Down the Rabbit Hole Denia R Martinez “Writing, Research, & Technology” December 15, 2014 Professor Wolff
Apr 06, 2016
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.