Slot Machine Deceptive Design Feature Makes News
Last November, GSCAEG brought University of Waterloo (Canada) computer game design researcher Kevin Harrigan to New Hampshire to testify before the Gaming Study Commission. Dr. Harrigan explained the software and design features of slot machines. Now, Dr. Harrigan's research is making headlines around the world. Check out this TV news expose from Australia.
Through Canada's Freedom of Information Act, Dr. Harrigan obtained slot machine design documents, called PAR Sheets. Slot machine manufacturers commissioned an army of lawyers but failed to block Dr. Harrigan�s access to this information.
We now know with certainty that slot machines are purposefully programmed to frequently display "near wins" because the human brain subconsciously perceives a near win more like an actual win than a loss, thereby increasing play reward without actual payoff. This (among other features) makes slot machines the most addictive form of gambling yet invented. Below is a slide showing a near win from Dr. Harrigan's testimony to the Gaming Study Commission.
Visit the Commission's website, and click on Dr. Kevin Harrigan Presentation to gain a detailed understanding of this issue. Without losses disguised as wins and frequent near win displays, slot machines would not be profitable.
Loaded dice are illegal because their appearance purposefully conceals a hidden attribute which alters a gambler's odds of winning. Slot machines, while still legal, are the electronic version of loaded dice. Both are deceptive, fraudulent consumer products. Consider NH RSA 358-A:2, which states that "[i]t shall be unlawful for any person to use any unfair method of competition or any unfair or deceptive act or practice in the conduct of any trade or commerce within this state."
For decades before litigation brought it to light, the tobacco industry attempted to conceal that it was purposefully manipulating cigarette nicotine levels to increase product addictiveness. Dr. Harrigan's research has compelled the American Gaming Association to admit in a July, 2010 white paper (page 13) that slot machines are rigged to display near misses at 6 to 12 times greater than random frequency. This disclosure will not ward off fraudulent consumer product litigation.
Two take-home questions:
= Should the State of New Hampshire become complicit in legalizing and promoting a product purposefully designed to deceive and addict its own citizens to extract taxes from them?
= Should our state build budgets on a revenue source facing the likelihood of class action litigation by addicts harmed by these deceptive products, litigation that will either remove slot machines from the market or compel them to accurately display win/loss odds, making them unprofitable, and thereby leaving that state facing a large and predictable budget hole?
Other news: Casino saturation crushing AC gambling revenues
Atlantic City, New Jersey gambling revenues (gross casino win) have dropped every year since 2006, and are now down 33 percent from 2006 ($5.218 to $3.517 billion annualized YTD win for 2010).
Another take-home question:
= Even if you do not object to the idea of our state deceiving and addicting its own citizens to extract money from them, should the state build a budget around a revenue source that will drop sharply once Massachusetts legalizes bigger, flashier casinos?