Alcohol a No-no for Slot Machine Addicts

Pennsylvania just voted to allow unlimited free alcohol at the slot machines in Pennsylvania. Currently the horse tracks are not allowed to serve any free drinks at all, and taverns and such have a one-free-drink rule that they cannot break if they want to keep their liquor license. However, according to the PA government, you can drink as much free alcohol as you want, as long as you are playing a slot machine when you are doing it.

The casinos will be open from 7 am to 2 am, which means if you sit all day at a slot machine, you can drink for about 19 hours – as long as you can keep yourself in the chair. They can receive free alcohol as long as they are playing the slot machine, and they can get them as fast as they can get them.

Needless to say, there is much concern over mixing alcohol and gambling. Opponents say that the likelihood of someone becoming a problem gambler from receiving free alcohol is probably pretty high. Those that would normally have walked away from a slot machine after they lost what they came to spend will have their inhibitions lowered, and keep playing until they have lost everything.

Proponents say that the alcohol doesn’t have anything to do with it; that the slot machine revenue is going to schools, etc.; that if someone has a problem with gambling the alcohol won’t make any difference. But who do they think they are fooling – pretty much everyone knows that you do stuff you wouldn’t normally do when you are drinking, and if you don’t have to worry about spending your money on alcohol, you can drink forever and play the slot machines until you fall from your stool – oh yeah, and then you can drive home.

Back to November Archive or Slot Machines