‘Back at the ATM’

By William H. Perkins, Jr. - Feb 12, 2008

Over time, Mississippians have become too cavalier about the impact of gambling on our state—and based on our behavior, that apparently includes many Mississippi Baptists. We just don’t take it very seriously, similar to our attitude about alcohol even as the bodies continue to pile up.

Big Gambling has always been about the money, and the political and social power that comes along with the money. Now someone who claims to be a “pit boss,” one of those sinister-looking fellows in expensive suits who walk the floor of the casino patrolling the gambling tables, has written a book titled, Casino Confidential (Quirk Books 2008). He does not reveal his identity but rather lists “Anonymous” as the author, thus the qualifier that he is someone who claims to be a pit boss.

Nonetheless, his observations ring true to anyone with a passing knowledge of how legalized gambling works and how the deck is always stacked against the individual gambler. Some intriguing tidbits from the book, excerpted recently by Newsweek magazine and msnbc.com:

  • No matter what game you’re talking about—blackjack, craps, Elvis Presley slot machines—odds are always in the casino’s favor. This advantage is called the house edge and ensures that the casinos stay in business. They aren’t cheating; they’ll lose their license if they rip you off. But there are plenty of legal ways they can get you to stop paying attention to your bet.
  • If you’re serious about gambling, don’t drink while you do it. Alcohol is a casino’s best friend: It makes you do things no sane, rational person would ever think of doing, like betting your entire paycheck on red 22—again! In gambling jargon, a “fish” is an easy mark, and there’s a reason casinos try to make you drink like one. Also, be wary if a casino starts offering you other freebies, especially after you’ve won a lot. The casino owners are going to do whatever they can to keep you there so they can win their money back. Want a complimentary dinner for two? A hotel room? Perhaps a free bottle of bubbly? No problem. They want you to think to yourself, “Wow, these guys are great! I don’t want to leave just yet.”
  • Casinos spend millions studying psychology and what motivates us to take risks. That’s why you see so much red, especially on slot machines—red supposedly attracts players and gets them to think of victory. Casinos have also experimented with different scents—a kind of gamblers’ aroma-therapy. Should you forget to wear a watch, good luck finding out what time it is. The only clocks are on the employees’ time cards. Casinos want you to lose track of time; that’s why windows are so rare. It could be 5 in the morning or 5 in the afternoon, but inside a casino it’s always forget-your-troubles time.
  • The inventor of chips was a genius. Plopping down a stack of $100 chips isn’t nearly as painful as putting down a wad of $100 bills. When you win a small jackpot at the tables, dealers automatically pay you in chips, hoping you’ll burn right through them without a second thought. Have you ever noticed there are a dozen places in a casino to buy chips but only one place where you can cash them in? Cash goes straight into your pocket, and the casino owners know they might never see it again.
  • [Y]ou shouldn’t step inside the casino unless you have 100 times your smallest bet. If you only have $100, you should play the $1 tables. I see people sit down at a $10 table and buy in for $100 all the time. Twenty minutes later, they’re all out of cash and back to the ATM.

Gambling is bad for Mississippi, and bad for Mississippians. It’s bad for America. Always has been, always will be. Are we too far down the slippery slope to see that?

This article is reprinted from the January 31, 2008, issue of The Baptist Record, the newsjournal of the Mississippi Baptist Convention.

Further Learning

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