Should gambling slot machines be banned?

[MobBoss]

The reason the governments get involved, is that these people collect welfare and gamble it away.

Then the problem is with welfare, not gambling. Why do you give irresponsible people money and then complain when they are irresponsible with it?

Moderator Action: Such a generalization is considered trolling

If you simply took away gambling, what makes you think they wouldnt find some other equally silly thing to waste their money away on that?

 

[LucyDuke]

Exactly. At least slot machines pay out sometimes. Video game arcades dont pay out anything, they just take, take, take your quaters, and keep on taking. Why not ban them instead?

I didn't expect a cash prize when I went to play Skeeball or shoot-the-zombies.

Seriously, isnt the world better off without pinball machines or a dance/dance/revolution in every cinema?

I'll give you my Skeeball when you take it from my cold dead hands. This is AMERICA.

 

[bob_page]

Slot machines take stupid people's money, I like that. Very capitalist.

 

[Tarkhan]

Then the problem is with welfare, not gambling. Why do you give irresponsible people money and then complain when they are irresponsible with it?

If you simply took away gambling, what makes you think they wouldnt find some other equally silly thing to waste their money away on that?

They probably would just get booze and drugs, if they don't already. The thing is most people aren't willing to leave people, even stupid people, to die of starvation, which is why welfare exists. It's how successful people avoid guilt when they see a bum.

 

[warpus]

We've got problems with video gambling machines here.

A lot of it is that the owners of bars with them aren't held to the same regulations as casinos in terms of posting information about problem gambling etc.

The reason the governments get involved, is that these people collect welfare and gamble it away.

That's a problem with the welfare system, not the gambling machines.

 

[Xanikk999]

Nope, if we did away with gambling we should do away with the lottery since that could be considered gambling.

Many jurisdictions in this country rely on stupid taxes like the lottery to meet budget requirements. If the stupid people want to waste money gambling let them.

 

[warpus]

If the stupid people want to waste money gambling let them.

Exactly.

Why are gambling websites banned in the U.S. again? (they are, right?)

 

[Formaldehyde]

If people want to waste their money because they don't understand mathematics, then go ahead.
However, the situation is different in Russia so I can't really comment inteligently on that.

Math works the same way in Russia. But their gaming laws are likely a lot more lax than ours.

Just because people are dumb enough to waste their money on them? No.

If they are rigged and unfair? Yes, ban those.

What's the difference? The rate which you lose your money? Slots have by far the worst payout of any casino game. The ones in prominent locations usually have slightly better payouts to attract more people. Stay away from the ones in the middle of the aisles. Or better yet, pick another casino game that has far better odds.

 

[MobBoss]

I didn't expect a cash prize when I went to play Skeeball or shoot-the-zombies.

Skeeball gives you tickets which you redeem for items, which have a cash value. So, in essence, yes, you are expecting a cash prize.

That is...if you are good enough...

They probably would just get booze and drugs, if they don't already. The thing is most people aren't willing to leave people, even stupid people, to die of starvation, which is why welfare exists. It's how successful people avoid guilt when they see a bum.

Why not just feed them instead of giving them cash? I say we just do away with the welfare system per se, and instead just put the cash into a food program for the homeless. That way, we dont have to worry about them spending the money we give them on stuff we dont want them to spend money on.

 

[warpus]

What's the difference? The rate which you lose your money? Slots have by far the worst payout of any casino game.

I don't know too much about slot machines, but I assume there's some sort of a good method & metric one could use to determine whether a slot machine is "fair enough" or not.

If it were up to me, I'd force casinos to make it so that they are 100% random.. meaning that when the things spin, it isn't programmed to land on such and such based on how many winnings there have been in the past. Fully random.. but that's just me, and I'm sure they don't work that way.

Why not just feed them instead of giving them cash? I say we just do away with the welfare system per se, and instead just put the cash into a food program for the homeless. That way, we dont have to worry about them spending the money we give them on stuff we dont want them to spend money on.

But then you'd have to do the same thing with clothing, school supplies, and all the other things people spend welfare on. It might be too difficult to manage - leading to a bureaucratic nightmare. Would it be worth it? Maybe? But then the questions arise - how much money do we give them for food vs for clothing? Would this be region specific? etc.

 

[Formaldehyde]

It's a bit more complicated than that. The states set the minimum payout for any game of chance. Slots are by far the worse.

It is up to the casinos to assure that their slots meet that requirement. How they do so is entirely up to them. The slot machines in the middle of the aisles will rarely have jackpots or larger payouts because the casinos want as many people as possible to see and hear them to generate more traffic. Most modern setups are all electronically determined. The odds on any given machine are constantly changing to assure the casinos can get as close to the minimum payout as they possibly can while still having big payouts in high traffic locations.

Machines that are deliberately rigged to cheat are few and far between these days, at least in the US. If a casino gets caught they will permanently lose their license so it simply isn't worth it for them to take the risk. They make plenty of money as it is.

My advice would be just to avoid slots like the plague. Play blackjack or craps instead. They aren't called one-armed bandits for nothing. What makes it even worse is that they prey on the elderly and those who cannot afford to play the higher stakes games.

And a piece of general advice to everybody. If you are going to gamble set a cutoff amount beforehand. When you have lost that much money quit playing. Your entertainment is over.

 

[MobBoss]

But then you'd have to do the same thing with clothing, school supplies, and all the other things people spend welfare on. It might be too difficult to manage - leading to a bureaucratic nightmare. Would it be worth it? Maybe? But then the questions arise - how much money do we give them for food vs for clothing? Would this be region specific? etc.

All of that could be done via a voucher at say, Goodwill or something.

Anything would be preferable than simply just giving them cash.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Giving them cash turns out to be much cheaper though.

 

[classical_hero]

Just because people are dumb enough to waste their money on them? No.

If they are rigged and unfair? Yes, ban those.

Most forms of gambling are rigged in favour of the house.

I would say that they should be be banned, but at least in my state they are only allowed in the Casino, compared to other states here they are allowed in lots of other places. At least it is a place where people go to gamble, whereas in places where gambling should not be taking place.

I do know the horrors of gambling after it nearly caused major problems after my father gambled way too much, we nearly lost everything, due to it, but even if it did not happen to my family, I would still be opposed to gambling, since the money you gain is dishonest.

 

[MobBoss]

Giving them cash turns out to be much cheaper though.

Then we shouldnt complain or worry about how they spend the money then.

Most forms of gambling are rigged in favour of the house.

Not 'most'. Try 'all'.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

All forms of gambling are rigged in favour of the house

That's why you get your head kicked in if they catch you counting cards at Blackjack.

Then we shouldnt complain or worry about how they spend the money then.

If you want to spend more to ensure they spend it on things you approve of, fine.

 

[Xanikk999]

All of that could be done via a voucher at say, Goodwill or something.

Anything would be preferable than simply just giving them cash.

Relying on the generosity of strangers is no substitute for a working welfare system.

We shouldnt have people leech off welfare but there should be reliable help for people that need a jump start to get back into the workforce and want to own a home rather then them having to rely on the fickle generosity of charities.

 

[Formaldehyde]

They don't care if you count cards anymore because they use systems which make it nearly impossible for you to gain any advantage by doing so. Most casinos use shoes that hold multiple decks, usually 6 these days. When the dealer has reached a certain point long before the end, he reshuffles all the cards. If he uses only use one deck he shuffles it each hand. Since card counting is only useful at the end when there is an imbalance of cards left, there really is no longer any advantage you can exploit. They will also have the dealer occasionally reshuffle the decks if they think there haven't been enough picture cards and aces exposed, but that rarely happens now that they have almost all gone to 6 deck shoes.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

If you have teams you can do it.

You get small stakes counters and the big stakes guy you summon over.

 

[Formaldehyde]

There is rarely a card imbalance anymore. And if there is against their favor, the casinos know about it as well and simply reshuffle ahead of time. Those days are long gone, at least in this country where 6-deck shoes have become pervasive and 8-deck shoes are even starting to be used.

Casinos aren't dumb. They have seen it all. They know exactly how much they are winning or losing on any table and exactly why it may be diverging from the average, such as having particularly ignorant players who don't know the basic rules. That is the pit boss's primary job.