Down the Rabbit Hole

Denia R Martinez “Writing, Research, & Technology”

December 15, 2014 Professor Wolff

Introduction:

Gambling. Some people see it as a fun way to pass the time

while on vacation, others as a profession; but there are those

few…million people who do become addicted to gambling.

Gambling addiction is one of the hardest addictions to

overcome with the highest suicides rates because it is

completely mental. It is literally mind over matter.

But whose fault is it that people get addicted? Is it in

someone’s genetic make-up to become addicted to the slots,

or doubling down on blackjack or playing the ponies? How are

casinos making it so that people will come in and put down

their hard-earned money and waste it away on the chance,

the very slight chance that they might make it big? People

have tunnel vision when it comes to gambling. It’s all about

the next big score or they just need to get their luck back. And

if they lose their money, well they can just acquire more in

order to “win their money back.” (If I had a dollar for every

time I heard that I wouldn’t have student loans.)

Casinos… with their bright lights, free drinks (if you are playing

on the slots or tables), easy access to your cash (for a fee) and

their incentives to go from a red label card (no perks, only

comp dollars) to the black label card (free parking, shorter

lines, exclusive lounge) to the titanium card (free parking, an

even more exclusive & upscale lounge, and higher level room

accommodations) that would have most people be all about

getting to the next level.

Casinos do make it as easy as possible for people to be able to

access their money from ATMs, to check cashing, and cash

advance (all three for a fee) or depending on certain criteria

they can apply for a credit line that is connected to their

personal checking account (no fees). And once you see how it

is to borrow money, you keep doing it. And if you run out,

then you ask for a little more, then a little more until you

increase your line so high and lose so much money that you go

bankrupt. In the 6 years that I have worked at Borgata, I have

seen it happen countless of times.

Entrance

High Limit Slot Area

Inside the BBar

Betting on the Horses

Side Entrance to Pit 16 – High Roller Area

Enclosure Pit 1a – Reserved Tables (High Limits)

Amphora Lounge Entrance – Black Label card holders only

Society Club Entrance – Titanium Label card holders only

Why Did I Do This?

The pictures were chosen very carefully and in accordance to

the agreement made with security, surveillance, and the Division of

Gaming Enforcement. I had one chance to take the pictures within a

two hour window (6am-8am and I couldn’t take picture of the

customers.) I used my Olympus digital camera; but while I was taking

the pictures, I became afraid that something might happen so I

backed up the shots with my iPhone as well so the pictures are a

combination of both. I also used Picasa 3 to digitally alter the pictures.

(Thanks for that!)

The first picture which is on the title page is of the Borgata

player cards, which I placed in a pyramid in order to show the

progression of levels. Everyone starts with red and then depending on

time and average bets on their chosen games, they will then progress

to black. Titanium is only achieved when invited. Usually you have to

LOSE $100,000 a trip in order to get an invitation. (Insane, yes I

know.)

The opening shot of the essay is the entrance to the casino

and the next one is a shot of the Miralto entrance which is our high

limit slot area. This place is for serious gamblers because these

machines are $5, $20, $50, & $100 a hit. I gave that shot an old-time

feel because of the elegance of the area.

“The Walking Dead” and “The Wizard of Oz” slot machines are

there to illustrate how many of the slot machines are now in the form

of our favorite movies and TV shows in order to attract more players.

Nostalgia (as is the case with WofO) is a strong emotion in people and

might be able to persuade a normal person to sit down and play a

little and then BAM! Hours have passed and you are down hundreds

of dollars. (I put TWD in red tint because of the blood spilled on the

show…go get those zombies!) Every weekend these two machines

have lines of people to play them.

The roulette table is a new form of old time roulette table

because it’s computerized and not operated by a dealer, I wanted to

showcase a new level of play that casinos are always trying to keep

fresh and entice customers to play by throwing a shiny new toy at

them. That is why I kept and amplified the bright colors of the casino.

The BBar is a social place where you go to have a drink and meet up

with friends and still can’t get away from slot machines as they are

integrated into the bar.

As I stated before these pictures were taken at 6:00 am and in

the Poker room there were still people there from the night before.

Most people when they are gambling will sit there for hours at the

expense of not going to the bathroom. I’ve heard stories of people

soiling themselves so they wouldn’t lose a hand or a slot machine.

The Racebook is for horse betting. I really wish that I would have been

able to take this picture when there was a race on so that you can see

all of the TVs in the background and people sitting down at their

terminals looking at different horse races, but I included these two

shots because even though the casino doesn’t really make that much

money from these two areas (since you aren’t playing against the

house) they are still extremely popular and are the biggest rooms in

town.

I wanted to illustrate areas of decadence and that is where Pit

16 a high-limit, high roller room and Pit 1a come in. They are both

muted to show how people become lost in their quest to obtain the

richer accommodations. And the Amphora Lounge and the Society

Clubs are both areas were only higher level card holders can go eat

and relax. These two places are highly coveted and the line to get into

Amphora on the weekends (as there are more black card holders than

titanium) is ridiculous. The ATM and the cashier should be self-

explanatory and are done in a green tint to represent money.

Entrance to the Rabbit Hole

My main image is the entrance shot into the casino because I

feel that it signifies a pivotal point in “bearing witness to human

choice” (Berger, 291.) This is the point of no return. In my opinion,

people have a choice whether they are going to gamble or not. The

people who see this view in front of them are coming from the “self

parking” garage. Self-park. Self. You made the choice to come here.

You drove yourself here. Parked yourself. Got out of your car and

walked in. You choose to drink alcohol that impairs your judgment.

You put yourself in that position so you should be the one to get

yourself out.

Susan Sontag stated that people are “equalized by the

camera” and that a photograph “cannot create a moral position, but

they can reinforce one.” In the 6 years that I have worked at Borgata,

I have seen every single nationality it doesn’t matter if they have our

smallest credit line (which is $500) to the biggest that I’ve ever

opened which is $2 million dollars. And the equalizing fact is that they

all love to gamble. Some have better luck than others, most set

themselves limits so that they don’t go overboard. But there are

those people, who will come into our office and beg for money to get

home because they gamble away their last dollar and now they don’t

have money for a cab or a train ticket. We aren’t allowed to give

them money; but we can direct them to certain people, but I will sit

there and wonder…how could you let it go so far, not have any

money to go home? What is it about this place that is so enticing?

That is what I tried to answer with my essay. Gambling, while the

state says that it helps run government programs, in another way it

ruins people’s lives, I see every day.

One element of composition that this photograph has is

symmetry and pattern. I stood in the middle of the walkway as far

back as I could go. I wanted to capture the depth and also frame part

of the casino floor with the columns on either side to encompass the

two major aspects of gambling: slots and table games. There are

leading lines with the three columns and as I shot it from right in the

middle as far back as I could go I made it as symmetrical as possible.

There is depth in this photo as it goes straight back as far the archway

before the pathway splits into two different directions.

This picture also has a specific viewpoint. From this vantage

point, you can choose to go straight down the marble walkway and

into the action on either side. Or you can choose to the right or left.

The casino is actually in the form of a circle. If you walk the marble

and stay to the left (or right) you will eventually end up in the same

place. Also, the walkway branches off in certain areas and meets up

again with a different part of the walkway. Again, it’s your choice,

where you end up.

Since the picture is black and white, there was a lot of

experimentation that went on with the picture. The picture was

pretty good in color; but with the black and white I was able to

narrow the focus of the subject which is casino gambling. In the color

photo, the viewer might be distracted by the two people workers and

some of the customers at the tables; but they are gone. They were

swallowed up by the black, just like they are being consumed to be at

a blackjack table at 6 o’clock in the morning. The fact that it’s in black

and white should make you think more about what is being

photographed. You can pay more attention to the columns and how

the lights branch out from the top. It helps lead your eyes that way

more than the color one does. There are fewer distractions with the

black and white and it’s also classier.

Works Cited

Berger, John. “Understanding a Photograph.” The Look of Things. Viking Press: 1974. Print.

Sontag, Susan. "Photography." The New York Review of Books 18 Oct. 1973: n. pag. Print.