From experience all of those apps on Facebook have a similar business model. Play the games for free, but if you run out of chips, then you have to buy them. Sorry, if I'm going to pay for chips to put into a slot machine, then they need to be real ones with a chance for me to win more of them - otherwise it's a one way street from my wallet to their game.
I'm outside the US so can play freely (and do) in online casinos. They can be profitable one week and costly the next - but that's the gamble. There's a lot of live dealer casinos online now that give me an experience *similar* to that of being in a real casino - without the buffets, cocktail waitresses, and smoke of course. Whilst any casino game can be addictive, I'll only play the real money games, and thus my playtime is limited to 1) losing my bank roll money that session or 2) making a sizable win and cashing out early.
The problem with the facebook games (slots or Farmville or others) is that they're free, and encourage you to keep progressing to get to the next "level". That makes them highly addictive. Great if you've got lots of time to spare, but a huge user of time - I know people who've spent 5 hours a day for 6 months or more building a farm, or city, or unlocking all the slot machine games in a set... I think that's a bit dangerous.
Facebook etc have their place, and this is (as long as you never buy the free chips) a safe way to play online casino games. But be wary of your time investment - life is too short! :-)
I'm outside the US so can play freely (and do) in online casinos. They can be profitable one week and costly the next - but that's the gamble. There's a lot of live dealer casinos online now that give me an experience *similar* to that of being in a real casino - without the buffets, cocktail waitresses, and smoke of course. Whilst any casino game can be addictive, I'll only play the real money games, and thus my playtime is limited to 1) losing my bank roll money that session or 2) making a sizable win and cashing out early.
The problem with the facebook games (slots or Farmville or others) is that they're free, and encourage you to keep progressing to get to the next "level". That makes them highly addictive. Great if you've got lots of time to spare, but a huge user of time - I know people who've spent 5 hours a day for 6 months or more building a farm, or city, or unlocking all the slot machine games in a set... I think that's a bit dangerous.
Facebook etc have their place, and this is (as long as you never buy the free chips) a safe way to play online casino games. But be wary of your time investment - life is too short! :-)
