On my way driving back from Illinois last night, I saw a billboard for Harrahs Casino (the one near Dave and Busters on the Earth City Expressway). On it was a woman in front of a slot machine celebrating her apparent jackpot and the words "Penny Slots".

Slightly Overweight Older Woman: "Well, I enjoy the mind-numbingly repetitive action of playing a slot machine, but a nickel is a little too rich for me. I want a game where there is no chance of me winning any money whatsoever."

Apparently this isn't as ludicrous as it sounds, because according to this random website, "The number of low limit (tight budget) players is definitely growing and they are almost always looking for cheap entertainment, wanting to have some good fun while gambling away $20.", and the internet would never lie. Notice that it says "gambling away $20", because when the stakes are that low, you don't even care if you win or lose, so therefore you just keep dumping your worthless pennies in until you lose it all.

The next logical step from here is, of course, "never-win slots", where they don't even bother with the pretense of a measly prize. "Shove your pennies in the slot and watch the wheels spin around a few times. Nobody ever wins, but just think how cheap it is!"

The Chris Hill Festival: Where the Future is Now.

*Apologies to Jim for ripping off one of his rotating subheaders, but then again he's not here for a week so he won't even know I'm doing it for awhile. Plus his Link Bar Of Wonder is broken again and doesn't update when I post.