Dystopia

CINDY: The world of the casinos is somewhat out of whack. The casino world in such movies as “The Hangover” and “The Hangover Part Two” have little to do with the real world as these movie scripts recommend “letting it all hang out” when you visit casino-land. And what does that actually mean?

ABBY: I think it means getting so high you have no memory of the events during your “high” life. The men in the “Hangover” movies essentially go nuts and ultimately get away with it ... well kind of get away with it.

CINDY: Is Las Vegas and other big casino towns culling the country for people who will lose control of themselves and therefore lose their money and their dignity?

ABBY: I think the answer to that is a thematic “yes” but an actual “no.”

CINDY: People play games they cannot beat in the long run. House edges range from about one-half percent to 20 percent or more. Why would anyone play those games?

ABBY: Why do we play those games?

CINDY: Here is where I think the crux is. We enjoy the contest of playing games against the casino. We do not let the house have too much of an edge over us and the competition – us versus them – is fun. We have a good shot of winning on any given session. Players losing their minds is not what we want for ourselves and most casino players do not want to land in the “Hangover” movies. Far from it! After all what’s the fun of having fun if you can’t remember it? That makes little sense.

ABBY: The players who want to go whacky and lose their minds – seriously are they even a minor minority of folks visiting the casinos? I think they might make up about two percent of the people that I see. Mostly young people I’d say who have bought into the idea that losing one’s mind is a fun thing to do. They have bought the sales pitch of “go nuts and therefore go home happy.” They have not learned the best sales pitch of how to play the games properly to protect oneself.

CINDY: I do think the casino is a convenient way to go into another world, a kind of fantasy world, where you get to let loose but not so loose that you lose yourself.

ABBY: The real world has edges too and they must be adhered to because if you lose your mind, well, then you have lost an important part of yourself. What is the point of that?

CINDY: No point whatsoever.

ABBY: While I have, I must admit, enjoyed those “Hangover” movies, I do not think they reflect the real world at all. I actually don’t want them to reflect that real world. What’s the point of that?

CINDY: No point.

This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net.