Comments on: Will Texas Win the Jackpot with Gambling? http://blog.contempomag.com/2009/04/08/will-texas-win-the-jackpot-with-gambling/ A Conservative Hispanic Blog for McAllen,the Rio Grande Valley,and the Nation Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:09:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Tony Magana http://blog.contempomag.com/2009/04/08/will-texas-win-the-jackpot-with-gambling/#comment-498 Tony Magana Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:28:29 +0000 http://blog.contempomag.com/2009/04/08/will-texas-win-the-jackpot-with-gambling/#comment-498 Here is my response Eliza Strickland who writes for Discovery Magazine and Salon.com wrote a nice review called Gambling with Science in Salon.com http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/06/16/gambling_science/index2.html Here is a quote from the article from Dr. Lasieur "Lesieur says that by conservative estimates, 30 percent of the profits from gambling machines come from problem gamblers. Yet NCRG and the institute have avoided such sensitive topics. "You don't see any research into the addictive nature of different games, and why people who play video machines seem to get addicted faster," Lesieur says. The gambling addicts who play the machines exclusively bottom out very quickly -- typically, within a year of beginning their habit, he says." Here is another quote "If the casino industry can defend itself against gambling addiction by pointing to neurobiology, it might also be argued that it has learned how to profit from addiction. Natasha Dow Schull, a cultural anthropologist and assistant professor at MIT, and a prominent critic of the gaming industry, points out that casinos are booming thanks in large part to increasingly sophisticated and highly addictive slot machines and video poker machines. These machines are the gaming industry's cash cow -- they occupy more than 75 percent of casino floors -- and one of the most efficient systems that humans have ever devised for delivering a dopamine rush to your brain while extracting money from your wallet. Schull has studied the interface between slot machines and the players who throng to them. As she explains, the old one-armed bandits are gone: Players were wasting too much time pulling the lever. Now push-button and touch-screen games are the rule, where a hardcore customer playing at top speed can play a game every five seconds. When you consider the slot machine makers, says Schull, "It's clear their ideal customer is the addict. They have a term, 'player extinction,' which means you lose all your money. They're talking about this as a goal!" Sorry if I confused MIT and Harvard. Here is my response
Eliza Strickland who writes for Discovery Magazine and Salon.com wrote a nice review called Gambling with Science in Salon.com http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/06/16/gambling_science/index2.html
Here is a quote from the article from Dr. Lasieur “Lesieur says that by conservative estimates, 30 percent of the profits from gambling machines come from problem gamblers. Yet NCRG and the institute have avoided such sensitive topics. “You don’t see any research into the addictive nature of different games, and why people who play video machines seem to get addicted faster,” Lesieur says. The gambling addicts who play the machines exclusively bottom out very quickly — typically, within a year of beginning their habit, he says.”
Here is another quote “If the casino industry can defend itself against gambling addiction by pointing to neurobiology, it might also be argued that it has learned how to profit from addiction. Natasha Dow Schull, a cultural anthropologist and assistant professor at MIT, and a prominent critic of the gaming industry, points out that casinos are booming thanks in large part to increasingly sophisticated and highly addictive slot machines and video poker machines. These machines are the gaming industry’s cash cow — they occupy more than 75 percent of casino floors — and one of the most efficient systems that humans have ever devised for delivering a dopamine rush to your brain while extracting money from your wallet.

Schull has studied the interface between slot machines and the players who throng to them. As she explains, the old one-armed bandits are gone: Players were wasting too much time pulling the lever. Now push-button and touch-screen games are the rule, where a hardcore customer playing at top speed can play a game every five seconds. When you consider the slot machine makers, says Schull, “It’s clear their ideal customer is the addict. They have a term, ‘player extinction,’ which means you lose all your money. They’re talking about this as a goal!”
Sorry if I confused MIT and Harvard.

]]> By: Tony Magana http://blog.contempomag.com/2009/04/08/will-texas-win-the-jackpot-with-gambling/#comment-497 Tony Magana Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:16:28 +0000 http://blog.contempomag.com/2009/04/08/will-texas-win-the-jackpot-with-gambling/#comment-497 We received this email My name is Veronica Brown and I’m a member of the communications team for the National Center for Responsible Gaming. I’m writing because I read your Contempo Magazine blog post from yesterday (April 8 – “Will Texas Win the Jackpot with Gambling”) and noticed a couple of factual errors in the piece I wanted to clear up with you. First, the NCRG hasn’t ever funded a study examining casino or slot revenues or profits, so the line referencing the NCRG funding a study like that is not correct. Second, to the best of our knowledge, and having checked with our contact over there, Harvard hasn’t ever conducted a study that examines casino or slot revenues or profits, nor have they conducted a study whose findings match those laid out in the blog post. I’m curious about where that information came from, because we’d certainly like to set the record straight about this if it’s been reported incorrectly elsewhere. Given the facts, we’d appreciate a correction being made to the blog post on these points. Also, I’m not sure if you were planning to include a piece on this subject in your printed magazine, but, if so, we’d like to be sure the necessary corrections are made there as well. Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation on this. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Also, I’d appreciate it if you can let me know once the correction has been made. Regards, Veronica Veronica Brown On behalf of the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) t. 202-530-4526 m. 703-470-1925 vbrown@ncrg.org veronica.brown@thewadegroupinc.com We received this email
My name is Veronica Brown and I’m a member of the communications team for the National Center for Responsible Gaming.

I’m writing because I read your Contempo Magazine blog post from yesterday (April 8 – “Will Texas Win the Jackpot with Gambling”) and noticed a couple of factual errors in the piece I wanted to clear up with you.

First, the NCRG hasn’t ever funded a study examining casino or slot revenues or profits, so the line referencing the NCRG funding a study like that is not correct. Second, to the best of our knowledge, and having checked with our contact over there, Harvard hasn’t ever conducted a study that examines casino or slot revenues or profits, nor have they conducted a study whose findings match those laid out in the blog post. I’m curious about where that information came from, because we’d certainly like to set the record straight about this if it’s been reported incorrectly elsewhere.

Given the facts, we’d appreciate a correction being made to the blog post on these points. Also, I’m not sure if you were planning to include a piece on this subject in your printed magazine, but, if so, we’d like to be sure the necessary corrections are made there as well.

Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation on this. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Also, I’d appreciate it if you can let me know once the correction has been made.

Regards,

Veronica

Veronica Brown

On behalf of the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG)

t. 202-530-4526

m. 703-470-1925

vbrown@ncrg.org

veronica.brown@thewadegroupinc.com

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