The man sits at the slot machine, seemingly transfixed by the movement of the symbols in front of him. More than once, two of the three symbols are those for a jackpot and he feels a rush each time he thinks he comes close to a big win. On into the night, he sits and pushes the button that leads to the next combination of slot symbols.

At one point, he realizes he has reached a point where he has put so much money into the machine that he cannot make his rent – but that’s all right, he reasons, the big win is just a button push or two away. He continues playing, going to the automated teller machine to get more money periodically, until his bank account is empty. He leaves, depressed over his losses and wondering where he will get the rent that is due in a couple of days.

Possible Consequences of Slots

The man is not alone in being a problem slots gambler, experts say, and some of those problem gamblers even face the prospect of bankruptcy and worse due to mounting losses. “With debit cards and home equity lines of credit, you can literally pump your home into a slot machine one pull at a time,” writes Glen Williams of E-Home Fellowship (on way2hope.org, accessed Dec. 6) in an article titled Gambling Addiction Problems. Williams founded EHF in 2001 after more than a decade of helping people with life problems. “Families are broken, lives are ruined, all because of someone fooling themselves into believing they can be fulfilled by a jackpot.”