Mt. Pleasant, Michigan is known for two things, the college, Central Michigan University and the casino, Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. For CMU junior Ryan Knoll, the casino is not just a place he goes for fun once and awhile, it is a place where he makes most of his money and sometime losses.

According to Knoll, the casino was one of the main reasons he chose to go to CMU. “One of the factors for why I came here was the casino and central has a nice campus, but it was mainly the casino”.  Ryan first learned to gamble from his father at the young age of five. Ever since then Ryan has been hooked.

“I’m a fan of blackjack, roulette, and slot machines, I play poker once and a while too” said Knoll. “I’ve gone up to 8 times a week to the casino.” When Ryan first started going to the casino he used to have a limit but lately he hasn’t had a limit on his gambling issue. “I just depends on if I have any money in my bank account said Knoll”

For spring break Ryan and his father went to Las Vegas. It was the first time Ryan went to Las Vegas since he turned twenty-one. “It was a fun time, I always wanted to go there and I really enjoyed the free drinks when you gamble and I won a little bit of money but the first night I lost a lot of money.”

The first night Ryan was in Vegas, he lost about eight hundred dollars. Now for most college students losing eight hundred dollars would mean losing most of the money in their bank account, or losing about two-months rent. But not for Ryan. The rest of the time he was in Vegas he gained that eight hundred dollars back and ended up leaving with more money than he went there with. According to Knoll, he left with a smile on his face.

Ryan does have an on-campus job through CMU, but most of his money comes from the casino. Ryan says that once he graduates from CMU he wants to stop gambling all together. He wants to land a job in the finance field. Ryan is a junior but he still has two more years until he graduates.

“Right now I am addicted,” says Knoll. “I don’t always know when to walk away, but when I first go I do have logic but when I get into it, I get lost”. Ryan believes that the casino has him trapped with their player’s card. Ryan has a platinum card, which is the second highest card a player can receive. Ryan gets free hotel rooms, free food, and thirty dollars a week to gamble with just because he has a platinum card.

“Although gambling is a fun activity you should never go in hopes of making money because that’s how they build there fancy casino with all there customers” says Knoll. “When you go alone I think you got a problem.”