My dad did the same thing on our way to Disneyland at a gas station. 5 little kids were so excited to see Dad put the quarter in the machine. Dad said we could put it in the machine, throwing it away like out into the street, or save it for our trip. He put it in and we received $25 in quarters. Great lesson, Dad. :-)
Dave HansenFebruary 11, 2020
My slot machine story is a bit different. Decades ago I picked up my brother in SLC when he returned from his mission. The previous week I'd been to Wendover to watch motorcycles race on the salt for land speed records, so after dinner at one of the casinos I had the opportunity to watch gamblers work the one-armed bandits. Near where we ate was a small area of exciting quarter slots that paid off often....if I were guessing, I'd say 40% of the time, or perhaps even more than that. However, despite the bells ringing and lights flashing, the maximum payout was 4-bits. What made it fun was the excitement generated by the lights and bells. I was not at all enticed, but found it curious enough to watch.
When I took my freshly minted missionary brother through Wendover, the following week, we stopped at the same casino late at night to eat, and the room of a dozen or so of easy winning slots was pretty much empty. I wanted to show my brother why people get addicted to gambling, and stuck 2-bits into a machine and pulled the lever. Ca-ching! Loud bells & flashing lights indicated I had won big time as 2 quarters clinked out of the machine's wide mouth. I picked them up and quickly stepped over to another machine and plugged it with one of the quarters. Cha-ching again, as the noise and flashing lights indicated I had won another round of battle against the squad of one-armed bandits!
Once again I picked up my 'free' loot, and then chose another nearby machine to drop another quarter into its slot. Yep.....you guessed right.....off went the bells and lights once again! I couldn't believe I had hit 3 jackpots in a row, but I was going home a BIG winner......all of 6-bits. I collected the unearned rewards and looked up to see my brother awestruck with mouth open and eyes the size of saucers!
There was no chance in the world that I would try it again, though. We left for home and I have not risked my hard earned money for gambling since then. Fortunately, my brother did not buy in to the false promise of wealth either and as far as I know has not been at all tempted by gambling. Had he done so, our mother would probably have tanned both our hides. However, I believe it illustrates gambling is not a matter of luck, as much as it is a battle with Satan. I knew I would eventually lose if I kept feeding the ruthless machines, and it might have influenced me (or my brother) to try to beat the machine at Satan's game of offering what he cannot deliver. The real winners of life never get sucked into believing his temptation.
Kay RookhuyzenFebruary 11, 2020
I grew up in Reno Nevada and had the same thing happen TWICE with my mom in a grocery store! Lesson not learned. As I grew older and saw friend's families losing their homes due to gambling, the lesson was leaned really well!
Former PA lottery playerFebruary 11, 2020
Pretty funny. I tried the same thing in my state with scratch off lottery tickets. I had my kids pick their own $5.00 scratch off tickets from a large, green ticket machine. The first time they won. They plowed their earnings back into more tickets and won again. This went on for a couple of rounds before I decided enough was enough and we left the grocery store-richer than when we entered. Funny enough, they have no desire to continue to play and generally look down their noses at people who play the lottery. That is a combination of basic common sense and unseemly pride, but I will keep on parenting the unseemly pride out of them. ha-ha. For different reasons, my object lesson worked.
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MMPJFebruary 12, 2020
My dad did the same thing on our way to Disneyland at a gas station. 5 little kids were so excited to see Dad put the quarter in the machine. Dad said we could put it in the machine, throwing it away like out into the street, or save it for our trip. He put it in and we received $25 in quarters. Great lesson, Dad. :-)
Dave HansenFebruary 11, 2020
My slot machine story is a bit different. Decades ago I picked up my brother in SLC when he returned from his mission. The previous week I'd been to Wendover to watch motorcycles race on the salt for land speed records, so after dinner at one of the casinos I had the opportunity to watch gamblers work the one-armed bandits. Near where we ate was a small area of exciting quarter slots that paid off often....if I were guessing, I'd say 40% of the time, or perhaps even more than that. However, despite the bells ringing and lights flashing, the maximum payout was 4-bits. What made it fun was the excitement generated by the lights and bells. I was not at all enticed, but found it curious enough to watch. When I took my freshly minted missionary brother through Wendover, the following week, we stopped at the same casino late at night to eat, and the room of a dozen or so of easy winning slots was pretty much empty. I wanted to show my brother why people get addicted to gambling, and stuck 2-bits into a machine and pulled the lever. Ca-ching! Loud bells & flashing lights indicated I had won big time as 2 quarters clinked out of the machine's wide mouth. I picked them up and quickly stepped over to another machine and plugged it with one of the quarters. Cha-ching again, as the noise and flashing lights indicated I had won another round of battle against the squad of one-armed bandits! Once again I picked up my 'free' loot, and then chose another nearby machine to drop another quarter into its slot. Yep.....you guessed right.....off went the bells and lights once again! I couldn't believe I had hit 3 jackpots in a row, but I was going home a BIG winner......all of 6-bits. I collected the unearned rewards and looked up to see my brother awestruck with mouth open and eyes the size of saucers! There was no chance in the world that I would try it again, though. We left for home and I have not risked my hard earned money for gambling since then. Fortunately, my brother did not buy in to the false promise of wealth either and as far as I know has not been at all tempted by gambling. Had he done so, our mother would probably have tanned both our hides. However, I believe it illustrates gambling is not a matter of luck, as much as it is a battle with Satan. I knew I would eventually lose if I kept feeding the ruthless machines, and it might have influenced me (or my brother) to try to beat the machine at Satan's game of offering what he cannot deliver. The real winners of life never get sucked into believing his temptation.
Kay RookhuyzenFebruary 11, 2020
I grew up in Reno Nevada and had the same thing happen TWICE with my mom in a grocery store! Lesson not learned. As I grew older and saw friend's families losing their homes due to gambling, the lesson was leaned really well!
Former PA lottery playerFebruary 11, 2020
Pretty funny. I tried the same thing in my state with scratch off lottery tickets. I had my kids pick their own $5.00 scratch off tickets from a large, green ticket machine. The first time they won. They plowed their earnings back into more tickets and won again. This went on for a couple of rounds before I decided enough was enough and we left the grocery store-richer than when we entered. Funny enough, they have no desire to continue to play and generally look down their noses at people who play the lottery. That is a combination of basic common sense and unseemly pride, but I will keep on parenting the unseemly pride out of them. ha-ha. For different reasons, my object lesson worked.
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