Chasing losses.

“I need to win $100 back” is information about you, not about whether the next bet is any good.

After losing a few $25 bets, a $100 bet starts to look like a way to get even. The amount comes from what you want to recover. You might also switch to games you hadn’t planned to follow because they’re the next ones available.

Sometimes that next bet wins. That’s part of why chasing can be convincing: you may have done it before and ended the night relieved.

You can chase while you’re still ahead.

Start with $50, get to $200, fall to $120. You’ve made $70, but the number in your head may already be $200. Now you want to recover the $80 you were briefly up.

If getting back to a particular balance is the reason to continue, the target can keep moving. If leaving the loss alone feels difficult, practical barriers and someone to talk to can help.