GUELPH–It was the cop and the doughnuts that started Karen Finlay putting money into a slot machine in Las Vegas."I'd never been in a casino before," she said. "The bonus round on this machine looked like such fun. If you got into that round, it showed you a cop eating doughnuts and his shirt buttons popping off."Finlay had dropped $10 trying for the bonus before she told herself: "I work too hard for my money..."

But it was a winning insight. Finlay is a University of Guelph marketing and consumer studies professor and chief researcher into problem gambling. Her studies took a leap forward yesterday with the opening of Ontario's first comprehensive gambling research lab, looking at how a casino draws people in and gets them hooked.

It includes eight identical slot machines and a life-sized panoramic virtual tour of several Las Vegas casinos, filmed undercover by videographer Rob Currie. He cruised the gaming rooms in a motorized wheelchair with a hidden camera.The secrecy was not only essential – "If we'd asked permission, we'd have been shown the door," said lab manager Rita Sterne – but also appropriate. There's an element of counter-espionage about what goes on in the basement facility.

"All the stuff we're learning, the casinos already know," said Sterne. "Like putting people slightly on edge in the lobby coming in can affect their judgment. They apply that knowledge to keep people spending money. We look for ways to break them of their addiction."

The panoramic video surrounds the viewer with the hubbub of a busy casino, a blur of images and a jumble of music, chatter and tinkling slots. Most people, Sterne said, can't wait to get out: some because they find it claustrophobic, some to go into the room next door to play the slots, even though they're not using real money.

The lighting and sound effects can be changed to see how the environment affects the players. The machines can be modified to monitor their sense of control. "We want to know the triggers," said Finlay. "That way, we can perhaps find new methods of treatment and therapy."The only qualification for volunteers is an interest in gaming.

Finlay was at a recent Las Vegas convention where the latest innovations were shown. The hot trend "is electronic table gaming, replacing the flesh-and-blood dealer with either a video or other simulation. Roulette seems to be the only game where it doesn't work. People want to see someone spin the wheel. But they'll happily place their bets electronically. And, with their credits on a machine rather than a pile of chips, they may be less likely to pick up their winnings and walk away."

The clatter of a machine when it's paying out is intoxicating – which is why casinos amplify the sound. University staffer Rebecca Kendall was playing one of the lab's slots when Sterne, at the next machine, won a bonus round with a cacophony of noise. Kendall was taken aback by her own reaction."I hated listening to her win," she said. "I wanted my machine to make those sounds..."