The root of the problem was making gambling legal at all - then it went into every locale and venue possible often under the guise of the good things it would support with related taxes and economic activity. Then our “safety net” feeds, clothes and houses many folks who still have money for gambling, cigarettes, tattoos, piercings, drugs and alcohol.
So many people lead sad lonely & meaningless lives. So an escape of choice is essential to keep trudging on. Humans need to find meaning & worth, not just mindless entertainment while waiting to die. I think loneliness is the root cause.
Like I said in another comment, I love Vegas and gambling and I don't have anything intrinsically against gambling itself.
But my friends are always surprised when I tell them that I absolutely don't want legalized gambling anywhere near where I live. There are too many unintended consequences and the human toll is too awful.
A secret poker game in a strip center somewhere? Bring it on. I love it. The risk is part of the allure, honestly.
A big corporate state-sponsored casino with tax breaks welcoming in poor people with addiction problems? Attracting prostitution and drug dealers? With the government making money by exploiting all of these people? Like the lottery? No f'ing way.
We recently moved to WV. Started seeing signs everywhere for "Hot Spots'. Silly us at first thought they were signs for WIFI access because cell service is bad here. Nope!! Video gambling machines, supposedly, we have never walked in. They are EVERYWHERE. Almost every 1/4 mile, and the people you see around them are definitely not who you want to hang out with. Very, very sad.
Some of this gambling and drug stuff is a strategy to keep a demoralized population distracted and quiet. We have an increasing number of people who have no hope of ever achieving economic success. Keeping them doped up and addicted (to drugs or gambling) keeps their minds off the system that has foreclosed their futures.
I wish I could start my own neighborhood lottery - one with much-better odds of winning, where the government/lottery owner doesn't take 60 percent of the "payout" off the top. Somehow, I don't think my State is going to allow "competition" in the lottery business.
I disagree with your “ no one considered the unintended consequence” statement. In my opinion the powers that be knew exactly what outcome would happen when they legalized marijuana and gambling. And the purpose for that outcome.
Yes, the lotteries (and casinos) are "helping the children." Of course, the parents who are supposed to support their children are gambling away their food, clothing and diaper money.
This is an addiction I can understand. I have downloaded and deleted Candy Crush, after getting to very high levels, numerous times on my phone because once I started paying for boosters, I knew it was a problem. No more of that for me!
Sounds like DOOM SCROLLING CULTURE. I admit, I have avoided X for this very reason up until recently. I signed up after the assassination attempt. And now, I feel this battle. Just as dangerous of a battle in my opinion, spending valuable minutes and mind-power for nothing. It has its place, to be sure, but is addictive for all the same reasons as machine gambling.
I used to love going to Vegas. Still do, but a lot less. It's just different now.
I learned a long time ago that the only games worth playing were sports betting and poker. Why? Because you are betting against other people, not the house. You dob't have to beat the house or rely on some outrageously rare outcome, you just needed to be smarter than the guy next to you.
Any other game - blackjack, craps, roulette, any other game, and ESPECIALLY slot machines - were rigged to beat you. They might be fun to play, especially with your buddies after a few drinks, but you're never going to "get rich" playing those games, eventually you will go broke.
One of the reasons Vegas is so different now is because all of the "fun" games are disappearing and being replaced by these god-awful video games. Why? The same reason it's hard to find free drinks and the buffets are so expensive. Because the casinos are public corporations and are driven by profits and they make more money on the video games and they can extract more money per square foot of floor space out of some poor old lady. It's really sad.
Another thing: It's not so much in Vegas yet, but in other locales, they are phasing out human dealers and even replacing them with computer games. Because those are more lucrative too, and they can be rigged a little bit to provide excitement like a 10 card blackjack bust or a long roll in craps.
I am a bit too young to have experienced the legendary Vegas of old. I wish I had.
I lived in Vegas for a year and decided it was time to move on….one could easily get swept up in the gambling culture. I never played the slots, but I did spend endless hours at the craps and blackjack tables.
As Alex notes, the House's advantage in blackjack is not nearly as great. A blackjack player who knows how to bet and play hands has about 47 percent chance of beating the House or dealer. Not with these "slot" machines, which aren't even slot machines and probably produce 90 percent of the House gambling revenue.
As one that lived in Las Vegas for over 20 years, cannot even count how many 'slot players' would be playing 3 or more machines at a time, not even looking at the results. Just hit the max bet and roll on. And of course most of them smoking all the while. Will never cease to amaze me how many people cannot control themselves.
Judgmental, much? Alex's piece is interesting in analyzing what makes machine gambling addictive but you sound like you spent a lot of your time observing this behavior. Maybe you enjoy judging people and have problems controlling that impulse.
Observational, not judgmental. The folks can do as they please, just very easy to notice. All movie theaters in LV are now located within casino properties. Any local would tell you the same.
It would be interesting to understand the impact gambling has on those with true ADD or ADHD issues. I say 'true' because those terms are overused (IMO) for parents who don't want to parent, but if a person has those issues truly, I'm betting (no pun intended) that the addictiveness is multiplied dramatically. Good article Alex.
@T- they ARE overused. Same with 'autism'. Many of those autistic kids are simply assholes because of the way they're being raised. My son has ADHD, 44 yrs old and way behind his peers. He was never diagnosed until 11th grade because he didn't present like 'normal' ADHD kids; he had no co-morbidities and was extremely bright. Dropped out of school at the end of 11th grade and went on to ace his GED. He's now a RR conductor and good at it but hates the way its run.
Remind me of anything else in my life. Well how about taxation. We pay and pay and pay and get so little back by Government design. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. In addition, the National debt keeps climbing which means we not only pay but are going further in debt as taxpayers with each nano second. I apologize for such a non-uplifting perspective.
This is a bit off topic and hope that I do not offend but one anecdotal observation that I have wondered about. I have a family member who is working through his substance abuse and I attend a support group for families. Most are drug and alcohol but some gambling issues. What I find is that gambling addiction seems to be overrepresented in Jewish families with substance abuse correspondingly underrepresented.
Your observation is correct. There has always been a taboo amongst us Jews against alcohol consumption (until very recently) as its overuse was associated with the "goyim" (gentiles/non-Jews). There was a similar taboo against drugs until we baby-boomers came along. Then our children's generation magnified the trend. However, we have always had our gamblers & financial failures. Highly unfortunate, but true.
yes I do see the generational trend you alluded to. there is a heavy Jewish represntation in my group, we meet in a synaogue and I see the youngers ones are catching up to us goys.
I'm not Jewish but my wife is, so I've been at a fair number of events at both Conservative and Reform temples, most all of which have served alcohol. If there was a taboo against liquor, the Jews in our Midwest community weren't aware of it.
I am 72 & when I was growing up in Brooklyn alcohol was only served at official celebrations such as weddings, bar mitzvahs, Passover seders (at those only Manischewitz concord grape wine was served as part of the ceremonial meal; the kids got grape juice). Also, any Jewish person residing west of New Jersey was referred to as an "out-of-town Jew." They were expected to behave slightly differently. An uncle married a Jewish woman from Chicago. She made pumpkin pie - so exotic!
Gambling corrupts everything it touches. It under cuts the work ethic by promoting a get something for nothing mentality. It is extremely addictive for certain personality types. I particularly despise state sponsored gambling. The state should not be promoting a vice. The ads for lotteries are nothing more than the promotion of false hopes. But hey, it generates revenue. Same reason they justify legalization of cannabis. Just don’t ask about all of the collateral damage and it’s costs.
Thank you for writing this. My father had a gambling problem and it hurt our family. I've been to casinos and lost money (never more than I planned to) and have watched people as they stayed so long that they missed work, were arguing with spouses about gambling more, and just plain despondency over losing. I don't oppose legalized gambling but running a disclaimer with an 1-800 help line isn't much to dissuade people from the financial ruin that befalls too many who get hooked.
The gambling addiction that I witness daily is the purchasing of lottery & other "scratch-off" tickets.
I purchase my morning newspaper from a small store that houses a pharmacy & sells other convenience items (toiletries, greeting cards, etc.). It is located across from a large public housing development & sells these tickets. I always see at least a dozen seniors from this development purchasing these tickets. I always wonder, "Is this what they use their Social Security money on?" And if they are living in Elliott Houses they are more than likely also receiving Section 8 housing vouchers, food stamps, & Medicaid (in addition to Medicare). Looks to me like our social safety net is subsidizing gambling.
In addition, my mother's sister was married to a compulsive gambler. He placed his bets with bookies in Mafia-laden Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. A destructive & dangerous habit. I lost count of the number of times my aunt had to change her phone number. One of my strongest childhood memories is that of my aunt standing at the kitchen sink crying because her husband had yet again gambled away the rent & grocery money. If my mother, her brother and my grandmother hadn't come to the rescue with cash my aunt & her daughters would have been out on the street.
I live in Chelsea in Manhattan. Now the real estate moguls in my area are bidding to bring a casino
here. I am adamantly opposed to this for obvious reasons.
I spent over 20 years living in a low income minority community as a spouse and parent. Scratch offs are the bane of those communities and are a regressive form of taxation.
My son worked at a convenience store for a time while in college. He was immediately struck by the folks who would gamble all their money away on government run lotteries and then ask for store credit (not an option) later on in the week to buy food. He found it so sad and so do I. I hate the gambling industry, whether run by a state government, tribe or private company, because they (obviously) prey on the most vulnerable of us -- those whose best/only hope seems, to them, to be the promise/anticipation of a gambling win. But it is especially criminal that government has chosen to fund itself in this way. Just more societal self-delusion. Oh no, any problems created won't touch "us." Certainly not.
Here in NYC our moronic mayor and insane City Council seem to think that the city can be solely supported by casino gambling, the sale of marijuana & Wall Street (which is really just legalized gambling). Talk about societal self-delusion!
According to Addictions.com: "Three to five gamblers out of every hundred struggles with a gambling problem." So for 95 to 97% of those who gamble, it's not an addiction. That doesn't make it harmless but, like alcohol, it's a problem for only a small group.
Yeah agree. It's important for people to have some perspective or else it's easy to just see BIG EVIL everywhere you turn. Sure, there are social issues with gambling and casinos...but most people (I'd guess 95%+) simply don't gamble with any regularity.
I have to say, one of the least interesting/relevant articles for me. I could not care less if the house took 100% of the bets and anyone who spends that much time playing slots or any other form of gambling is making a decision to waste money on that activity. It is their choice...no one is forcing anyone to walk into a casino.
@Dux- so with that thinking, you have no empathy for strung out drug addicts, smokers with COPD or cancer, alcoholics who have lost their homes and familes? The addictions are indicative of a broken down mental health system in America. THAT'S where the thoughts should lie.
The root of the problem was making gambling legal at all - then it went into every locale and venue possible often under the guise of the good things it would support with related taxes and economic activity. Then our “safety net” feeds, clothes and houses many folks who still have money for gambling, cigarettes, tattoos, piercings, drugs and alcohol.
See I think the real addiction is distractions.
People have an unquenchable and irresistible capacity to take extended vacations from reality.
So many people lead sad lonely & meaningless lives. So an escape of choice is essential to keep trudging on. Humans need to find meaning & worth, not just mindless entertainment while waiting to die. I think loneliness is the root cause.
Hence the average TV watching time per household.
Anybody got a read on that?
(too lazy to ggl this myself)
Hence the drug problem in America
100%
Like marijuana legalization a "good idea" that no one considered the unintended consequences about
Like I said in another comment, I love Vegas and gambling and I don't have anything intrinsically against gambling itself.
But my friends are always surprised when I tell them that I absolutely don't want legalized gambling anywhere near where I live. There are too many unintended consequences and the human toll is too awful.
A secret poker game in a strip center somewhere? Bring it on. I love it. The risk is part of the allure, honestly.
A big corporate state-sponsored casino with tax breaks welcoming in poor people with addiction problems? Attracting prostitution and drug dealers? With the government making money by exploiting all of these people? Like the lottery? No f'ing way.
We recently moved to WV. Started seeing signs everywhere for "Hot Spots'. Silly us at first thought they were signs for WIFI access because cell service is bad here. Nope!! Video gambling machines, supposedly, we have never walked in. They are EVERYWHERE. Almost every 1/4 mile, and the people you see around them are definitely not who you want to hang out with. Very, very sad.
Some of this gambling and drug stuff is a strategy to keep a demoralized population distracted and quiet. We have an increasing number of people who have no hope of ever achieving economic success. Keeping them doped up and addicted (to drugs or gambling) keeps their minds off the system that has foreclosed their futures.
Very sad and I think there is something to that.
I wish I could start my own neighborhood lottery - one with much-better odds of winning, where the government/lottery owner doesn't take 60 percent of the "payout" off the top. Somehow, I don't think my State is going to allow "competition" in the lottery business.
Yeah that's called a numbers racket and it was quite common in major cities until not that long ago.
couldn't agree more, especially your last paragraph.
Not much into Vegas but love a good game of poker with the boys in the hood.
I always used to get a kick out of people who used to argue that marijuana was natural. I’d always remind them that so is syphilis.
Except those pushing it. They knew exactly what they were doing
$$$$$$
Always
The Libertarians were big into it (actually the only thing they seemed to care about) Which is reason 6005 not to take them seriously.
I disagree with your “ no one considered the unintended consequence” statement. In my opinion the powers that be knew exactly what outcome would happen when they legalized marijuana and gambling. And the purpose for that outcome.
possibly but you are giving them more points for intelligence than i am capable of doing. Calculation maybe.
I suspect there were those who may have considered other consequences but there was money to be made and the government always wants in on it.
Yes, the lotteries (and casinos) are "helping the children." Of course, the parents who are supposed to support their children are gambling away their food, clothing and diaper money.
But the government doesn't have to raise taxes.
Like anything that gets legalized, it's was more fun when was underground and forbidden.
This is an addiction I can understand. I have downloaded and deleted Candy Crush, after getting to very high levels, numerous times on my phone because once I started paying for boosters, I knew it was a problem. No more of that for me!
I did Candy Crush once to a high level, and deleted it. Now I do Substack all day every day. Good thing it’s not addictive.
Nearly everything online is addictive. Algorithms are the devil.
I hit "like" and got a little dopamine hit.
Lolol
I thought it was the devil that crashed my computer and I had to reload the operating system twice this week, on a months old machine
Sounds like DOOM SCROLLING CULTURE. I admit, I have avoided X for this very reason up until recently. I signed up after the assassination attempt. And now, I feel this battle. Just as dangerous of a battle in my opinion, spending valuable minutes and mind-power for nothing. It has its place, to be sure, but is addictive for all the same reasons as machine gambling.
This very comment page . . . full of the thoughts, insight, and humor of like-minded, inquisitive users.
FOMO is real.
I used to love going to Vegas. Still do, but a lot less. It's just different now.
I learned a long time ago that the only games worth playing were sports betting and poker. Why? Because you are betting against other people, not the house. You dob't have to beat the house or rely on some outrageously rare outcome, you just needed to be smarter than the guy next to you.
Any other game - blackjack, craps, roulette, any other game, and ESPECIALLY slot machines - were rigged to beat you. They might be fun to play, especially with your buddies after a few drinks, but you're never going to "get rich" playing those games, eventually you will go broke.
One of the reasons Vegas is so different now is because all of the "fun" games are disappearing and being replaced by these god-awful video games. Why? The same reason it's hard to find free drinks and the buffets are so expensive. Because the casinos are public corporations and are driven by profits and they make more money on the video games and they can extract more money per square foot of floor space out of some poor old lady. It's really sad.
Another thing: It's not so much in Vegas yet, but in other locales, they are phasing out human dealers and even replacing them with computer games. Because those are more lucrative too, and they can be rigged a little bit to provide excitement like a 10 card blackjack bust or a long roll in craps.
I am a bit too young to have experienced the legendary Vegas of old. I wish I had.
I lived in Vegas for a year and decided it was time to move on….one could easily get swept up in the gambling culture. I never played the slots, but I did spend endless hours at the craps and blackjack tables.
Great topic, Alex!
As Alex notes, the House's advantage in blackjack is not nearly as great. A blackjack player who knows how to bet and play hands has about 47 percent chance of beating the House or dealer. Not with these "slot" machines, which aren't even slot machines and probably produce 90 percent of the House gambling revenue.
The Indian tribes are huge in this market.
As one that lived in Las Vegas for over 20 years, cannot even count how many 'slot players' would be playing 3 or more machines at a time, not even looking at the results. Just hit the max bet and roll on. And of course most of them smoking all the while. Will never cease to amaze me how many people cannot control themselves.
Sounds a lot like the Democrats.
Judgmental, much? Alex's piece is interesting in analyzing what makes machine gambling addictive but you sound like you spent a lot of your time observing this behavior. Maybe you enjoy judging people and have problems controlling that impulse.
Observational, not judgmental. The folks can do as they please, just very easy to notice. All movie theaters in LV are now located within casino properties. Any local would tell you the same.
Emily, pointing out the truth is not being judgmental.
It would be interesting to understand the impact gambling has on those with true ADD or ADHD issues. I say 'true' because those terms are overused (IMO) for parents who don't want to parent, but if a person has those issues truly, I'm betting (no pun intended) that the addictiveness is multiplied dramatically. Good article Alex.
@T- they ARE overused. Same with 'autism'. Many of those autistic kids are simply assholes because of the way they're being raised. My son has ADHD, 44 yrs old and way behind his peers. He was never diagnosed until 11th grade because he didn't present like 'normal' ADHD kids; he had no co-morbidities and was extremely bright. Dropped out of school at the end of 11th grade and went on to ace his GED. He's now a RR conductor and good at it but hates the way its run.
Remind me. Yeh. The house is stacked against me just like the three against one and only one unmuted mic at the so called debate on 9/10.
Remind me of anything else in my life. Well how about taxation. We pay and pay and pay and get so little back by Government design. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. In addition, the National debt keeps climbing which means we not only pay but are going further in debt as taxpayers with each nano second. I apologize for such a non-uplifting perspective.
This is a bit off topic and hope that I do not offend but one anecdotal observation that I have wondered about. I have a family member who is working through his substance abuse and I attend a support group for families. Most are drug and alcohol but some gambling issues. What I find is that gambling addiction seems to be overrepresented in Jewish families with substance abuse correspondingly underrepresented.
We are also "overrepresented" in places like Weight Watchers & Overeaters Anonymous.
Whenever a doctor asks me if I drink alcohol I always laugh & say, "No, of course not. We Jews are foodaholics, not alcoholics!"
Your observation is correct. There has always been a taboo amongst us Jews against alcohol consumption (until very recently) as its overuse was associated with the "goyim" (gentiles/non-Jews). There was a similar taboo against drugs until we baby-boomers came along. Then our children's generation magnified the trend. However, we have always had our gamblers & financial failures. Highly unfortunate, but true.
yes I do see the generational trend you alluded to. there is a heavy Jewish represntation in my group, we meet in a synaogue and I see the youngers ones are catching up to us goys.
I'm not Jewish but my wife is, so I've been at a fair number of events at both Conservative and Reform temples, most all of which have served alcohol. If there was a taboo against liquor, the Jews in our Midwest community weren't aware of it.
I am 72 & when I was growing up in Brooklyn alcohol was only served at official celebrations such as weddings, bar mitzvahs, Passover seders (at those only Manischewitz concord grape wine was served as part of the ceremonial meal; the kids got grape juice). Also, any Jewish person residing west of New Jersey was referred to as an "out-of-town Jew." They were expected to behave slightly differently. An uncle married a Jewish woman from Chicago. She made pumpkin pie - so exotic!
Neuroscience explains why this is so addictive and helps them design machine - and social media, devices etc - to keep you hooked.
Gambling corrupts everything it touches. It under cuts the work ethic by promoting a get something for nothing mentality. It is extremely addictive for certain personality types. I particularly despise state sponsored gambling. The state should not be promoting a vice. The ads for lotteries are nothing more than the promotion of false hopes. But hey, it generates revenue. Same reason they justify legalization of cannabis. Just don’t ask about all of the collateral damage and it’s costs.
Thank you for writing this. My father had a gambling problem and it hurt our family. I've been to casinos and lost money (never more than I planned to) and have watched people as they stayed so long that they missed work, were arguing with spouses about gambling more, and just plain despondency over losing. I don't oppose legalized gambling but running a disclaimer with an 1-800 help line isn't much to dissuade people from the financial ruin that befalls too many who get hooked.
The gambling addiction that I witness daily is the purchasing of lottery & other "scratch-off" tickets.
I purchase my morning newspaper from a small store that houses a pharmacy & sells other convenience items (toiletries, greeting cards, etc.). It is located across from a large public housing development & sells these tickets. I always see at least a dozen seniors from this development purchasing these tickets. I always wonder, "Is this what they use their Social Security money on?" And if they are living in Elliott Houses they are more than likely also receiving Section 8 housing vouchers, food stamps, & Medicaid (in addition to Medicare). Looks to me like our social safety net is subsidizing gambling.
In addition, my mother's sister was married to a compulsive gambler. He placed his bets with bookies in Mafia-laden Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. A destructive & dangerous habit. I lost count of the number of times my aunt had to change her phone number. One of my strongest childhood memories is that of my aunt standing at the kitchen sink crying because her husband had yet again gambled away the rent & grocery money. If my mother, her brother and my grandmother hadn't come to the rescue with cash my aunt & her daughters would have been out on the street.
I live in Chelsea in Manhattan. Now the real estate moguls in my area are bidding to bring a casino
here. I am adamantly opposed to this for obvious reasons.
I spent over 20 years living in a low income minority community as a spouse and parent. Scratch offs are the bane of those communities and are a regressive form of taxation.
My son worked at a convenience store for a time while in college. He was immediately struck by the folks who would gamble all their money away on government run lotteries and then ask for store credit (not an option) later on in the week to buy food. He found it so sad and so do I. I hate the gambling industry, whether run by a state government, tribe or private company, because they (obviously) prey on the most vulnerable of us -- those whose best/only hope seems, to them, to be the promise/anticipation of a gambling win. But it is especially criminal that government has chosen to fund itself in this way. Just more societal self-delusion. Oh no, any problems created won't touch "us." Certainly not.
Here in NYC our moronic mayor and insane City Council seem to think that the city can be solely supported by casino gambling, the sale of marijuana & Wall Street (which is really just legalized gambling). Talk about societal self-delusion!
"Looks to me like our social safety net is subsidizing gambling." Yes! And you can add in jewelry, tatoos, electronic devices to that statement.
I used to live in CT. The two casinos have sucked money out of ordinary people who thought that playing slot machines was harmless.
According to Addictions.com: "Three to five gamblers out of every hundred struggles with a gambling problem." So for 95 to 97% of those who gamble, it's not an addiction. That doesn't make it harmless but, like alcohol, it's a problem for only a small group.
Yeah agree. It's important for people to have some perspective or else it's easy to just see BIG EVIL everywhere you turn. Sure, there are social issues with gambling and casinos...but most people (I'd guess 95%+) simply don't gamble with any regularity.
I have to say, one of the least interesting/relevant articles for me. I could not care less if the house took 100% of the bets and anyone who spends that much time playing slots or any other form of gambling is making a decision to waste money on that activity. It is their choice...no one is forcing anyone to walk into a casino.
@Dux- so with that thinking, you have no empathy for strung out drug addicts, smokers with COPD or cancer, alcoholics who have lost their homes and familes? The addictions are indicative of a broken down mental health system in America. THAT'S where the thoughts should lie.
Agree. Half the article is explaining how they made the machines more entertaining and fun for people.