I know that Chuck E. Cheese is the place “Where a Kid can be a Kid!” but every time I see a commercial for this place, I think “kid’s casino”.

When I was little, Chuck E. Cheese wore a red derby, a vest and a bow tie. Now he wears a bike helmet, knee and shoulder pads, and rides around on a skateboard to appeal to the modern market. When you went to Chuck E. Cheese back in the day, you played Whack-A-Mole, arcade games, jumped around in a pit of plastic balls, and ate pizza while watching giant, animatronic animals in clothes, sing songs and play jug band music. Fun times. -__-

Now kids gamble away tokens, for tickets, for cheap crap. How does this all work? Well basically, the parents buy the tokens. The kids insert the tokens into exciting “games of chance.” If they beat the odds and “hit”, they’ll be rewarded with tickets. They then carry their giant, plastic cup full of tickets over to a little ticket redeming shop. There they can choose junk to take home based on the amount of tickets they are redeming. For example, 25 tokens may get you a whaky-wall-walker; 150 might get you a dazzling, metal band digital watch. Snazy.

The point is, is that kids love it, the same way adults love gambling in casinos. It’s set up pretty much the same way: Chuck E. Cheese is a noisy, busy environment filled with neon lights flashing, bells and whistles chiming, plenty of food and drink, and games of chance to loose money on… Oh, and of course the obligatory stained, wall-to-wall carpet. It’s exciting, dangerous and provactive. What more could a child or adult want in a money loosing pit?

Now, I’m not trying to say that starting kids off early with gambling is a bad thing. It’s simply something worth observing.