising and marketing to encourage play as a way of getting back past losses, and forbid games that encourage players to chase their losses, raise the amount they decided to gamble, or keep playing after they said they want to stop. Those are standards for advertising and for the design of games in Ontario, not a rule printed for every province.
When a friend wants to get it back
The guide published in Alberta counts believing that one big result will bring gambling under control among the warning signs, and on talking to someone you are worried about it advises saying that you care and that you are concerned, treating the behaviour as the problem rather than the person, lending no more money, and not pushing the person towards borrowing elsewhere.
- SayThat you care, and that you are worried.
- LendNothing more, and no push towards borrowing elsewhere.
- OfferA break, and the helpline for the province.
- Leave outAny system to get the money back.
The break and the helpline are the two things to offer; the helpline for every province is further down this page.
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 guide published in Alberta also asks for short breaks along the way, to take stock of the time spent and how you are feeling. 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, written down at home with the Game plan.
- At the tableA short break, planned ahead, to take stock of the time spent and how you feel.
- 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. 19+ in most of Canada; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. More on responsible gaming.
Practice: down $80 of $100
Tonight’s plan was $100. $80 of that plan is gone, $20 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.
Lesson done
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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 TONIGHT$100
- GONE$80
- LEFT$20
- TIME LEFT1 hour
ON THE TABLE: RED, DOUBLE-ZERO WHEEL, $10 A SPIN, AN EXAMPLE BET
At a wheel with a zero and a double zero, with an example bet of $10 a spin on red, the thought comes: one more hour, and the $80 comes back. What does that hour hold?
- Enough spins for the luck to turn and the $80 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 left, for $20, the average price of an hour $20 is the average cost of an hour played to the end: 38 spins of $10, $380 bet in all. On $20 at $10 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 left, the money is gone within a few spins in half of evenings That is the median: on $20 at $10 a spin, half of evenings are out of money within 6 spins.
The whole hour is played in 18.42% of evenings. Most evenings lose all of the $20; on average $7.28 of it goes, less than all of it because the average also counts the few evenings that reach the end of the hour with money left. In every other evening, one more hour goes on only with money from outside the plan, and 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 already gone is what the evening cost. The next move that keeps the plan is the $20 still in it, played or kept; a step past it to get the loss back is chasing.
Help, tools and further reading
19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page
Further reading
- Debunking myths · GameSense by AGLCCommon beliefs about gambling, each with the reality beside it: no system, no streak and no run of losses changes the next result.
- Setting limits and budgets · GameSense by AGLCA time limit and a money limit chosen before the first bet, with short breaks along the way.
- How to chase fun, not losses · OLG PlaySmartWhat chasing losses looks like at a table, and a plan that keeps the evening inside its budget.
- Chasing losses · GameSense by AGLCWhat chasing losses is, and the signs to notice in yourself or in someone close.
- Warning signs · GameSense by AGLCSigns that gambling has stopped being fun, and how to talk with someone you are worried about.
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 advice on bank cards, borrowing, breaks and talking with a friend come from guides published in Alberta and Ontario, and from the responsible-gambling page of two rooms in Ontario. A guide’s advice is not a rule of any room, the page of two rooms is advice from those rooms, and a standard of Ontario is not a rule of another province. 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. 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 a spin on red at a wheel with a zero and a double zero: the average cost of an hour played to the end, the share of evenings that play the whole hour on the $20 left, the average amount of that $20 that goes, and the median number of spins before the money is gone. The pace is the figure in the Las Vegas Strip rating table, the one our Price of an hour tool uses; no Canadian document we could read prints a pace for roulette. The amounts of the evening are an example, not a suggested plan.
Help. The helplines, the crisis line and the age line 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 four signs are a list to notice and not a score, official self-checks are in Helplines by province, and nothing here diagnoses anyone. No document we could read prints a general rule about bank machines in casino rooms, so nothing here says where one stands or whether a room has one; 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 and the Game plan tool; 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 4.6, 5.12, 6.7, 2.8 and 3.17. Tax on what a casino pays is a guide of its own, and so are self-exclusion and the helplines.
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
Choose a specific amount of money that you’re comfortable losing and stick to it.
Once you know how wagers work for your chosen game, set your budget. Decide how much you’re comfortable spending for the evening, and stick to that number.
Set a budget and stick to it.
Signs of chasing losses
Signs that you might be chasing losses:
Rapidly increasing bets after losing
Feeling frustrated, anxious or desperate
Concealing gambling habits from friends and loved ones
Friends and family noticing mood swings or secrecy about gambling
When a friend wants to get it back
Not everyone can gamble in a safe, responsible way. For some, gambling can become a problem. The more signs a person shows, the greater the chance that they may have lost control of their gambling.
Believing the big win will bring gambling under control
He says just one big win and then he’ll take a break.
Remember that the behaviour is the problem, not the person.
Not lending any more money is a good idea. It’s best not to support or enable their behavior. But make sure you don’t encourage them to borrow from other sources.
Let them know that you care and that you’re concerned.
A break to step back
Schedule short breaks every 30–60 minutes to assess how much time you have spent and how you are feeling.
Be sure to take breaks.
What chasing losses looks like
You’ve been betting $5 per hand for the last hour, and while your luck held initially, you’ve hit a losing streak. You’ve now lost $100—the amount you intended to spend for the entire evening.
You decide to up your bet to $20 and play just a little longer. If you can manage to win just a few hands in a row, you’ll recoup most of your losses, taking the sting out of the evening. Surely things are about to change, right?
This is called chasing losses. It’s a quick way to lose more than you intended and a surefire method of taking the fun out of gambling.
Chasing losses in gambling is when a player increases bets, change strategies or play beyond their limits to try and recover money they’ve lost.
This behaviour stems from the belief that a big win is just around the corner and with each loss, the urge to recover their earlier losses get stronger.
Chasing in the heat of the moment
As you try to win back money out of frustration or desperation, logic takes a holiday.
You make bigger, riskier bets that are often backed by thinking that doesn’t hold up, like believing a win is due.
The end result is usually an even deeper hole.
Signs of chasing losses
Signs that you might be chasing losses:
Rapidly increasing bets after losing
Feeling frustrated, anxious or desperate
Concealing gambling habits from friends and loved ones
Friends and family noticing mood swings or secrecy about gambling
Signs of gambling disorder
Chasing is a losing game
Chasing losses is a losing game.
Anyone can win, but it’s not a good strategy to try to chase back the money you’ve lost because it will likely lead to further losses.
Playing on does not make a result due
If I keep playing, I’ll eventually win.
Reality: When it comes to gambling, persistence doesn’t pay off. All games are based on random outcomes. Each time you place a bet, the result is completely independent of the previous ones. Losing 10 times in a row doesn’t make it more likely that you’ll win on the 11th try.
Leave the bank cards at home
Leave your bank cards at home.
Only take cash with you to the casino. Without your cards, you won’t be tempted to spend more than you budgeted for.
Borrowing to gamble
Never borrow money to gamble
People with gambling problems may bet with money they can't afford to lose, max out their credit cards, borrow money to gamble, or do things which compromise their personal values to support their gambling activity.
A plan set before the first bet
Choose a specific amount of money that you’re comfortable losing and stick to it.
Once you know how wagers work for your chosen game, set your budget. Decide how much you’re comfortable spending for the evening, and stick to that number.
Set a budget and stick to it.
No system gets around the house edge
I have a special strategy that helps me win.
Reality: No strategy or system will help you overcome the house advantage or beat the odds. Many such strategies actually encourage gamblers to bet more money, resulting in greater losses.
Every game of chance is designed around randomness, so no matter what system you use, you can’t influence the result.
No amount of thinking, planning or strategizing will have an impact on the outcome in any game of chance. Each play is random and unpredictable. Your choices, including how much you bet, where to place your bet or length of play don’t influence your likelihood of winning.
There’s no dream system out there that can make you a frequent winner at roulette.
A loss is the price of the evening
Think of gambling as a line item on your entertainment budget; money spent to have a good time, with no expectation of any return.
Don't regard gambling as a way to make money
Always gamble with money that you can afford to lose
Standards for advertising and games in Ontario
2.2 Advertising and marketing materials and communications shall not be misleading.
Requirements – At a minimum, materials and communications shall not:
Encourage play as a means of recovering past gambling or other financial losses.
Section 2.2
AGCO · Registrar’s Standards for Gaming — 2. Responsible Gaming · read
2.11 Games shall not encourage players to chase their losses, or increase the amount they have decided to gamble, or continue to gamble after they have indicated that they want to stop.
Section 2.11
AGCO · Registrar’s Standards for Gaming — 2. Responsible Gaming · read
When a friend wants to get it back
Not everyone can gamble in a safe, responsible way. For some, gambling can become a problem. The more signs a person shows, the greater the chance that they may have lost control of their gambling.
Believing the big win will bring gambling under control
He says just one big win and then he’ll take a break.
Remember that the behaviour is the problem, not the person.
Not lending any more money is a good idea. It’s best not to support or enable their behavior. But make sure you don’t encourage them to borrow from other sources.
Let them know that you care and that you’re concerned.
A break to step back
Schedule short breaks every 30–60 minutes to assess how much time you have spent and how you are feeling.
Be sure to take breaks.
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