Blarg! First Post !
Anyway, as some of you may know, I have recently been to Macau, and stayed at the Venetian (yes, yes, the really big one, but this isn't a critique on hotels). As I walked through the Venetian, I notice the insanely large sections of the hotel dedicated for gambling. In case you were wondering how I got in, I am 17, but the security didn't even bother to check my ID. I saw rows upon rows of slot machines, black jack tables, poker tables, and stuff as bizarre as "Carribean POkER ! PLAY & WIN". And if the scene wasn't overwhelming already, add a couple hundred mainland China customers to the pallette. It was horrifying to say the least. Some of them would pick their nose while playing poker, some would smoke and put their legs up the slot machines.
All of them were trying their luck to make a quick buck (that rhymes!), and the purpose behind casinos quickly donned upon me.
Casinos were built for the sole purpose of generating more revenue for the firm, hotel etc; whoever designed the casino is a genius. These so-called "entertainment devices" are usually rigged so that the player has a winning chance of close to nil. And since people are usually desperate for easy money, the keep trying and trying their chances.
For example, take a guy I saw at the slot machines. His number of actions include:
1) Push button
2) Stare at screen and see if anything was won
3) Fail? Then insert more money and repeat steps 1-2
4) Win? Play some more and repeat steps 1-2
His actions were so mechanical, it seemed like the slot machine was like keeping him in a trance, and to be honest, I think the casino has mind controlling devices built into these things. The crazy thing about the slot machine is that it only costs about a buck to play, and the amount of money you gain if you hit jackpot is about a million times higher than the cost of play. This idea hooks the player in, because they think that: "Oh, it's just ONE more dollar, I got lots more where that came from." And sooner or later, they go home empty handed with one thought: "I can't quit now... after all the times that I tried to win. I'm going to come back tomorow and WIN!" The vicious cycle just keeps going on and on.
One thing is for sure though... I never want to play slots, even if my life depended on it.
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2 comments:
I agree with you Julian. Gambling is a very addictive habit and slot machines do ruin people's lives. I know people that have been lucky enough to win from slot machines, but the amount of money they spent on the slots probably equaled their winnings, if not more. Slot machines and casinos are risky and I would never put my life on it either.
Pig’s first person experience and it is powerful. I totally agree with you. I have no idea why people get addicted to the gamble machine. Even after all the calculation of possibility, winning a round with profit is lower than kill by a flying label in the street. Why do they waste their time on? One of the reasons can be money exchange. It doesn’t mean changing money by currency, but changing “black money” to” white money”.
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