Another common saying often heard about gambling is this: "I only needed ______ and I would have won". It could be one more number in bingo or one more touchdown for the home team, but the idea is the same: "I was so close to winning!" Almost winning can be exciting (or sometimes frustrating), but remember: almost winning in gambling is much more common than actually winning. For example, for every person who gets all six numbers in Lotto 6/49, there are about 250 people who only needed one more number. The same applies to most slot machines and VLTs, where almost winning is far more common than actually winning.

Some people mistakenly believe that almost winning means an actual win can't be too far behind or that their chances must be improving. Neither belief is correct. While near misses are exciting, they don't mean you are any closer to winning. Don't get fooled into spending more money than you had initially planned because you get a near miss. A near miss is still a miss, and usually the payout is nothing.

• How gambling really works
  • Randomness
  • Independence of events
  • Why gambling will cost you money
  • What is house advantage
  • House advantage and randomness: how they work together
  • What is your cost of play
  • Win in gambling is not long term
  • Return to player and hit frequency
  • Does skill work
• What's your cost of play
• Psychology of gambling
  • Optimism in gambling: good or bad
  • Systems in gambling: trying to make sense of randomness
  • 20/20 hindsight in gambling: useful or misleading
  • Near miss beliefs: close doesn't count
  • Hot and cold machines: there's no such thing
  • Selective attention and selective recall
  • Unpredictable payoffs
  • Entrapment
  • Don't get caught chasing
  • Illusion of control
  • Magical thinking
  • Superstitions and rituals
  • The appeal of gambling: what gambling means to different people
  • Gambling and keeping It real
• Responsible gambling tips
• Problem gambling
  • Range of gambling behaviours
  • Risk factors for problem gambling
  • How problem gambling can affect the individual
  • Dealing with problem gambling
  • Gambling and the family
  • Helping the gambler
  • Helping yourself
  • Why problem gambling is hard to deal with