Some think that it must be human nature to love of the thrill and surprise sparked when spinning symbols on a flashing slot machine suddenly all line up and are accompanied by the electronic tunes and the clunking of coins when a jackpot is won.

Understanding that odd delight is the main focus of a new research laboratory at the University of Guelph. It will be designed to simulate the flashy, noisy casino environment. This will be the province of Ontario’s first comprehensive gambling behavior research lab.

“Since the casinos wouldn’t let us inside to do our research there, we had to build this” said the professor in the university’s Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies, Karen Finlay.

“The slot machines are completely random and yet people think they can influence the outcome. People say they will never play on a machine that someone has just won on, convinced that it won’t pay out again,” Dr. Finlay said.

There is a method to the seeming madness of flashing lights, discordant jingles and bizarre themes, she said.

“It’s a real problem with slot machines. They call them the crack cocaine of gambling. They are monotonous and people zone right out. They drift into a trancelike state while spending more and more money. They tend to play with more money than they planned and spend more time than they planned.”

The hope for the research conducted here is to figure out how to change the way the people behave in casinos. The research from this study will also be beneficial to counselors working with problem gamblers.