smoky25

Basically dopamine in action. He gets a big dopamine boost from the process of competing, not necessarily from winning, which is how dopamine works in the brain. The process of competing (or doing anything "difficult") that promises a reward at the end is what causes an increase in dopamine, not the reward at the end. The completion of the process actually causes an abrupt lowering of dopamine production and the subsequent "what's the point" 2 minutes later that he speaks of. Most of these guys would probably tell you they're addicted (dopamine) to competing, not necessarily to winning.