Tonight (Sunday) at 7:00 PM, CBS' 60 Minutes will broadcast a feature segment on electronic gambling machines (i.e., video slots).

Please forgive this email reminder ... this is the first significant national media scrutiny of the machines behind $50 billion in annual US consumer gambling losses.

How 60 Minutes will cover video slots is under wraps, but I am told by a person interviewed that it will likely center on the machines' purposefully addictive and deceptive design. These design features explain why video slots produce 70-80 percent of the gross profits at a typical US gambling casino and cause 70-80 percent of gambling addictions.

Some observers call video slot machines "the electronic version of loaded dice."

We strongly suggest comparing 60 Minutes coverage with this PowerPoint testimony to the NH Gaming Study Commission by Canada's Dr. Kevin Harrigan. Dr. Harrigan is considered the world's leading independent expert on electronic gambling machine design.

We sincerely hope that New Hampshire legislators voting on this year's slot-casino bills will carefully weigh this new information.