09 November 2026

Electronic gaming machines (EGMs) lure players with flashing lights, catchy sounds, and enticing features. New research shows how attention, cue-reactivity, and immersion may explain why pokies keep gamblers hooked.

The neuroscience of attention-shaping games

Casinos are attention-shaping environments. Selective focus—paying attention to something while ignoring distractions—plays a crucial role. When we attend to a particular stimulus, around a third of our brain is involved, according to studies. But attention fluctuates between upstate (focused) and downstate (wandering) modes.

EGMs are designed to grab players’ attention and keep it engaged. Attentional bias—when addiction-related cues draw more attention than other stimuli—can make players vulnerable. Problem gamblers often show diminished cognitive control and increased impulsivity compared to healthy controls, research shows.

To shape attention, EGMs employ several tactics:

  • Lures: Flashing lights, sounds, and near-miss scenarios that suggest a win is coming
  • Rakes and payouts: Timed to maintain a cycle of losses, "wins" and payouts
  • Pace and predictability: Winning odds are often unpredictable, and wins are relatively infrequent

In addition, researchers linked subjective measures of immersion in EGM play to risk of problem gambling. Immersion was associated with a focus on the game’s credit window and active scanning, according to mobile eye-tracking studies.

Vulnerable players and New Zealand pokies

More than half of New Zealanders who present each year as problem gamblers are addicted to playing the pokies, reports show. And with more than 15,000 pokies in the country, the risk of addiction is high.

One concern is EGM incentives that disguise player losses as wins. In these instances, the small payout isn’t enough to cover the amount that was lost, but is presented as a win on the monitor.

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Near-miss events, which happen just before a player reaches a winning threshold, can be similarly problematic. These leave the impression that players have nearly won and encourage continued play.

Additionally, researchers note that problem gamblers’ information processing may be desensitized to losses, but hypersensitive to wins. This means that while losses don’t register, wins are experienced as highly rewarding, prompting players to continue gambling.

Role of neuroscience in designing harm-minimisation efforts

Pokies are scientifically designed to hook users. But neuroscience research is also shifting how we might address gambling harm.

Some New Zealand venues have implemented a pop-up message feature. While some people with gambling issues noted the messages, studies found little observable change in behavior.

Attentional retraining may have more promise, research suggests. This focuses on identifying and countering attentional bias—gamblers’ attraction to gambling cues and lack of attention to other stimuli.

Prevention might involve "non-sticky" gambling environments. Casinos and pokie sites can be designed to avoid being attention-grabbing. And gamblers can use tools like Gamban to temporarily block casino sites.