In less than two years, the devices have surpassed all state-lottery games in the United States and Canada in weekly spending per citizen. Like a prairie fire, video gambling has swept South Dakota. In my opinion, that's not a legitimate function of government.' The people who become addicted walk out into a fantasy land, and state government stands there and opens the door for them. People who would never gamble if it were an illegal act are spending hours at it. 'People with zero criminal history are getting caught embezzling. 'People who have never written a bad check now do it,' Riley said.
Now, many of his clients are people who got into trouble by gambling away too much money, often tens of thousands of dollars in months, playing games of electronic poker, blackjack, bingo and keno legalized by the state Legislature two years ago.
'It's a mathematical impossibility to win.' 'If you play it for a long time, you have to lose,' he said. Riley used to be one of the people perched on those stools, losing more often than winning, until he realized that he had to quit. About 10:45 on a Thursday morning, people were feeding dollars into five of the 10 video lottery machines at the Roosevelt Street convenience store, each gambling that luck's smile would deliver a winner. Lawyer Paul Riley knows the seductive drill of chasing a $1,000 royal flush.
