2. Financial

For a losing player, financial involvement is a form of emotional involvement. When losses force him to use his savings or to borrow money, he keeps playing in a vain attempt to recover his losses. An occasional win gives him enough encouragement to hold him in the game.

Ironically, a winning player can also get financially involved and entrapped if he becomes too dependent on his poker income. He can even turn into a chronic loser if a series of losses disrupts his income. How does that happen? If his temporary loss of poker income causes a loss of objectivity, then the quality of his play will deteriorate. If that cycle of decreased objectivity and increased deterioration continues, his future losses will be assured. Memories of past winnings will then sustain him through heavy losses.

John Finn and Quintin Merck bet only when they judge the odds to be in their favor; they are not gamblers. But the other players in the Monday night game are gamblers…. Each one is emotionally and financially involved as shown in the following chart: