Is Dave and Busters Insane!?!?
I’ll start this off by saying that gambling addictions and gambling problems are very real, and should not be ignored. If you think you need help, I encourage you to find some: Gambling Help Website
With that being said, is gambling some true epidemic? When you have Dave and Busters doing things like this, it has to at least makes you slightly concerned for the future of our society.
Gambling on yourself playing arcade games? I still trust it more than I do a virtual slot machine. So why do I think that maybe this is not as big a deal as others are making it? If you were going to Dave and Busters and were planning to spend $50 on food and drinks and another $50 playing games, as of now, you go out and spend $100. If they implement gambling, you spend $50 on food and drinks, and are playing with the $50 to possibly make money, or at least break even. You were always going to spend $100 that night, so why is it a big deal to have a chance to win some of that money back?
The obvious argument that I agree with, is that someone normally going out planning to spend $100, may now be willing or incentivized to play with an additional $50 or $100 since they have a chance to make money. This is where things can get dangerous for all of gambling. So maybe Dave and Busters implements far lower limits than a typical casino or sportsbook would. Maybe one person can only gamble or play with $50 per day. Maybe they make it impossible for someone to walk in and lose $7 thousand on pop a shot.
My point is, if a balance can be found, it does not seem like such a bad idea to allow players to win money for themselves, as opposed to just giving the arcades money to play and win a candy bar, or squish toy worth $3 after playing $50.