She has interviewed gamblers, casino owners and slot machine designers. Schull has studied gambling addiction for over 15 years.
'Whether or not it's their intention, the gambling industry is designing machines that can addict people,' MIT anthropology Professor Natasha Schull told '60 Minutes' correspondent Lesley Stahl. It looks like great fun, but it can be dangerously addictive. You can play hundreds of lines at once and instead of pulling a handle, you bet by pushing buttons, which means each bet can be completed in as little as three and a half seconds.
Old fashioned slot machines let gamblers pull the handle and hope for three of a kind, but the modern slots are like high tech video games that play music and scenes from TV shows. And ways to avoid becoming a 'problem gambler.' If you're casino bound, remember, the house always has the upper hand, but there are ways to increase your odds of winning.
