Book contents
- Luck, Leisure, and the Casino in Nineteenth-Century Europe
- New Studies in European History
- Luck, Leisure, and the Casino in Nineteenth-Century Europe
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Gambling in the Nineteenth Century
- Chapter 2 Visiting the Resort
- Chapter 3 Experiencing the Casino
- Chapter 4 Probability and the Casino
- Chapter 5 Chance and Luck
- Chapter 6 Gambling and the Body
- Chapter 7 Gambling and the History of Emotions
- Chapter 8 The Psychology of Gambling
- Chapter 9 What Gambling Was
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 8 - The Psychology of Gambling
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2023
- Luck, Leisure, and the Casino in Nineteenth-Century Europe
- New Studies in European History
- Luck, Leisure, and the Casino in Nineteenth-Century Europe
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Gambling in the Nineteenth Century
- Chapter 2 Visiting the Resort
- Chapter 3 Experiencing the Casino
- Chapter 4 Probability and the Casino
- Chapter 5 Chance and Luck
- Chapter 6 Gambling and the Body
- Chapter 7 Gambling and the History of Emotions
- Chapter 8 The Psychology of Gambling
- Chapter 9 What Gambling Was
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Gambling affected the mental apparatus that people employed to understand the world around them as well as their own desires and compulsions. Casino gambling established a psychological dynamic perfectly calibrated to drive people to the edge of madness. The “storm” of despair generated by a loss, never compensated by a corresponding elation coming with a win, can overwhelm the player and leave them incapable of self-direction. Descriptions of the psychological effects of addiction – not only how those behaviors were formed through repetition but also how they resulted in a person whose entire world had shrunk – indicate how the machinery of Blanc-style casino gambling affected people in new and profound ways.
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- Luck, Leisure, and the Casino in Nineteenth-Century EuropeA Cultural History of Gambling, pp. 168 - 180Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023