As I have been researching this topic more and more I see what a major problem VLT gambling is for some people. To me it is in no way a fun, leisure activity for people. It is a terribly addicting form of gambling that can take absolute control of people. I saw a man two day ago at the bar holding probably 300 dolars in twenties, I later saw the man at the ATM again that night. Now I don't mean to be offensive but the man did not look like he could afford spending over 300 dollars on one tuesday night. It was kind of sad really. Once I saw this I asked around to some other people that I know and if any of their relatives or people they know have had problems with the VLT's. The worst case that I heard of was a brother of one of my co-workers in Edmonton this last summer. His brother would gamble at the same VLT in the same pub everyday. Eventually my co-worker caught on to this because he was wondering why his brother was always out of money so fast. My co-worker would always send money to his brother to help out with the farm. It turns out that in a one week period he would gamble up to four thousand dollars in that VLT. I was shocked, I didn't even think you could shove twenties in the machine that fast. So with this addiction not only is it ruining the gamblers lives it can sometimes be tearing families apart. It is so sad and over what, a ridiculous machine that goes round and round. it really doesn't seem worth it to me when nobody can make a living off of playing these machines. The only people making a living off of these machines are the people who own them.

VLT gambling 2

After spending some time with the VLT gamblers around Butte it seems that there are quite a few commonalities between the people who use VLT machines. Even though I have found that almost evey form of person uses hese things. Elderly women, working class middle aged men and even university students. There doesn't seem to be anything particularly interesting about the machine itself, it is all about the dollar signs or the sevens or the little duckies. Every machine is kind of different but the people who use them seem to get caught up in the thrill of winning. It usually seems that the main "addicting" factor to get these gamblers caught is the first "big win". They call it beginners luck and maybe it is, I myself have never been lucky but people who get that first win and don't put in that much money before they win seem to be addicted and the amount of money that they put in the machine after that point seems to be immaterial. Anything they can do to get the next line of straight x's they will. It's only a matter of time before it happens again and to them it must happen. It can't not happen, that would be obsurd and wrong to think that the machine would be out to make a profit. I think my favorite people who use these machines are the elderly ladies who come in at about happy hour and they seem to have this little luck figurine that they will place on top of the machine while they play, it's hilarious and if they ever get up to go to the bathroom then they will take their figuine down and put their coat on the machine so nobody comes and plays "their" machine. That is also another common thing to see with VLT gamblers is the "luck of the machine" people will either stay at the machine or skip onto the next one based on how they felt if the machine was lucky or not. This subjet really interests me I think it is kind of commical even though some people have a real problem with it.

All for now

VLT gambling

I would like to immerse myself in the subculture of vlt's in Butte, as there are vlt's in every gas station and are easily the most popular builings in all of Butte. Being from Salmon Arm, there are not many VLT facilities present. So I have never really been involved with VLT gambling. I have also never participated in VLT gambling while I have lived in Butte so I have never understood why people do it. It has become so popular that it has replaced many traditional styles of gambling. It is very maintenance friendly, requires nobody to run it and it makes a tonne of money. I've heard of stories where people get so addicted to these things that they will not remove themselves from a machine for hours and they'll just sit there plugging in the 20's. It seems like a huge waste to me and I can't understand the psychological aspect in it I would just like to better understand why somebody might participate in such a thing. But as it stands right now, for me there is a reason that those lights are flashing and the people that own the machines probably aren't paying for it. I'll start this research project by just asking people that I see playing if they are having any luck. I know this can be a touchy subject for people and I don't want to step on any toes I would just like to learn a lot more about one of the most popular styles of gambling in the United States today. And probably one of the largest cash cow's in the US today.