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Why Do Losses Feel So Bad? Facts & Points 2024
Losing in an online casino is probably one of the worst feelings that you can experience as a player. Contrary to winning, there are many negative things that come with losing, which makes the feeling much worse than its positive counterpart. However, why is it that people feel worse when they lose than they feel good when they win?
You’re very likely to have asked this question to yourself before if you’ve played in any skill-based casino game. The feeling is not exclusive for skill-based game players, it’s also very common to feel this way if you play in any other type of casino game. In fact, the feeling can often be correlated to other things that happen in life, particularly the fact that people tend to focus on the negative aspects even stronger than they do on the positive bits.
The human brain definitely plays a huge role in why we feel so bad when we lose in a casino, so it’s really not possible to feel good when you lose.
There are some specific things that make us feel so bad when losing, and we’ve pointed them out here and explained them to you so you can get a better idea of how to deal with them!
5. You’re Losing Money!
First and foremost, losing in a casino means that you’re losing cash. That’s never going to feel good, regardless of how you look at it. It doesn’t matter which type of game your gambling on, losing always means that your money won’t be part of your balance anymore.
The worst part about it is that you usually end up blaming yourself for losing it – especially if you’re playing table games. Losing money is also one of the reasons as to why many people tend to wager more, as it makes them think that they can recoup it with higher bets.
This can often spiral down and make people feel much worse if they keep losing it, but at the same time, they’re unable to stop. The never-ending spiral of loses will cause an even tougher feeling of defeat within you, making you feel much worse in the long run. It’s important to control yourself as a gambler and understand that losing money is just part of the game.
Try not to look at it at lost cash, but rather as money that you can eventually get back. A path to victory requires you to go through obstacles, and losing some cash is just one of them. Try not to increase the amount of money that you wager as a consequence of this, though. This is particularly true for skill-based games. Going ham and upping your bets will only make you feel desperate, and the other players will instantly notice and take advantage of it.
4. It Wears You Out
It’s no secret to anyone that the feeling of losing wears us out. It makes you feel awful and, if it happens continuously, you’re eventually just going to feel like it’s not worth playing anymore. That’s why taking breaks is so important, especially for skill-based games. If you’re playing your favorite game and you keep losing at it, you’re eventually just going to hate it!
That feeling of being worn out can be avoided if you constantly switch between games, but that also comes with a small downside: you will get mentally tired if you also keep losing at any other game that you try out.
In fact, you might feel even more worn out after your gambling sessions if you switch between games and your luck doesn’t change. Losing in skill-based games can prove to be quite an even more difficult pill to swallow than losing in regular slots or games that depend more on luck than on anything else.
The best thing you can do when you’re losing at poker is to switch your game and play some slot lines – you might not make as much money, but it’s far more refreshing to play games where your mind doesn’t need to be 100% on it if you’re not having a good day performance-wise. Take breaks of at least 2 hours when you start to feel worn out by your games.
This will greatly increase your performance and it will also help you keep your mind at ease and free of concerns. There’s a correlation between feeling bad after losing and the amount of money that players lose, which means that stopping for a while could be the best thing for you to do if you’ve already lost some cash.
3. It Makes You Feel Like You’re Not Good in Skill-Based Games
The struggle of feeling that you’re not good enough can be quite a concern and it’s, in fact, one of the main reasons as to why people struggle so much to cope with loses. This is especially true for people who have proven their worth playing against others, and going on a bad streak can be very damaging for their perception of how they play and how good they are in a game.
In fact, most gamer forums where the issue of losing is discussed often shows how the opinions of people are influenced by the perception that they have of their own skill. Gamblers who have won tournaments can feel very bad after going on a bad streak, thinking that they’ve lost their touch or that they simply aren’t as good as they think they are.
The most important thing to do is keep your head clear and always remember that losing is part of the game. Other players can win, too! Don’t make it too hard for yourself. It’s also important that you learn and study the reasons as to why you lost in a skill-based game.
Games like poker are about mentality and psychology. It’s not always going to be possible to win every single hand or even know what kind of cards other players have. You need to be fully prepared to lose some hands, as even the best poker player in the world is prone to making mistakes.
Try to take defeats with a positive attitude and try to get better as a result of the things you learn when you lose. No champion is made in a fortnight, and even if you’ve been playing around for a long time, there are many things that could make you lose a game.
2. The Way Your Brain Works Makes You Focus on Defeats
Even though the feeling of not wanting to play any longer isn’t immediate, it’s a related issue that happens when you lose continuously. However, winning gives you the exact opposite feeling. You always feel like you’re on a high when you win, which makes you want to keep playing.
The long-term emotions generated by losing and winning are the most important aspects that give losing such a bad aftertaste. The human brain always focuses on the negative things and emphasizes them much harder than the good things, so that’s why you’ll often find yourself remembering defeats with great detail while the good bits and wins are not easy to recall.
Your brain will always try to keep bad experiences at bay as part of its nature. When the human brain evolved, the people who survived the most were the ones that avoided making dangerous mistakes in various occasions. As such, the human brain naturally tries to store as much of the bad things that happened in order to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
The nature of the brain, however, plays an awful part in making us feel bad when such things happen. We didn’t evolve to play games, so it’s only natural that there aren’t any mechanics in our brains that help us overcome these specific circumstances.
1. It Affects Your Game
Skill-based games are the most affected performance-wise when you lose. That awful feeling that runs down to your gut when you lose stays there for a while, and it makes you play much worse than you would under regular circumstances. In fact, losing one hand in a game of poker can result in a spiral of defeats that seems to be almost unstoppable.
The feeling of not being able to perform to the best of our abilities makes losing feel much worse than winning. This feeling is continuous, so it’s important to understand how to deal with it in order to stay competitive through a rough spell of results. You must focus on the hands to come and not the hands that have gone, and remember that playing recklessly is never going to solve any issues.
Keep calm and good results will come. Another good thing to keep in mind when playing skill-based games is that other good players will notice when you’re not in the best shape mentally, so try to keep your head between your shoulders and don’t show weakness to other players as they will capitalize on it!
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