Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling: Could the game be partly to blame for addiction?
Some say features common in machines may lull players into crossing the line LAS VEGAS SUN FILE Si Redd, the late creator of the modern video poker machine, said he never imagined how popular the game would become. Many experts say the relatively simple machines may be more addictive, or appealing to addicts, than video slots with a lot of entertainment features. By Liz Benston Casinos and slot makers have long been accused of fueling gambling addiction. When video poker became known as the crack cocaine of gambling, Si Redd, the founder of slot giant International Game Technology who created the modern video poker machine and who died in 2003, didn’t get defensive. Instead, he advised addicts to get help and move from Nevada, if necessary. “Of course it hurts me when such things are said, I guess because it is kind of the truth,” Redd, then retired, told the Sun in 2001. “I never intended it to become that way, and I never could have dreamed of how successful the video poker machine w
