Talk about senseless violence…
Forty-one people have been arrested for attacking slot machines at the Resorts World Casino in Queens since the facility opened last October.
“It happens like three, four times a week, and that’s only on my shift,” said Mike Persaud, a security guard at the casino.
Mr. Persaud described the usual scene: fuming gamblers who have punched, kicked or slapped a slot machine that refused to spit out a jackpot, leaving flickering rows of cherries and number 7s beneath a pane of shattered glass. Their rage sometimes costs them more money than was lost to that unlucky machine in the first place.
“I lost $300 without a bonus, so yes, I broke the machine,” George Govan, a 56-year-old man from Brooklyn, told security guards when he punched through a terminal screen in January, according to court records. “And I’d do it again.” (Mr. Govan pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.) [NYT]
Happily, gamers seem more likely to take out their frustration on property than people. There have been only 19 arrests for assault at Resorts World Queens.
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