I'll be trying to watch the, "Free," streaming channels sometimes, and over the past year I have noticed a massive increase in advertisements for, "Sweepstakes," slot games. Others are sick of them as well. I was aware of a handful of these casinos-that-aren't-casinos due to having seen/heard ads for them over various years, such as, "Chumba," which even got Ryan Seacrest to do bits promoting it on the radio. I even tried Chumba long ago back in the day but quit upon realizing that it was going to be little more than a great way to lose money fast. Now, every single day there is some random new slot game on my television apps. They always start by bragging about how you can win money, often featuring terrible real actors, or even worse, "AI," ones. These advertisements generally aren't promoting the idea of fun or responsible gambling either; they make lofty claims of people winning hundreds or thousands of dollars a day and quitting day jobs to play these virtual slots. It is alarming, and when I looked into it, one YouTube channel dedicated to playing real slots with a safe financial plan discussed how scary these ads are, considering they could appeal to people who know very little about slots and forget how, in the long run, "The House always wins."
I have zero problem with gambling when people can do it responsibly or, against all odds, succeed at it. There are folks with amazing poker skills, from math skills to keep a blank face--and I compliment their ability to have zero, "Tells." I am impressed with people who can sit at a slot machine with a twenty-dollar bill, lose it, and have no desire to get more money and keep playing. I avoid slot machines because there were times in my life when I found it relatively easy to avoid starting them, but once I started playing them finding it really difficult to actually stop. It is better for me to not begin playing a slot game than struggle to quit one due to my personality--I mean, just remember my recent post about how addictive ePack was for me and apply that to a literal slot machine! If other folk want to do poker, blackjack, roulette, slots, or craps they can, however. The thing is, they usually need to go a physical casino or be in a state with strict rules for internet gambling. The aforementioned sweepstakes slots exisit within a huge loophole.
Now, there are the free-to-play slot games where you pay a few bucks a month to have unlimited fake money to enjoy on the slots. Those are truly just fun games where people can't win anything or lose more than some minutes of their time aimlessly playing. Sweepstakes slots are designed where they let you buy credits worth nothing more than, "Fun," but throw in special sweepstakes money you can redeem for real cash after you gamble with it in their games and possibly win extra to get sent to your bank or put on a gift card, or more realistically, end up with zero credits. These sites usually have it hidden somewhere on the webpage on how you can send in an envelope requesting to enter a drawing for more sweepstakes bucks, but that's to keep things in the legal gray area. It's gambling, with a lot less regulation than, "Real," gambling, plus these sweepstakes casinos are legal in more states than they're not. This website I found is relatively in favor of sweepstakes casinos, but still gives a good breakdown of how they manage to operate. Some states shrug at these loophole-exploiting sites, and others have put out PSAs warning folks.
These apps need a constant influx of new players to make money, however, so they advertise. They want to make the most money possible for the least amount of effort, so the ads are terrible to the point that they almost seem intentionally bad, with cheap sets and unskilled actors or incredibly fake-looking AI. If you're watching Tubi, PlutoTV, or even local news apps that have ads, you've doubtless seen the creepy shiny-looking faces straight out of the uncanny valley cheering or crying (with joy) about the money they won on whatever the latest fly-by-night sweepstakes slot site is. From some of the ads, the new fly-by-night ones seem to be Tang Luck (so much fake crying in the AI ads), Cider Casino, and I'm gonna stop there as I've seen those ads and don't need to list the over 240 other ones according to Deadpin. Remember, these apps technically aren't gambling and don't have to protect your information, have certain payout rates, or do any of the stuff that is legislated and regulated is required to do.
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| The fellows over at Unlookatable, summing up these ads. |
I have enough experience with slot machines to know it is best that I stay away. Would some random person watching Tubi in one of the 30 states where these can operate, who has never played a slot game, learn they have an addictive personality for slots the hard way? They're bored in Ohio and figure 20 bucks couldn't hurt. Only, they aren't those people who can walk away after losing $20, and considering it is as easy as using their smartphone, there isn't really anywhere to, "Walk away." Plus, with basically no oversight, these sites can try to screw-over anyone who does win, and from a cursory look at the internet, often do. The bigger sweepstakes slots that can get Ryan Seacrest or whoever to promote them at least seem to have aspirations of legitimacy. I don't think the sites getting hit with class action lawsuits are as reputable, obviously. I know my limits, but many people possibly do not. These sweepstakes casinos have minimal rules they need to follow, with ads designed to appeal to those desperate for quick cash--it is a problematic combination, clearly.
Tubi or PlutoTV don't have to ban these ads, they have every right to run whatever they want. I just wish I could request any other kind of ad category while I'm streaming free television. It's wild to think I'm thankful nowadays for ads about erectile dysfunction pills or medicare options when I watch, "The Price is Right," because it's a nice break from AI slop of a golden pig surrounded by money or an, "Interviewer," asking people why they love winning so much money. Yeah, I'll take the boner pills with the couple holding hands in adjacent tubs any day.
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