Here where I live there are 5 casinos, each of which is a docked riverboat sitting on the Red River which separates Shreveport (my hometown) from Bossier City (Shreveport's sister city)
Every restaurant in town, almost, has video poker machines.
When gambling was first legalized here in Louisiana I was driving a cab for a living. I saw firsthand countless poor souls go to the casinos, piss away everything they had and then some, and then go skulking back home with their tails between their legs hoping that I won't give them static about being $0.75 short on their cab fare because they miscalculated the fare or misremembered how much it cost them to get to the casino in the first place and they didn't set back quite enough.
After seeing that night after night after night added to the fact that the g/f I had at the time had a horrible video poker addiction (and a complete lack of understanding as to why I wouldn't pay her bills for her after she poured all her money down the poker machine drain) I decided then and there that gambling was not Prowler's idea of a good way to spend leisure time. At least if I spend all my $$ on car audio I have something to show for it after...
Because I never got interested in it I never gained a real understanding of all things gambling-related. But the one inarguable truth I do know is this:
Each casino and video-poker machine owner, no matter their background, beliefs, or anything else, has a single thing in common....they are supplying an easy way for you to give them your hard-earned money. Through very little work and no personal interaction they fleece person after person after person out of every red cent they have. I don't make enough $$ to simply give mine away. Do I have sympathy for these poor souls that do so in excess? Not a bit. If lil ole me is bright enough to stay right the hell away then I would suggest so are they.
