~snip~
I believe the reason behind recovering losses is because the gambler has initially lost more than he can afford to loose. in such situations, emotion will definitely play it part and make the gambler willing to risk more in other to recover his loses which is not the right approach to gamble. Loses are part of the entire system so if a gambler must begin gamble he should first understand that the probability of losing is higher than wining so he can understand the concept of risk management and how to employ it. Gambling is just like life, when you're not guided by any set of rules which is achieved by setting some standards, you may end up realizing how much of time you've wasted so far not following the right direction.
Yeah, in those cases the pattern is quite extreme.
But I think you also get those people doing those things when they lost almost all their money for the night.
I was once like that, lost a few dollars that I planned to spend on the night, and then decided to take out some more from the ATM to "recover" them.
In reality this never works, and I gladly stopped after a while, realizing that I would be losing even more if I continued.