"Some Kroger grocery stores are now implementing slot machines inside"
Society/CultureIt must be profitable.
Where I'm from, other than casinos the only place I have seen them are in bars.
Lots of tax revenue to gain from preying on peoples' gambling smh
Wait until you hear about the lottery.
Part of me feels like we might as well allow these with how common online gambling and glorified online that is hosted in sketchy islands with eyebrows raising laws on banking has become. Like gambling addicts are screwed either way, we might as well make sure we're taxing it and able to keep an eye on the companies
Like with juul. Its certainly not God for you, but the unregulated knockoffs the flooded the market after it's crackdown just made the problem worse. Now you've got kids smoking carts they bought off Instagram from some guy who made them in his basement from materials he bought off a sketchy overseas website. it's added so many additional layers of mess
I viewed gambling as a right of passage when I turned 21. I wanted to (and did) go to a casino in Atlantic City and try my luck.
I lasted maybe an hour. Drunk 21 yo me saw that slot machines took credit cards and thought that was dangerous. I never knew how to play games like poker or blackjack. I left the casino wondering what the appeal of everything was.
I've since been to a few concerts at casino venues (you know you're getting old when the artists you grew up with play casinos) and just went right past the gaming. I think when I saw Backstreet Boys, I won $20 at penny slots.
That said, if I had the superpower of time travel, I would get all future sports scores and cash in betting on them.
No, Biff. We have seen that timeline and it is terrible.
Which casino in AC has slot machines that take credit cards? I go pretty regularly and I've never seen those.
Probably mistook the loyalty card slot for a CC reader.
That's what I was thinking it had to be.
Gambling = dumb tax.
Most are addicts.
It's like drugs, but legal and more profitable.
"If you fall victim to addictive practices and a promise of being rich so you don't have to struggle to meet your basic needs, then you must be some kind of an idiot!!!!!!!" Gamblers aren't dumb, they're addicts
Those two things aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Addiction is a serious problem, I agree. And sure, some were tricked into losing their well earned money in gambling. But I don't know what to call anyone who believes that they are somehow special and will manage to beat the odds, even though the odds are astronomical. The math is simple.
Sanguine optimism is not differentiable from delusion.
And I think it's a generally shitty thing to assume and make big negative generalizations about groups of people. Have some empathy instead of assuming the millions that fall for this are dumb, that does nothing to solve the issue or spark good discussion about the topic
And trying to play good Samaritan/protector for people that fall for these addictions is solving what exactly?
And if anything I'd argue, that accepting that they are making mistakes because of lack of knowledge (or in cruder terms making a dumb mistake) will help find solutions. For instance, educating them about how any gambling game works, and the probabilistic long-term losses/gains would serve to help in the long run.
And it's not really an assumption, more of an educated guess. There are peer-reviewed research papers that show that lower IQ is correlated with a higher likelihood of gambling problems.
Smokers are dumb/weak.
It's not a particularly kind statement. But it's true. They're either too dumb or too weak to quit their addiction.
And every day, some 1,300 Americans pay their ultimate dumb tax.
I wouldn't care if it weren't for the fact that they die in the most spectacularly expensive ways possible -- and rely on everyone else to pay for their utterly useless treatment. Ayn Rand, who wrote Atlas Shrugged, died taking public assistance thanks to lung cancer caused by a lifetime of chain smoking.
Gambling isn't going to kill anyone. (Except in the casinos which allow smoking -- second-hand smoke.) But it's another utterly dumb addiction. Casinos make money when people win. The amount they pay is less (sometimes considerably less) than the true odds of the winning event. So they take 100% of the money from the losers, and only pay a percentage of the winnings to the winners. They win both ways.
Anyone who can't see that deserves whatever happens to them in a casino.
Ok I see, you just lack all empathy for your fellow humans and assume everyone's circumstances are the same as yours. I'm not going to talk to you.
We are all ultimately the product of the choices we make. I would MUCH prefer it if addicts would find the wisdom/courage/strength to beat their addictions.
But I'm not going to mollycoddle those who don't and say, "there, there, it's alright."
I see you’re bitter and hateful of addicts. Is it that you have lost someone to addiction or is it that you’re just un empathetic of people you see as lesser than?
Judging by the jab about ayn rand you are someone on the left spectrum. A spectrum which is by and large focused on social and economic equality. What makes addicts any less deserving of help than of people in poverty or other minority groups of society?
Addiction is a very complex issue that’s much more complicated than LOL PERSON DUMB. Usually it’s covering a much worse mental health issue. The connect of trauma and addiction is very strong. But also can be any form of lack of coping. And shaming addicts just isolated them more. Everyone can have a vice just not everyone’s vice is smoking or drinking. Sometimes it’s healthier like exercise. Sometimes it’s sex or masturbation or video games. Sometimes it’s workaholism. Some people aren’t even aware they’re addicted to something. Someone you love is probably addicted to something. Have some empathy for them. Willpower is hard once your addiction is ingrained.
I don't think many people who gamble think they're special. Most people, who have a healthy relationship with it, just think it's a kinda fun way to spend a few bucks. Nothing wrong with that.
People who spend their last dime on lottery tickets mostly feel desperate and miserable about their lives in general. They don't expect to win, but they don't see any other way out of their circumstances, and there's nothing else they can do with two bucks that gives them any hope at all.
People who spend their savings pulling slots and the like probably feel similarly. They struggle to make ends meet and nothing in their life feels as good as that moment of hope pulling the lever. They may put on a confident facade and they may even tell themselves that this time will be different somehow.
Are you saying false hope is good? 'round here we call that deception.
It's ironic, those that seem to sympathize with gamblers are also the ones that are totally okay letting them rot in their delusions. That lottery ticket a desperate person buys is not hope, it's wishful thinking. If they had true hope they'll keep their head up and work towards a better tomorrow. Which is what I want them to do, not give up and dream about miracles, which is apparently what you think is best for them. What that desperate person needs at that point is for someone to be there for them, if possible, give them a chance, to help them get through this bump in their life. Not to encourage them to spend whatever they have in lottery tickets and feed them false hope. That's not helping them, that's just easing your own conscience because you think somehow they feel better for that one moment before.
There's nothing wrong with buying a lottery ticket for fun, but if what you said were true, you wouldn't actually be gambling, you can go have fun doing the same thing but without gambling, you can go to a casino and just enjoy the drinks (or play poker with friends with fake money instead), or go to a horse/dog race and just watch and not bet. Be true to yourself, the people that do gamble do believe somewhere in their heart that they have a chance else, there's no fun in gambling if you accept you'll never win. Everyone wishes to be the winner when the roulette starts slowing down. IDC, gamble all you want, but don't come here saying it's not dumb.
Where did I say any of this was good? My point is that people shouldn't be blamed or insulted for falling into these traps.
Yes, they believe they have a chance. They do. It's an incredibly small chance and they know it. But many of them feel it's better odds than any other route in their lives.
People with gambling problems should be supported as should anyone with substance abuse problems, but both stem from the way our society is structured. The problem can't be solved except by targeting that root.
Yes the system is fucked up. It's not fair. But you're only lying to yourself if you think we aren't partly to blame. If everyone wised up and stopped gambling, casinos won't exist. They exploit us because we let them, we should take that control back.
Can be. I guess it depends why you do it.
When I was in college (Sydney Australia) I worked at a bar which had a small room with Pokey machines - something like 8-12. They had their own drink bar etc. the venue was a two story full night place which packed like 600 people.
At the end of the night, every night, the pokey room made more revenue than the whole place selling low quality alcohol for five times the price.
There was a reason why NSW owned around 20% of the world pokey machines:
The revenue from those things is insane
We actually don't have a lot of casinos. There's like three or four? Maybe a few more than that but not many. I think they want to build one in Chicago but haven't finished it yet. When I was a kid people had to go to Wisconsin or Indiana if they wanted to gamble.
A machine that you insert money into, get nothing from, and which always give back less money? Yeah, I think it's pretty darn profitable.
There would be some amount of upkeep or usage costs for the machines, but based on their populatity those costs must be greatly outweighed.
I know someone who owns a bar that put these up and they completely saved their business, but even they realize they're only getting <1% of the money that flows through them.
They're sucking money out of rural Illinois and even though the communities get a portion of the profit by tax, it's miniscule (like, 1-2%) compared to the percentage the company gets.
It must be profitable.
Obviously. The machines are rigged so that the owners make money. It's literally set up in an unfair way so that you're guaranteed to lose more than win. People should know this and yet they're still dumb enough to use the machines.
Yup. The land, buildings, HVAC, lighting, machines, and staff at casinos do not pay for themselves and they are not a charity. "The house always wins" and it needs to.
Some people hope to win a small or large fortune easily, some people are addicted, and some seem to have nothing better to do.
I have had on a couple of occasions people tell me their methods for beating the odds at roulette and black jack. They really had me question how they could believe it. But I guess some people are gullible, superstitious or desperate.
User deleted comment
22d
Im outside of Chicago. Kinda depends where you are. Some places I've started to see dust on the machines buttons. In other places, there are lines to get into the seats. From my experience, income communities are where you see most people playing.
To be fair, there's 2 casinos within like an hour of me. So I'm probably jaded.
Yeah I live in the town with the 2 casinos just outside Chicago.
And to be perfectly honest the casinos are not a problem at all. They do not contribute any significant annoyance to the local population. Though, they also don't contribute all that much to the city budget somehow. So I really don't know what's going on there.
A couple of my older co-workers (pre pandemic) used to walk the two blocks to the one downtown and play $20 worth of penny slots on paydays and I know a few people who have gone like once but not anyone who plays regularly.
Joliet?
Kinda in-between Joilet and Naperville. Trying best not to Doxx myself by accident.
I live about 3 1/2 hours down the state from Chicago and these things have proliferated all over the place. Probably 60% of the local restaurants and 95% of the local bars have them (because they bring in so much income it helps them stay afloat) and there are dozens of places dedicated to basically nothing but these stupid machines. The city finally decided to put a moratorium on them (citing they had no idea this would happen, which is 100% bullshit), but the damage is already done. While they may not always be fully in use, there is almost always at least one person using them at any given point.
I'm not even anti-gambling (I've done my time in casinos, I've done sports betting, got in lotto pools at work, played at home poker games, etc.) but these things are just brainless dopamine triggers. Press button, hear playful noise, feel good and do it again until you can't. There's almost no element of interaction (except for the other mindless drones beside you) and the odds on those machines are brutal.
The revenue and tax percentage for these are public in Illinois. They're pretty disgusting amounts of money per month https://www.igb.illinois.gov/VideoReports.aspx
I am perhaps not the best person to ask because I very rarely true inside the gas station but when I do I would say there's usually someone using them. They're very rarely all empty. Most places have like five or six machines and someone's on one of them.
I live in Las Vegas and we have slot machines in pretty much every convenience store and grocery store. Despite having an abundance of casinos, I still usually see one or two people at the slot machines every time I go grocery shopping.
Looks like it's been a little longer. They became legal in 2009. I remember seeing them in ~2016 and I fucking hate it.
yeah but in a convenience store now?
Most gas stations are convenience stores. I don't think you find many without a little shop attached around here.
That’s vile. Are some parts of the US trying to catch up with the country with the largest gambling problem, Finland? Even they don’t put the machines in the middle of the store. The second worst offender, Australia doesn’t have slot machines in supermarkets- but can be found in pubs adjacent to the supermarket.
Very bizarre.
I’m aussie, drove past a pub the other day that proudly had a sign advertising no slot machines! The younger generations have sunk their teeth into online punting unfortunately
True, though admittedly haven’t met many people into sports betting. It’s like cigs and vapes - they both contain nicotine as an operative ingredient. Replace one addiction with another.
I remember complaining about how bad casinos are and someone said. Just cause they get addicted doesn't mean we should get rid of them. I was like yes one less shitty thing in the world
Apparently this is common in Nevada. I do not know if this is a growing trend, but slot machines in grocery stores is a new concept to me. And it seems very predatory to those with addictions and inappropriate to have around children, in my point of view.
Common here in TN too. There's a ratchet gas station near my work that sells amazing fried chicken, and there are _always_ people in there sitting at the slot things
I think doing it in a Kroger is a much tougher look than that though haha
well, Nevada is Nevada
I grew up in Nevada. My first time visiting California at grade school age, the first thing I noticed was the lack of slots and asked my parents about it.
*the lack of slots in the grocery store
I just made a comment about this but I grew up there. Literally walked by slot machines nearly everyday of my life. Me, nor anyone I grew up with have gambling issues.
I kinda think the more normalized it is, the less of a draw maybe? Idk how true that is but most NV locals grew up knowing that gambling is a waste of money. Literally everyone I know who gambles regularly is from outside of NV. Obviously I’m sure there are exceptions but I don’t think children being exposed is a concern here.
I have heard similar regarding alcohol. Apparently some European countries have much lower or no age restrictions, which may result in the act being less taboo or thrilling so you have fewer binge drinkers. It would be interesting to see stats regarding either topic.
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22d
It just seems crazy to me that someone with a gambling problem cannot grab their essentials (i.e. food) without running into these machines.
most of the gamers at the albertsons where i worked in college were older folks who weren't too mobile and lived in the neighborhood and couldn't navigate a large casino - but the single greatest reason was not wanting to deal with second hand smoke--these old ladies weren't spinning whales lol we are talking like ten cents to maybe 40 cents a spin
User deleted comment
22d
Perhaps, but it certainly is encouraging people to spend or consume more when then go to buy groceries. And arguably, having these machines around children isn't great either because they appear to be quite similar to video games and I am sure that they are designed to be addictive.
It's appalling how nowadays everything is either gambling, addiction or subscription.
You'll own nothing and be happy...
You know, I used to be laisses-faire about gambling -- individual choice and all -- but the longer it's legal, and the harder it's pushed, the less I esteem it. Slot machines in a grocery store is absolutely repugnant.
Maybe it's me, but it seems like it's about the choices offered to us in society. The choice to work hard and uplift oneself has been revealed to largely be an illusion, it takes luck moreso than hard work to "make it big". This gambling machines thrust in front of us feel like a stark admission and even a taunting, like, 'hey, may as well blow it all and try to get big, can't do it any other way because F you.'
Hard work certainly doesn't always lead to fortunes, but certainly relying on luck doesn't either. There are plenty of gambling addicts who look very far from having made it big.
Life is full of risk. And you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. But the odds are stacked against you at casions or lotteries. Odds are that you will lose more money than you win, and that must be the case for casions and lotteries to operate.
Hard work can help keep you on your feet whether or not you decide to pay to take some shots. And it can also help you make it big if you get lucky with what you've been working on.
Not sure I agree with the idea that its only luck that makes success but I do agree the illusion of choice in society is a big contributing factor to a lot of problems. To quote a TTRPG actual play show 'a man driving on the highway only thinks he decides where to go. Sure he turns left or right but in reality someone already made that choice when they built the road.' (Paraphrased)
it takes luck moreso than hard work to "make it big".
Completely disagree
Hard work certainly doesn't always lead to fortunes, but certainly relying on luck doesn't either.
There was a sort of combo department grocery store thing that I went to in Japan with a whole arcade section next to the sit down eating area, except it was just gambling games, some of them geared towards kids like Pokémon. Looking back that was a little fucked up.
Lol, time to find ways to scam these machines because fuck that.
I agree with the sentiment, but I am sure a lot of people who use these think they can "scam" them.
It's just... so gross seeing that in a grocery store that in my city has recently started checking everyone's receipts. lol
I never get why people are drawn in by slot and similar 'game of chance' machines. Almost all? have an operator override which specifies how often a machine should pay out. Yes technically it's still a game of chance rather than a game of skill, the odds are just massively against you.
At least with a game of skill you can improve.
It’s an addiction, gambling is addictive, it doesn’t have to make sense. Might as well ask why people smoke cigarettes every day.
Sure I know, and as such we/they shouldn't really encourage it.
Like a lot of this stuff, introducing people to an addition is never a good idea. "Wake the demon" and all that
because Cigarettes are cool and make you cool by smoking them!
As u/lafindestase said, it is an addiction. Whether it is minor or substantial, people are different. It is the wanting of the sensation if you win.
Some people know it is just a game and are willing to play a few rounds of a game of chance. Nothing too wrong with that. The slot machines are designed for full visual stimulation and pleasure. So, the machine provides some fun for a bit.
For the pathological, those who cannot quit or restrain themselves, it is desperation.
Eh, it's Nevada, legal the payout minimum is 75% and the average is around 90% for penny slots and 93-95% for dollar slots. It's stacked against you, but I wouldn't say the odds are massively against you.
I guess you get used to it, in Las Vegas there are slot machines in the airport, gas stations, grocery stores, etc.
Yep that’s how it is all over NV. The sound of slot machines sounds like home haha.
They are designed to be addictive, and from what I have seen people want to brag about how much they win without talking about their loses.
Happy Cake Day!
brag about how much they win without talking about their loses.
Yeah I've seen this IRL quite a few times, yeah the wins without the losses doesn't tell the true story.
Claw machines even operate this way. The claw is only actually strong enough to hold an object every 5/10/20/whatever number of attempts.
Just cruising along into Idiocracy.
What a fantastically horrible idea
i just woke up and this is one of the first things i saw. christ this is dystopian
We are sleepwalking into a generational gambling crisis, and no one seems to care.
Stocks or slot machines, can't get away from gambling in society at either end.
E: Sports betting, of course! For the middle class.
Sports gambling is the biggest threat imo
My big issue with this is that you can black list yourself from casinos if you have an addiction. It’s built into the law, the casinos can’t let you in once black listed.
This though? What safety measures are in place for a gambling addict who walks into this grocery store? There isn’t any.
Imagine being someone who’s struggling with gambling addiction, you black listed yourself and are trying to stay on a steady track in life. Then you walk into the store to get milk and see this.
In Finland this was the status quo for over two decades. You'd see retired people just sitting there all day spending all their money. After enough outrage about enabling gambling addiction they finally added a requirement of having to create an account through their digital services, and iirc it even required a valid government ID to make one. They also added a requirement of stricter age verification that requires a cashier to manually allow play via a button at the registers.
End result is you rarely if ever see people playing at these machines. Much less the elderly. Lidl even made it a PR win for them by removing the machines entirely even before all the barrier-to-entry legistlation was passed.
The moral of the story, I guess, is you don't want this to become the norm in your state.
As if hoping you have enough money for groceries this week isn't enough of a gamble already.
That's so dystopian. Like imagine a gambling addict just trying to do their grocery shopping and oops slot machines in a place where they shouldn't be and then you spend all your money on gambling and have to leave without food
This is standard in Nevada
Bloody hell
That's sad as kids walk through these places
They should leave the Caution tape on
They really saw the clips of really old people expressionlessly and silently clicking away until they shit themselves in casinos and went “yeah we need that”
Born and raised in Las Vegas NV, this is so common place for us that it’s strange being in towns without gambling. Even our airport is packed with slot machines. A couple of our grocery stores even have bars in them.
These are in every building in Nevada. It's weird going to other states and not seeing slots in gas stations.
Oh man, I’m from Nevada and there have been slot machines in all of our groceries stores for years. Decades.
We have slot machines in the gas stations, airports, grocery stores, most bars. They are everywhere.
It is not an issue people are fighting about there, I think it’s just so normalized. Plus the casinos essentially fund the state so they are not going anywhere.
They need one with Robinhood and other stock market options
We call stuff like this “the idiot tax”. The upside is that it’s totally voluntary; just don’t be an idiot and you can keep all your money…
I think that's a really callous view of humans.
People are manipulable and nobody's free of that. These machines may not prey on you, but that doesn't mean there aren't other areas that you're vulnerable to.
I don't think things that are designed to exploit human traits that are difficult for many people to manage should be allowed to run so rampant. That's the real problem.
I agree 100% that they are predatory and should not be placed in public places, or anywhere outside of a casino; but it is still our choice to put money in them or not… at least for now.
A healthy society protects even the vulnerable
douchebags might, but people with empathy call it a hope tax
Something something slot machines in idiocracy
What do you get if you win? Free groceries for a year?
the board have a fiduciary responsibility to blah blah bla...
if a new route to take in loads of money has opened up in legislation everyone is going to be doing it
Disgusting. At least with the lottery there is some sort of barrier to excess spending (and in California at least, you can't buy with a credit card).
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User deleted comment
22d
... I am sorry mate but what?
It is literally illegal to put them up like that in my country (Germany).
They are only allowed in stuff like Casinos or Bars that are only allowed to be entered by adult people.
In Illinois it's basically every gas station. It is hard to find one without a couple of slot machines in it.
It hasn't even been legal here for very long, maybe 5 years.