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LAS VEGAS SUN FILE
Si Redd, the late creator of the modern video poker machine, said he never imagined how popular the game would become. Many experts say the relatively simple machines may be more addictive, or appealing to addicts, than video slots with a lot of entertainment features.
Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 | 2 a.m.
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Bottoming Out
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Tony McDew not only recognized that he had a gambling problem, but set out to document it with his own video camera, hoping that sharing his experience could help others. When the jackpot hits, "It feels like you're getting high." And when it doesn't? "You want to crucify yourself."
About this series
In the three decades since the psychiatric community recognized compulsive gambling as a mental disorder, it has evolved from a small area of study to a global research effort involving dozens of medical doctors and other specialists who have generated hundreds of studies and hosted as many conferences.
Yet it remains a largely secret affliction, in part because it carries a stigma even here in the birthplace of modern gambling. As a result, sufferers don’t want to discuss the problem or seek help.
Fewer than 10 gambling treatment programs run by state-certified counselors exist in Nevada. The number of nonprofit treatment clinics that waive costs for those who can’t pay — a common predicament for gambling addicts — can be counted on one hand. Fewer than 400 people underwent treatment for gambling problems in state-funded counseling programs in the two-year period ending Sept. 30. Though many more seek out self-help groups such as Gamblers Anonymous, it’s believed to be a fraction of the more than 90,000 Nevadans with gambling problems.
Starting with this story, the Las Vegas Sun explores problem gambling three ways — through the experiences of an addict, by examining what happens inside the brain of an addict, and by considering the role of slot machine designs in feeding gambling addictions.
The stories
- Part 1: Tony McDew not only recognized that he had a gambling problem, but set out to document it with his video camera, hoping that sharing his experience could help others. When the jackpot hits, “It feels like you’re getting high.” And when it doesn’t? “You want to crucify yourself.”
- Part 2: The mere sight of a slot machine can trigger a chemical response in the gambling addict’s brain in the same way the thought of cocaine stimulates a drug addict. Some researchers are exploring the use of drugs to treat addicts. Robert Hunter offers old-fashioned group and one-on-one therapy.
- Part 3: When designer Si Redd realized the overwhelming attraction of his video poker machine, he advised addicts to get help — and leave Nevada if necessary. Today the role of the machine in feeding addiction is debated. At some casinos in Canada, gamblers can tell slot machines to limit their play.
Related Stories
Sun Archives
- LV companies in denial about problem gambling (11-20-2009)
- New courts will stress treatment of gamblers (6-1-2009)
- Criminals could get help for gambling, not prison time (4-18-2009)
- LV attorney who stole $398,345 for gambling habit suspended (2-19-2009)
- Gambling addict’s misery detailed (10-2-2002)
Hoping to solve the decades-old mystery of why some people develop gambling problems, a growing number of researchers are studying the other side of the equation: the games that gamblers fixate on.
Casinos and slot makers have long been accused of fueling gambling addiction. When video poker became known as the crack cocaine of gambling, Si Redd, the founder of slot giant International Game Technology who created the modern video poker machine and who died in 2003, didn’t get defensive. Instead, he advised addicts to get help and move from Nevada, if necessary.
“Of course it hurts me when such things are said, I guess because it is kind of the truth,” Redd, then retired, told the Sun in 2001. “I never intended it to become that way, and I never could have dreamed of how successful the video poker machine would become.”
In fact, if the industry has learned one thing in its constant hunt for more popular slot machines, it’s that there’s no magic formula for what makes a machine successful. Some players prefer big jackpot games that pay back less frequently, and others like games that hit frequently, though in smaller increments, for example.
And researchers don’t know why many problem gamblers in Las Vegas tell addiction counselors that they succumb to video poker — a device that has changed little over the years relative to slot machines with catchy themes and high-tech features — while other gambling addicts, especially in other parts of the world, are drawn to other kinds of games.
Indeed, the role that various elements in a casino play in the addiction process — defined by experts as the relationship between a person and the object of his obsession — is up for debate.
Slot and video poker machines get the most attention from problem-gambling researchers in part because most people who seek treatment appear to be hooked on machines. That makes sense to some observers, who believe that slots, for addicts, behave like fast-acting drugs in that they allow gamblers to play rapidly and thus trigger rewards that more quickly reinforce such behavior.
Others say the implication that machines cause the problem is false.
“This focus on ‘things’ is taking us totally off base,” said Christine Reilly, executive director of the industry-sponsored Institute for Research on Gambling Disorders. “People drink excessively and don’t become alcoholics. Things aren’t addictive. But people want a quick fix and think if we ‘fix’ all the machines, we’ll fix the problem associated with it. It’s not that simple.”
The machines' tease
In general, the same elements that make games attractive to casual gamblers may also make them addictive to others, says Mark Griffiths, a psychology professor and director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University in England.
He is among dozens of researchers who have developed and tested multiple theories about how different elements and designs of machines influence behavior, including:
• Gamblers long ago gave up their buckets of quarters in favor of machines that operate with “virtual” money — racking up and deducting credits instead of hard cash and dispensing paper tickets that need to be redeemed for cash. It is cleaner, easier, saves the casino money — and is psychologically pleasing because turning money into credits has the effect of gently separating the gambler from his cash.
• Bonus rounds — when a player is rewarded with a free spin on a separate game within the primary one — indulge the player’s sense of involvement with a slot machine. Similarly, features allowing players to decide when to stop a spinning reel or the ability to “nudge” a symbol onto the pay line can give the illusion of control.
• Many slots come alive with the sound of a payoff even for “hits” that in fact only pay back a fraction of the amount wagered. Gamblers tend to report these as “wins” rather than a minimized net loss because they focus on winnings while ignoring losses, or the amount of money spent to get those wins.
• Sound effects, video snippets, celebrity voices, musical sequences and even certain colors add to the entertainment value of the machines.
It’s all about entertainment, the gaming industry says.
The industry view
Indeed, casinos and slot makers don’t want addicts because they create legal and financial problems for them, said Glenn Christenson, chairman of the industry-sponsored National Center for Responsible Gaming and former chief financial officer for Station Casinos, one of many gaming giants that donate money to treatment and research efforts.
“Most of the enlightened gaming companies, the vast majority of them, understand there’s no upside to pursuing problem gamblers,” Christenson said. “At some point there’s going to be issues with them that the industry doesn’t need. Companies feel they are better off being supportive rather than ignoring the problem. I’m not sure 30 years ago I would have been able to say that.”
Game designers like to consider themselves more a part of the movie-production business than the gambling business because their job is to create products that hold people’s attention.
Creating machines that entice gamblers to play longer might sound like a conscious effort to cultivate addicted gamblers. Slot companies don’t see it that way.
“This is a competitive industry. Our game designers are trying to keep the games fun and exciting and better than Brand X,” said Connie Jones, director of responsible gaming for International Game Technology.
IGT hired Jones, the first executive of her kind in the gaming industry, eight years ago to help demystify gambling machines to a skeptical public and disseminate problem-gambling research to governments legalizing gambling, among other groups.
By spending millions of research dollars on bells and whistles such as animated cartoons and sound clips, and creating hundreds of different games a year, slot companies aim to seek out the broadest possible audience rather than home in on any one niche, said Marcus Fortunato, owner of Dingo Systems, a Las Vegas company that develops slot machines for manufacturers worldwide. Compulsive gamblers, by contrast, appear to be drawn to simpler machines featuring such gambling basics as a hand of video poker or easily deciphered reels of cherries and 7s, as they probably don’t need more elaborate features to get their fix, he said.
Added Mike Shackleford, a Las Vegas-based mathematician and former actuary who analyzes and designs slot machines: “Slot companies don’t sit around their boardrooms and talk about how to make their machines addictive.”
Natasha Dow Schüll, a cultural anthropologist at MIT who has spent years interviewing gamblers, casino officials and slot manufacturers in Las Vegas in an attempt to uncover the pull of slot machines, agrees.
And yet Schüll, whose book documenting machine gambling and compulsive behavior, “Addiction By Design,” will be published next year, says machines play more of a role in the addiction process than the industry would care to admit.
“This isn’t like buying shoes,” she said. “These are potent and powerful devices that are effective in shifting your inner mood and state.”
People with gambling problems told Schüll of “zoning out” in front of a machine and gambling for gambling’s sake rather than for reasons that make sense to casual gamblers and are cited by manufacturers, such as the pleasure of winning something, however small, or the anticipation of a big jackpot.
Government's role
Although slot machines are regulated for randomness and a minimum payback for players, they aren’t subjected to consumer protection laws or warnings like alcohol, tobacco and other consumer products that affect behavior or personal health, said Schüll, who doesn’t advocate any particular regulatory approach toward gambling.
Some countries are tackling the problem more proactively by tinkering with the machines themselves — an approach the industry says is motivated more by politics and public relations than science.
Hit by a rash of class-action lawsuits by gamblers, the Canadian government, which owns some of that country’s casinos and slot machines, has in some areas imposed “smart cards” that allow players club members to opt into various “safety” features on the machines, including a record of what players have won or lost and the ability to set budgets and time limits.
Some Canadian casinos are using information tracked by the cards — data used for marketing purposes by American casinos — to identify problematic behavior and intervene on gamblers’ behalf. Some of these casinos use biometric software to match problem gamblers with photos on file, including people who have filled out paperwork to voluntarily ban themselves from the casino floor.
In Australia, where publicity about gambling addiction has fueled a politically popular “war against gambling,” governments have slowed down the speed at which machines play, limited the number of machines that can be offered and, in certain areas, prevented the further spread of machines.
Nova Scotia commissioned one of the few major studies on responsible gambling features such as pop-up reminder clocks, mandatory cash-outs and meters showing how much is spent in dollars and cents. It found that some features had little to no effect on the play of problem gamblers, though players reported losing track of time and money a smaller percentage of the time.
Some safety features — such as forced time limits — might have the opposite effect by prompting compulsive gamblers to gamble more or faster knowing they will shortly be cut off from the object of their obsession, said Bo Bernhard, director of problem-gambling research at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute.
It’s unrealistic to believe that people in the throes of an addiction can be swayed by warnings or other educational features on a slot machine — though the technology holds the potential to prevent people from developing gambling problems down the road, Bernhard said.
“This is a psychological disorder that needs to be treated by professionals, not a machine,” he said.
Added Jones of IGT: “If there was any solid, peer-reviewed research that identified specific game characteristics as harmful, all manufacturers would be required to avoid incorporating them into games. If IGT designed our games around speculation about what may be harmful, we would likely be out of business in short order.”
Still, education about how slot machines work — which includes debunking gambling myths such as “lucky” games — has an important place in the treatment of compulsive gamblers, according to some experts.
Clinical psychologist Robert Breen, who directs the Rhode Island Gambling Treatment Program at Rhode Island Hospital, is among several psychologists who have successfully treated gambling addicts by incorporating information about slot machine math into an abstinence-only program.
“But once that person is sitting in front of the machine,” Breen said, “they’re dead meat for the rest of the night at that point.”
Video Poker is one hell of an entertaining slot machine. It requires some skill, and if you make the right choice through selection, you can receive a payoff. A regular three window slot machine is basically push the button and hope for a miracle.
rejecto : Stop following me around with you insanity, and find someone else who gives a s_ _ _ !
These machines are just tools. Might as well just blame Sears for a guy spending all his time in the garage instead of inside making his better half feel good about herself.
Grow up, people -- either break your habits or buy into being a "victim." Rejco100's right -- just quit whining about it.
rejco100 has it right on!
Rejeco did you get sexually assalted by a 12 stepper? lol...those tweleve steps has saved the general public untold amount of grief from the robberies and murders that would of been committed by reformed addicts and alcoholics ..if they are brain washed so be it I'd rather have a brain washed addict who is not robbing my house than not.. Rejeco your a fool you prove it daily
I was born and raised in Las Vegas and I am a 32 year old male... I have TRULY witnessed problem gamblers "active" in their addiction... The compulsion and erratic behavior is ABSOLUTELY no different than drug and alcohol addiction... My mother, brother, and my two closest friends have the addict gene in relation to problem gambling and it's been horrible to watch... TRUST, that they are different and cannot gamble socially like a non-addict gambler... It's never for fun... It's always for a "fix." They don't stop untill they no longer have any money to play with... I am extremely grateful for your Problem Gambling Center and the help it offers those who cannot help themselves. I encourage anyone to "educate" themselves in the Treatment and Prevetion of Problem Gambling... Hopefully we can prepare the next generation of Problem Gamblers, their friends, and their families before their lives are destroyed. Good work Problem Gambling Center Las Vegas Nevada. You are appreciated.
In 19th century Monte Carlo, Francois Blanc arranged for suicide victims to have their pockets filled with money to prevent stories of ruined gamblers killing themselves.
Worldwide, gambling revenues are larger than movies, spectator sports, theme parks, cruise ships, recorded music combined.
Ref: Modern Marvel's "Casino Tech" episode [History Channel].
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rejecto100 : You are like a scratched CD which keeps sounding off the same line over and over..give it a break..
the people addicted to these
are weak-minded simpletons.
they only have themselves to blame.
what a crock to put the blame any
where else. they would do society a
favor by removing themselves from the gene pool.
milfy2001 : You evidently have never been addicted to anything, or perhaps you don't have that particular genetic make up, but for those who do, it's not as easy as you think. Lucky for you. Don't pee down my back and tell me it's raining...
environprotector -- funny thing about the quote from Judge Judy you used, it's more applicable to you than to rejco100.
We're not talking about either rocket science or Pavolv's dog here. Unless a person becomes forcibly addicted to a substance -- like a burn patient who needs morphine just to keep from screaming 24/7 -- I have no sympathy for anyone who VOLUNTARILY acquires a bad habit. There's no victims here, only volunteers. The offers from the pseudo-psychobabblers and greedy Bar members claiming these people are victims is driven by greed, not science, not law.
Get a grip, people. You control your lives or others will. It's really that simple.
Slot machines are mindless games, video poker gives you the option to make decisions on each play but it is the same result of a random outcome.
Every casino game has a negative expectation outcome for the player and we all know that, but yet the no self control and undisiplined patron chooses to ignore this fact....
If you are having fun gambling and enjoying it, thats what it is all about plus it is entertaining....that is if you can afford to as a hobby.
Once a person crosses the line to gamble money at risk for their basic necessities or living expenses, it is definately not an affordable hobby anymore and no longer fun, but yet the no self control undisiplined patron chooses to ignore this fact.
killerB : Ha! I never have time to sit around and watch Judge Judy, however It appears to me that you do, so your opinion about addiction is just that.. your opinion. Same goes for rejecto. It's all so easy for you opinionated commentators to ramble off on how there is no excuse for addictive behavior blah blah blah.. until you have had to be in it's grips you know absolutely NOTHING about the subject. From this moment forward, I am not going to respond to your inane comments regarding this subject any more.
environprotector -- your ignorance is, again, underwhelming. "Judge Judy" is the honorable Judith Sheindlin, a retired Manhattan family court judge and the author of "Don't Pee On My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining." I have her book.
Your vow to not respond to my comments will be so welcome, "inane" or no.
Of course they want addicts, why else do you think they allow smokers and paid so much lobbying money to be exempt from a country wide ban in all restaraunts and bars and on and on. Just typical hypocracy Sun.
I had the addiction, I forced myself to pay back every cent I cash advanced and lost (over 100 k) I worked my butt off to do that. Now I gamble but only for entertainment. I loose a little I am done. It is a hard thing to do for sure but you can stop if you want.
This is all easily solved by requiring players cards and limiting play, as done in many states at one time or another. I remember Iowa used to have some $5 max bet, $300 loss per day maximum. Now I wouldn't recommend this for Vegas, but I would recommend allowing people to set their own limit.
All machines and table games would be required to have a universal card where people would have buy-in's recorded. Of course it would be easy enough to get around this but it would require assitance of others (sharing chips/TITO's/etc) but isn't this a "solitary" addictions? The effect would be to reduce the magnitude of the problem significantly. High-roller's would have to be certified to have higher limits, etc. This would cost casinos money, i'm sure the free drinks would be gone. It's one of those most American of things----we won't do it not because its not the right thing, but because it would lower profits.
Beejay : That's the funniest thing I think I have heard EVER! No way would the casino business EVER go for that.
Safety features of gaming machines - especially those that allow players to preset daily loss limits and that prevent further gambling once a player's preset limit is reached - may not significantly impact on the behaviour of users addicted to the machines (in the NS trials, addicts simply set themselves a loss limit above what they could afford), but they will have a significant effect in preventing new users from becoming addicted in the first place. This fact alone makes some safety features well worth having.
Iowa used to limit $200 buy in every 2 hours. That has been gone for at least 10 years. Missouri voted out their $500 buy in every 2 hours last year. The loss of revenue due to competition accross state lines ended these. There is a safety feature still around in Iowa (not sure about other states). It's having yourself banned from an establishment. You make the request, sign some papers and never step foot in the place again. If you do come back you are trespassing and will be prosecuted. It is a lifetime ban that cannot be revoked. Maybe the 12 step program should add a new one as step 1; have yourself banned from every gambling establishment in the state. If you think about doing it at each establishment it would be impossible but the state could make it happen with one signature... if they wanted to.
Duh! How stupid is this story! LOL! Next week's headline: Too Many Donuts Might Make You Fat - Could it Be Because They're So Tasty?
I was addicted to playing Black Jack. Sometimes I would win thousands in less than an hour. Sometimes I would arrive to Vegas only to be broke within the hour. One time my car over heated so i went to the Golden Nugget to let it cool down and lost $7,000 in 30min. Another time I was at the Bellagio and after 8 hours of play i was up $5,000. 4am rolled around and they took their $5,000 back and took $11,000 of mine. I got reported to the IRS that night for losing so much. I still didn't learn. I kept going back for a couple more years. I just BARELY learned that Vegas didn't get all flashy by letting people win. So now the only time i will gamble is Baseball and Football. Thats really the only chance a person has at winning in this town. Lucky for me i have a wife who cares and two beautiful daughters that i adore. Thats really all i needed to quit. Others will gamble because they're lonely or bored or whatever. At the end of the night i would go hang over the balcony and seriously think about jumping just bcuz i was soooo mad at myself. I even asked the casino floor manager for a gun one time as i placed a $3000 bet on the table. Everyone at the table laughed but the manager said THATS NOT FUNNY
RE: Rico
Makes you wonder why someone would be so angry at 12 step groups.
What has happened to you? You are a very angry guy that spouts out nonsense.
I have been in recovery for many years without a bet and imagine this "with my higherpower- GOD"
I think it is a shame that someone can and does work the program and changes their life and you want to make fun of it.
I think you have been involved in the 12 steps but don't have the BALLS to keep coming back so you are the loser not me... I don't gamble but you do ramble. PLEASE get help!
Do yourself a favor and GET HELP!!!!
Your Momma may be shocked when you clean up your act.
RE: REJCO100
Makes you wonder why someone would be so angry at 12 step groups.
What has happened to you? You are a very angry guy that spouts out nonsense.
I have been in recovery for many years without a bet and imagine this "with my higherpower- GOD"
I think it is a shame that someone can and does work the program and changes their life and you want to make fun of it.
I think you have been involved in the 12 steps but don't have the BALLS to keep coming back so you are the loser not me... I don't gamble or ramble get a god in your life and some peace.
You really need help. Do yourself a favor and GET HELP!!!!
Your Momma may be shocked when you clean up your act.
the only requirement for Gamblers Anonymous is a desire to quit gambling we have no fees and are self supporting through our own contributions.
Other programs well they are a business not a fellowship. There is a huge difference.
You do not have to attend any other program and actually if you choose you don't have to have a higher power we really don't care what you call it, if anything that is your business and what you feel does not change my opinion since it is a "God of your understanding", Or not.
Best Regards
GAMEMBERANDPROUD : Forget about rejecto100, he's a lost cause. He will (or will not) come in from the cold until he hits rock bottom..
rejecto100 : You are going to someday come before the creator and be begging forgiveness for your sins. Unlike you in your present life form, the creator is a merciful god and to true repentant souls comes forgiveness. You might want to think about it now instead of at the last minute..
Most states will let you sign up for self-exclusion. It is still Harrah's policy to apply the self-exclusion to all of their properties nationwide, even if you sign up for self-exclusion in just one state.
The particulars vary, but the usual options are to sign up for self-exclusion for one or five years, or a lifetime ban. Usually you have to sign up for self-exclusion at the Casino Control Board's office in your state, but Pennsylvania will sign you up for self-exclusion right at the casino. You can be removed from a one or five year self-exclusion by petitioning the state gaming board anytime after whatever self-exclusion period that you requested has passed, but it removal is not automatic.
In New Jersey, you will be removed from the self-exclusion list within about a week of the time that you petition for removal.
In Delaware, you are not officially removed from the self-exclusion list until they send you a letter. I don't know how long this takes. I requested removal from self-exclusion in March 2010, and still haven't received my letter.
Pennsylvania requires what I call "two-visit removal". After your self-exclusion period has elapsed, you have to appear at the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's office and request removal from self-exclusion. Then you have to return no less than seven days later and confirm that you want to be removed from self-exclusion. Some time after that, probabnly about two weeks, the casinos will know that you are off the self-exclusion list.
My subjective opinion is that I lose money about as fast in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, and about twice as fast in either Delaware or Pennsylvania compared to Las Vegas. This makes sense if you consider the tax rates on gambling in each state. NJ and NV levy taxes of about 8% on gambling revenues, but DE and PA tax it at 40% and 55%. All else equal, the casino has to take about twice as much from the players in DE and PA to make the same after-tax profits. Heavily taxing gambling burns the players out quickly and limits development to what I call the "box o' slots", warehouses of slots with few amenities.
As a designer/game maker who has worked in las vegas since 1990 for 3 of the largest manufacturers, I disagree that we game makers "....like to consider themselves more a part of the movie-production business than the gambling business because their job is to create products that hold people's attention.."
We do not.
Real game makers make casino games because we are dedicated to bringing both the challenge AND reward that is casino gaming, to players everywhere. Players continue to reward us by paying to play our best games, and to challenge us with their growing short attention spans!
If we are good at our job, we make casino games that are also 'entertaining' beyond the value of the proposition which is the heart of all gambling. Unfortunately, if we are really good at our jobs, our games are labled 'too compelling', 'dangerously entertaining', and 'addictive' ...so, should we all slack off or continue our industry-wide financial and practical support of the those who do have a problem with gambling?