Nothing. No streetlights, no people, not even a McDonald’s for nearly an hour and a half. The only sign besides the occasional stop sign was a small green rectangle pointing to a fork in the road reading “Casino” in bold white lettering. After miles of vast emptiness, we found ourselves in front of a massive building, with hundreds of cars in the parking lot and the smell of cigarette smoke penetrating the air. A grand arch hung above the entrance, with two giant bald eagles on either side of the sign. We had arrived at The Soaring Eagle Casino.

   Before turning 18,  Sr. Caden Heyboer and Sr. Kaedin Vongsavath and I would always talk about going to the casino once we were old enough.

   Even before going to the casino, I was aware of the tricks they would use to try and get us to stay longer and spend more money. The free drinks were placed directly in the center of the slot machines to lure us in further, with the flashing neon lights and loud slot noises giving the illusion that everyone around us was winning big. I’d done my fair share of research in preparation for the trip. I made sure to set a limit for myself so that I wouldn’t keep spending money: $150 in cash. I had a good feeling that I’d avoid any sort of pitfalls that the casino had set up; after all I considered my will to be pretty strong. Maybe I’d even leave the casino making a profit. 

   I definitely overestimated myself. 

   Entering the casino, I saw about what I expected, but the scale of the whole casino blew me away. The sheer amount of slot machines in the area was impressive. There was hardly any room left for walking. As I was  going up to the front desk, I got a card under my name, and a complementary $10 of spins on the slot machines. My first mistake was starting with the slots. Walking through the sea of slot machines my brain was overstimulated by the lights, people and noises. I could see people with thousands of dollars in credits pressing the button over and over thoughtlessly. After a few minutes of walking around, I reluctantly sat down at a machine and placed my first bet. I was confused by how the slots worked, but after a few spins I figured out that my money had been turned into “Credits” (a tactic that casinos use to make people forget about how much money they’re spending). Starting off, Vangsavath and Heyboer got some small wins while I lost a good chunk of money. We fluctuated between profit and loss for around an hour until Heyboer began winning a good amount of money on a machine. This line of machines became our go to machines as we believed that they were luckier than the rest. 

    We began to succumb to the traps of the casino around halfway through our three hour visit. We began betting larger amounts of money than when we started. Instead of paying attention to the money we were spending, we started paying more attention to the amount of money that was showing up on the screen from our “wins.” It felt like we were aiming to get higher wins solely for the dopamine hit. At one point, while trying to put a $100 bill into a machine, Vongsavath accidentally set the bet to $2 intervals and hit 50 thinking he was betting 50 cents. He had lost it all before he could blink. Not knowing he’d bet it all in one go, he called customer service over. The mechanic checked everything out and explained that machines are sometimes designed so you don’t realize how much money you’re betting. While this was going on, I had gone from the $20 I was left with to $148 after a sizable win on a dragon-themed slot machine. After hearing about Vongsavath’s loss, we decided to call it a day and get some food in the casino.

   While waiting for our food to arrive, we talked about the experience and how much money we had made and lost. In total, I had lost $100, Vongsavath had lost $200, and Heyboer had actually managed to win $40, but that was only enough to cover gas. During our meal I kept thinking about the $50 I had remaining. Part of me wanted to go back out onto the floor and spend those last $50 to win my money back. I was trying to convince myself to “go big or go home.” I mentioned the idea to my friends, but they were responsible enough to get me to just take the $100 loss and leave. On our way out of the casino, we were offered a free ice cream with the points we had gotten on our cards. A bittersweet end to our time in the casino.

   When stepping outside nothing looked quite real. The outside world with its bland colors felt sad compared to the bright neon lights inside. While sitting in the car heading back home, I began to realize how irrational we had been. How I had fallen for every trap I swore I’d avoid. At that moment I realized how easily I had gotten caught up in gambling. It became obvious to me how so many people could develop a gambling problem, especially if it’s easily accessible to them.