SynthesisJournal of gambling studies2017
The Effect of Losses Disguised as Wins and Near Misses in Electronic Gaming Machines: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Journal of gambling studies, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 80 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurophysiological Correlates of Near-Wins in Gambling: A Systematic Literature Review.Journal of gambling studies · 2025Pooled it
- Three Contrasting Accounts of Electronic Gambling Machine Related Harm: Impacts on Community Views Towards Gambling Policy and Responsibility.Journal of gambling studies · 2024Trial
- Parsing Reward Processing Substages With Multimodal EEG-fMRI.Human brain mapping · 2026Article
- Impulsivity, Critical Thinking and Near-Miss Role for Persistence in Play on a Slot Machine.Journal of gambling studies · 2025Article
- Sounds like gambling: detection of gambling venue visitation from sounds in gamblers' environments using a transformer.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Post-reinforcement pauses during slot machine gambling are moderated by immersion.Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) · 2024Article
- Am I Winning or Losing? Probing the Appraisal of Partial Wins via Response Vigor.Journal of gambling studies · 2024Article
- Power and Gambling: Dispositional Power Predicts Persistence on a Computerized Scratchcard Task.Journal of gambling studies · 2024Article
- Offering an auto-play feature likely increases total gambling activity at online slot-machines: preliminary evidence from an interrupted time series experiment at a real-life online casino.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Vitality structures in 'addictive' game design.Open research Europe · 2024Article
- Do problematic gamblers and loot boxers share similar fallacies of thought? A comparative analysis of cognitive biases.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Near-Misses Predict Youth Gambling Intention via Illusion of Control.Journal of gambling studies · 2023Article
- Increased volatility in video poker results in more winning players but shorter winning streaks - Evidence from simulations.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2023Article
- Behavioral Responses to Losses Disguised as Wins: A Field Study of Slot Machine Players.Journal of gambling studies · 2023Article
- Do pupillary responses during authentic slot machine use reflect arousal or screen luminance fluctuations? A proof-of-concept study.PloS one · 2022Article
- Association of Near-Miss with Two Erroneous Gambling Cognitions and Betting Intention: Evidence from Nigerian Adolescents.Journal of gambling studies · 2021Article
- Measuring Gamblers' Behaviour to Show That Negative Sounds Can Reveal the True Nature of Losses Disguised as Wins in Multiline Slot Machines.Journal of gambling studies · 2021Article
- "It started 30 years ago, and it still haunts me": an exploratory investigation of Territorians' gambling behaviours, harm, and help-seeking for gambling issues in an Australian jurisdiction.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Characteristics of Gamers who Purchase Loot Box: a Systematic Literature Review.Current addiction reports · 2021Review
- Making EGMs Accountable: Can an Informative and Dynamic Interface Help Players Self-regulate?Journal of gambling studies · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Near misses and losses disguised as wins have been of interest to gambling researchers and policymakers for many years (e.g., Griffiths in J Gambl Stud 9(2):101-120, 1993). This systematic literature review describes the behavioural, psychological, and psychobiological effects of near misses and losses disguised as wins (LDWs) in an effort to evaluate their precise influence on the player and to highlight areas requiring further investigation. A systematic search for relevant studies was conducted using Scopus, PubMed, PsycINFO, ProQuest Sociology databases, and the Gambling Research Exchange Ontario Knowledge Repository. A total of 51 (from an initial pool of 802) experimental peer-reviewed studies using human participants were found between 1991 and 2015. The systematic review revealed that near misses motivate continued play, but have varying effects on the emotional state or betting behaviour of the player. Near miss events were also shown to be associated with elevated skin conductance levels and diffuse activity across the brain, most consistently in areas processing reinforcement and reward. Re-examination of the studies of near misses events after classifying the type of game feedback suggested that the effectiveness of near misses is related to the phenomenology of a near miss itself rather than as a response to auditory or visual feedback provided by a slot machine. In contrast to near misses, the presence of LDWs was found to relate to an overestimation of how much a player is actually winning and was consistently viewed as an exciting event. The effect of LDWs appears to be driven by the presence of visuals and sounds most often associated with a true win. Practical implications and directions for future research are also discussed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.