Clinical studies indicate loss-chasing is driven by conflicted motivations. On the one hand, there is a wearing anxiety associated with the gambler”s already-acquired liabilities, but also the persisting hope that the next gamble will be the one that clears the slate: “It’s one crisis after another, and you gamble to get even….one big hit, make that one big hit, and pay off the debts and never gamble again” (Lesieur, 1977).
