Risky business - new study seeks to probe gambling mindset

"Research shows that problem gamblers experience significantly more harm than other gamblers, yet somehow also remain more optimistic in their expectations," said Michael Spurrier, a PhD candidate in the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney, who is researching how gamblers perceive risk. "What has received little attention is how gamblers perceive and weigh up risk when making decisions - though this seems to be important according to research in other areas of addiction like drug and alcohol abuse." In Australia, which has one of the highest levels of gambling in the developed world, the cost to the community of problem gambling is an estimated $4.7 billion a year and up to 50...