Dear Mark,
Do you think that kids
who play arcade video games are being pre-programmed to gamble since the
slot machines of today are video based? Ronnie M.
Forget video games, Ronnie, I can prove
to you that two-year-olds gamble. Strong statement, yes, but no whiff of
bologna.
First, let me give you two examples of
children gambling casino style. On the Boardwalk in Atlantic City
children can freely walk into an arcade and play true slot machines by
exchanging quarters for tokens. They win crummy prizes in exchange for
the tickets the slot spits out. Another example is at the children's
arcade at the Circus Circus in Reno. A child can play Flip It, the
casino game that flips quarters into the air and on rare occasion pushes
them down into trays. They disguised it in name only by calling it
Jungle Jamboree. Again, kids get to exchange tickets for worthless
prizes.
But I did say two-year-olds. To prove I
have one foot planted in mid-air, how about the two-year-old who makes a
path with Linus blanket in hand to that thingamajig at the supermarket
door that dispenses those plastic transparent eggs. For a quarter a
young tot can win an egg containing a bracelet, a cheap watch, but most
likely a 3¢ ring-more on that below. These vending machines are classic
slot machines.
So is it true gambling? Absolutely. Courts have
found that every gambling apparatus must consist of three components;
consideration, chance and prize. The child pays something of value
(consideration) to use the vending machine: if he wins he receives
something of value (prize), usually less than the amount bet; and the
outcome depends on chance. Because all three elements are present on the
vending machines that dispenses these plastic eggs, this would be
considered a true gambling device.
Granted, I doubt anyone would arrest or
even put the kibosh on a child for playing grocery store slots, but I do
wonder why these vending operators have gone uncontested for so long.
Who owns these cash cows milking kids out of quarters?
By the way, Ronnie, vis-à-vis some
insider information, the cost of those plastic egg prizes produced in
Asia is about 3¢, and there is only one true prize (junky watch) per two
hundred eggs. Our offspring are up against tougher odds than the
tightest one-armed bandit.
The stimulation to gamble does begin
early for many children, well before an arcade adventure. And what
parent in his or her right mind is really going to say no? We have to be
quarter generous to our kids. They will be choosing our nursing home.
Dear Mark,
When casino executives
mention both the "handle" and "hold" of a slot machine, what do they
mean? Al R.
The "handle" is the total amount of all
coins played through a slot machine. The "hold" (also called "win") is
the amount the casino held as profit. The "yield" is the casino's win
expressed as a percentage of the profit.
Dear Mark,
Every week I enter all
kinds of contests. To this day the telephone has not rung to acknowledge
that I'm a winner. Do you think the phone will ever ring? Russell G.
According to Roxy Roxborough, czar
of the Las Vegas handicappers, "Your chances are a million to one that
any one telephone call will be financially rewarding. Compare that
against the caller being a telemarketer or an undesirable in-law, three
to one."
Your best bet, Russell, is to leave the
answering machine on.
