Hypnotism of Slots

8 September 2020

By Frank Scoblete

I enjoy going to the casinos during the weekdays, especially if I am trying to solve a problem about which I’ve been thinking.

This latest trip I decided to test a theory I have about slot players and their mental machinations while engaging in their favorite activity. In short, what’s going on in slot players’ heads when they are actually playing the machines?

I have noticed that throughout the casinos on a weekday few (or no) slot players sit right next to other slot players who are strangers. Most prefer to sit alone and somewhat away from other players. Even friends will often sit alone while their pals sit alone somewhere else.

I also noticed that most of these slot players have a (kind of) relaxed, almost beatific look on their faces. Unlike the normal weekend crowd, there isn’t much cheering or moaning coming from them. They win; they lose; they continue with their play.

Are these players in an altered state of consciousness? Have the machines caused players to transcend into mind sets that are closer to meditation than fixed alertness? Have these players been mesmerized or hypnotized by their slot machines?

Mesmerism has been around for several centuries and was first developed by Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer (known as Mister Mez by his colleagues) to cure people of their psychological problems. However, the modern view of mesmerism as portrayed in novels and movies finds the idea to be one of horror for a person so mesmerized. If a person is mesmerized he or she will go off the deep end; committing crimes and other horrors.

Mesmerism uses objects to get the subject into these horrible states of mind so that they will do whatever the mesmerist wants them to do.

Check out some of the movies of the 1930’s and 1940’s and you can see what the movie folks thought would happen. Some novels of those times also show mesmerism in a very bad light.

Picture actor John Carradine wearing a nutty high hat on his head taking out a watch. “Look at my watch Alfie and think about the gelato you love.”

“Yes, sir,” says Alfie.

“Now I want you to go to the gelato parlor inside this casino; jump the counter and try to eat all the gelato before the security forces take you down.”

“Yes,” says Alfie. “I go now to eat all the gelato I can before I am shot down like a hungry dog.”

We then see the horror inflicted on the folks at the gelato parlor as Alfie goes berserk attacking barrels of gelato before he is brought down by the security forces.

No, this version of mesmerism is not what the slot players are experiencing (except maybe for a couple of players who are highly strung and need sedation).

Could hypnotism be the answer to why the slot players’ faces seem so radiant?

Hypnotism has been used by modern medical doctors to plumb the depths of a person’s brain. Does it actually work? I don’t know. I was hypnotized in order to lose weight and since then I have gained 40 pounds – some of it from gelato.

If you look at most slot machines you can easily see that the lights, the images, the rewards and defeats take on a kind of pattern that could possibly put some players into an altered state of consciousness. I recommend you tour a casino during a weekday and take a look for yourself.

Again in movies and novels hypnosis can be misused to get subjects to violate laws.

Picture actor Keith Carradine hypnotizing someone. “Alfie the third, go into the gelato store and throw gelato at everyone in there until you are taken down like a rabid dog.”

In fact, real hypnosis will not get people to do things they wouldn’t normally do. Instead, hypnosis sets a relaxing framework for learning about oneself: “Yes, Doctor Carradine, I want to eat so much gelato so I can gain forty pounds like the writer of this column.”

So I took a bold step and went up to players who were playing alone and looked as if they were in another world and I asked them a simple question: “What are you thinking of as you play this slot machine?”

Most said one word, “Nothing.” Others said things such as “I am just letting thoughts go in and out of my head,” or “I’m kind of like dreaming” or “I just watch the images on the machine.”

I wonder if such states of mind can explain some of the reasons why slot machines are clearly the most enjoyed elements in casino gambling by an overwhelming majority of players. Are the machines doing something other than just rewards and punishments as a player experiences the games? Is there a point where a player goes into another realm?

Actually I don’t have an answer to my question but I think my supposition might be correct. Obviously I can’t speak of all slot players but I can tell you this: If any actor named Carradine shows up in your life – run!

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Visit Frank’s web site at www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, and at bookstores.