Gambling is part of Chinese culture. It is seen as the right way to test luck, especially on holidays like Chinese New Year, as well as to get rid of bad luck.
link-I was quite surprised when I read this article for the first time because they gamble not for money or pleasure but because of the culture to test luck.
this does sound funny but what do you do if it turns out that your culture requires you to play gambling?
slightly diverting from the topic above, I'm interested in Mark Griffiths' research;
Mark Griffiths, a psychologist at Nottingham Trent University who specializes in addictive behavior says that gamblers have a lot of motivation for their habit.
In a survey of 5,500 gamblers, the prospect of “winning big money” was the strongest factor. But then followed by "because it's fun" and "because it's fun".
"Even when you lose a gamble, your body still produces adrenaline and endorphins," he says.
“People buy entertainment.”
Not much is known about the design of these machines on player behavior, but, for example, many machines and casinos use red or something similar – which is considered more stimulating.
And interestingly, there are examples of cases where gamblers develop “shadow-skills” as a justification for earning those possible rewards.
Griffiths gave the example of a game engine in the UK which was designed with the adaptive logic in mind that the device would deliver more than the consumer was given over a period of time, and after that the device would return to the normal system.
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You touch on a couple different topics there and possibly intermingle them more than you should. First off, the Chinese attachment to luck or destiny is a bit of a relic that Mao was not able to drive out during all the spiritual/religious purges in the past, which the CCCP somewhat tries to continue today. It is the idea that if you win, you deserve to win, rather than it just being mathematical odds playing out. It's also pervasive in other parts of their society and not necessarily a positive societal crutch they rely on. Secondly, there are some people who genuinely figure out how to maximize returns from certain live "slot" or arcade type machines, but they need to be in highly trafficked areas for that sort of strategy to be successful.