I’ve seen two ads campaigns recently, both of them concerning proposition I-892, which is up for consideration this November. One side says “lower property taxes – vote Yes on I-892”; the other I’ve mostly seen on TV, and it shows the expansion of slot machines across three WA counties, including King County, much like the virus spread on the map of the US in “Outbreak”. In CT there was an endless, and loud, debate on slot machines: people tried to get them in non-casino venues, like sports bars and Jai-Alai arenas, but they never succeed. What the hell is wrong with people, when it comes to slot machines?
Obviously slot machines are taboo. What I don’t understand is why.
Arcade machines are still scattered throughout the state. They are designed to provide entertainment and suck quarters. Pinball machines were like this in the 70’s. Pac-Man through Dragon’s Lair and on to Madden 2005 were all designed the same way. In fact, the newer games have the “$1 to start, $1 to continue” mentality. They’re all designed to provide entertainment, for coin-based money. Slot machines are designed to provide entertainment, suck quarters, and possibly return some at random intervals. Over the last decade, slot machines haves gotten more “entertaining” in that they offer high-end graphics, themed game play (i.e. Monopoly, Jeopardy, etc.) and bonus rounds that involve extra “game-play”, like a spinning wheel or “extra roll”.
Hm. Both take money. Both provide entertainment. Both are addictive – ask anyone from the 80’s just how much money went into Pac-Man trying to get to the damned Key levels. Yet only one of them might return cash, from time to time, but that’s the one that people have an issue with. [in fact, this is the reason why I don’t play slots too often. I think of them as a video game, which means I keep playing until I run outta coins.]
Right away the parents are going to jump on me, about their kids. Hey, ya know what? You had’m. You police’m for a change. Jeez. In fact, kids love video games, and will blow endless money on them anyway – maybe on a slot they might get it back, eh? It would be like saying “don’t sell alcohol in the state, be cause my kid might somehow get it” – gimmie a break.
What about gambling addicts? Well, lets see. We got Lotto in this state… that can be played just about anywhere. We got pull tabs in some bars… those are available at any time, and guess what they emulate with their three-symbols-in-a-row combinations? Right! A slot machine! So if we’re already providing two legal and widespread gaming outlets that might tempt addicts or create new addicts, um… why are we now going to worry about their addition? Sounds hypocritical to me.
Am I pro-slot machines? Sure as hell sounds like it, doesn’t it? If anything, I’m more pro-lower taxes, than I am pro-slot machine. What’s more is that I think the whole anti-slots argument is flawed. I mean, we’ve got widespread gambling outlets for some games already. We’ve got casinos with slots already in the counties that are up for grabs, so people still have access: it just might be a 40 minute trip rather than 20 or 4 minutes, and if ya want to hear the *ching* *ching* *ching* *ching* sound, you’ll go an hour and 40 minutes to hear it, so that’s moot. And the whole kid thing completely eludes me, after seeing how video-gamish the slots have become…
I guess if people really want to fight this proposition, they should get a better argument together – right now, they’re shooting blanks and losing ground.
It’s hard to compare the slot machines to video games because, with video games, a quarter lasts longer than it does with a slot machine — as you get better at the video game, in fact, that quarter can go a very long way. When I was in high school, my roommate (yes, it was a boarding school) freshman year was so good at Robotron that he could play for two hours or more: he often had to just stop playing because the mall was closing.
There’s tons of research that demonstrates that random positive reinforcement is the most-effective means to addiction. Slot machines are particularly susceptible to this because, unlike with other gambling attractions at casinos, there’s no interaction with other people: it’s just the player and the machine, dropping quarters and pulling the handle.
It’s more-addictive and satisfying than lotto and the equivalent because there’s a tight feedback loop. Drop quarter, pull handle, watch results, repeat: you can do this cycle several times per minute.
Well, I’ll give you that: that a quarter can go a longer way on a video game, but that’s not an absolute though. I was thinking games like Dragon’s Lair, that can suck down quarters faster than a Double Diamond. Also, the Star Wars Arcade game which is about $5 per mission (if ya suck as bad as I do at it). Both are addictive though, and I think to same extent, but they might grip different parts of the brain.
As to Lotto, I dunno about that. In my experience, people that Play Lotto will play multiple games, many times a week… longer turn around, but a lot less in the way of gratification… yet people get drawn to it.
Mostly I was surprised to see another CT-like slot machine argument brewing out here and I’m lookin for feedback.
Until you have seen your dead son in the back seat of his Chevy Tahoe after committing suicide due to his addiction to Video slots and only in debt $14,000, you won’t ever understand what is wrong with the slots. Of course, that was in Oregon. He got started at 18 in the LaCenter card rooms. I thought he learned his lesson when he had to pay for a new car given away because of his gambling debts. It turns out the next thing he gave up was his life.
What is sad about gambling is that for those that have an addiction, it is the addiction with the highest rate of completed suicides out of all the addictions. The pathway from the senses to the brain is much shorter. Of course, it is a bean count and if you aren’t one of the addicts, it doesn’t really matter. Statistics on suicides related to gambling have only been kept in the last seven years because people are ashamed of it.
Slots won’t lower property taxes. They won’t improve education. Trust me! They fed us that in the State of Oregon and nothing got better. It was just another way to make a buck, get the revenue and have to treat another addiction. For those of us that have lost our family members to this addiction, it makes the whole concept of blood money even more real.
My son was 25. He was absolutely gorgeous and had his whole life ahead of him. I miss him very much. I do wish he would have made better choices. Gamblers keep their addiction very well hidden and I had no idea he had started gambling again. Washington will be creating a whole new problem for itself to put slots into restaurants, bowling alleys, etc. Leave it where it is and be done with it.
Yep, I agree with all the stories in your articles. I am totally addicted to slots and have lost an estimaed $50,000 over the past 8 years.
Randy,
You clearly do not understand how addictive these machines are. New video slot machines allow bets which can be as large as $25. The new “penny” machines are highly addictive. Often, the gambler doesn’t fully realize what they are doing until substantial damadge has been done. In fact, these machines are the new “crack” of gambling and effect the brain in ways similar. These gamblers often suffer emotional disurbances such as anxiety and depression as a result.
I have never heard of pac-man or pinball resulting in financial distress, addiction, depression and financial ruin. Try and have some compassion.
I understand some things better than you might think.
Anything can be addictive – my confusion is why slot machines are singled out by this. Consider what people can bet on today: pull tabs, scratch tickets, lotto systems, numbers, horse races, jai-alai – all of them can be addictive. All of them can lead to ruin. Why single out the slot machines?
As for never hearing of PacMan or pinball resulting in financial distress, you won’t today – but you would have if you were around for the initial releases in the late 70’s early 80’s: video games are more about being in the home than the coin-op arcade variety. But that’s the point.
Further more, what does compassion have to do with it? Let me ask ya this: does *everyone* that play slots become an addict for them? Is it a 50% chance? Is it a 25% chance? I know it’s not 100%. It’s probably closer to 25%. So now we’re punishing the majority to “save” the minority? Some how that doesn’t sit right. Consider those same odds when we talk about smoking: 95% of the people that smoke become addicted. It’s a known killer. Yet we do nothing to prevent the sale of the stuff.
Sorry, but I cry foul. There’s more to banning slot machines than the interest of “protecting” people or their wallets. *Way* more to it than that.
What the problem for me is that even though I’ll win $700.00 on a machine, I’ll keep playing for hours and loose all the winnings. Why didn’t I just go home with the winnings. With the 9 lines 5 cents you just push a button over and over. Most of the slots are boring to me so I keep going back to my favorite. What’s really sad is that I have money in the bank already so what is the need for me to keep going almost ever other day to the casino. Isn’t that sad.
I’ve listened to other players and they’ll say I don’t want to go home to an empty house.
Video games or computer games or slots – it is a fact that you play alone and you don’t have to interact with others – but – it is a challenge to win.
I admit that when I haven’t won anything I do feel an ’emptiness’. So what do I do the following day – yep – I’m back at the casino. Also I play computer games for hours.
What is really sad is that I am 61 years old and you could say I don’t have a life.