On the determinants of persistent gambling. III. Personality, prior mood, and poker machine play.

Sixty-four poker machine players were observed in the ecologically valid setting of their social club while completing a session of play. Subjects were assessed by interview, the Profile of Mood States, and personality measures. Personality scores did not predict level of involvement in gambling, session duration, or persistence when losing. High-frequency players were generally more predictable than other players, with over 70% of the variance of session duration accounted for by predictor variables. Also for this group of players, persistence when losing was significantly accounted for by prior mood and cognitions concerning win size.