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MIKEAUBRYQMIAgency

OTTAWA Believe it or not,theres sciencebehind gambling.

Notsome hocus-pocusschemeto win jackpots but hard factsabout the addictive potential ofslotmachines.

T h e C a r le t o n U n i ve r s i t y Gambling Laboratory, a think-tank deciphering what makesgamblers keep coming back, saysslot machines like those at theRideau-Carleton Raceway arenearly four times more addictivethan regular cardtables.

A soberi ng thought with theidea of a large permanent casinoperhaps coming to the capitalregion.

Head researcher, Prof. MichaelWohl, said thats because playerscan sit for long periods of time ina relatively low-stress situationand can cash in their winningswithoutleavingtheir seats.

Its also due to grave mis-conceptions about how slotmachines work.

A lotof peoplethinkthateverytime you spin a slot machineyouregetting closerand closertoa win, Dr.Wohlexplains.

Butthats simplynotthe case.He describes them as a mixedbag of marbles.

Within it, theres one jackpotmarble combined with hun-dreds of losses. When you play amachine, one of those losses fallsoutof thebag.

But what many people dontunderstand is before your verynext spin, that dud marble goesright back into the bag. The oddsof winning or losing are alwaysexactlythe same.

Gail Young, who was having

lunch at the Raceway on Sunday,said its the instant gratificationthat draws people.

Its very easy to get sucked inand just stick with it, she said.Youre on your own, theresnobody to stop you. Its a verysolitarykind of activity.

Acco rding to the Canadi anCentre for Substance Abuse, 80%of problem gamblers in Ontariocit e sl o t ma chines a s t heirproblem.

The largest percentage areseniorsand low-incomeearners.

I think a lot of seniors comehere as a group, said ElisseMeshke, who was spendingSunday afternoon at RideauCarleton.

Its a way to get out of themonotonous life at old-agehomes.

The Gambling Lab has evenconstructed a virtual casino tosee which types of games aremost popular and who is mostsusceptible.

Volunteers don a virtual real-ity visor that allows them towalk t hrough a casino environ-ment complete with othergamblers, neon lights and ofcourse an absolute absence of

clocks.The team can monitor every-thing from rising blood pressureto changing hormones to gaugereactions to near misses on slotmachines.

Their research has led themto make an animated videodebunking the myths aboutcasinos, which has been distrib-uted in more than 150 jurisdic-tions around the world.

mike.aubry@sunmedia.caTwitter: @ottawasunmaubry

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