Touch Play Gambling in Iowa

Since July of 2005, convenience stores and grocery stores across Iowa have offered Touch Play gambling to their customers. It was reported by the Des Moines Register on Sunday, March 5 that Iowans have pumped over $200 Million into these gambling machines since July '05. This was an extemely interesting article. It states that many of the Touch Play locations that are doing the most business are in the most economically depressed areas. Most interesting was the fact that, per-capita, Mason City spends the most on Touch Play gambling...to the tune of $110 per person since July '05. The next highest amount is something like $66 dollars per person in some other city in Iowa. This is a huge disparity. One must wonder why people in Mason City are spending so much on the Touch Play gambling. It probably doesn't help that one Mason City man won $10,000 at a Touch Play machine at a Kum & Go in Mason City, then, that very day, won $10,000 AGAIN at a Touch Play machine. The next day this event was hyped in the Mason City media. I'm wondering what the down-and-out thought about this. Maybe they thought this Touch Play is their chance to change their lives? I can only speculate. But the whole Touch Play issue is far from dead, as the Iowa Legislature is poised to ban the whole thing. The Des Moines Register has an interesting blog on this topic if anyone wants to read more about this subject. Click here to read their blog. Anyone want to share their thoughts on Touch Play Gambling in Iowa?