It was January 25th. The sun covered the entire campus in a blanket of light and warmth. A crisp breeze flowed through the trees, over Haaga House, and onto the sophomore patio. A group of students gathered around a table, each holding a laptop open to the Crash game mode on Bloxflip. “It’s due! It’s due!” they all screamed. The game started, Santa’s sleigh took to the skies, and their Robux continued to multiply from 1.5x to 2x to 5x, up to 1734.29x. These sophomores had won so many Robux that they could now rest, knowing that neither they nor anybody in their extended family would ever have to work a day in their lives again. It was the perfect day.
Bloxflip, an online gambling website, is embedded into every aspect of Poly’s school day, for some. The site allows anyone with a Roblox account to connect and gamble with their Robux, the game’s online currency. Multiple different games, such as blackjack, slots, roulette and Crash allow gamblers to multiply their money to amounts they have never seen before. In Crash, gamblers can wager any amount of Robux, and the game will then start increasing a multiplier, which is the value by which the bet is increased. The gamblers playing can decide when they want to cash out their wager and walk away with their multiplied Robux, but if they wait too long, the game will randomly “crash” and the player will lose everything. Many players use the term “due” to refer to the fact that the multiplier has not hit a high number in a while, similar to how gamblers who play slots believe that a machine that hasn’t had a winning combination in a while is “due” to have one soon.
The main appeal of Bloxflip in comparison to other gambling sites is that no one has to pay anything to play. This attribute is what caused the rapid increase in the popularity of the game, bringing tables filled with eager gamblers together to share Robux and creating a breeding ground for social interaction and bonding.
Bloxflip also bridges the gaps between grade levels, creating opportunities for students from different classes to talk about potential strategies. With grade divisions and a seniority-based hierarchy at Poly, Bloxflip has helped build a singular community with the common goal of winning Robux.
While many people, namely adults, might see online gambling as degenerate, in actuality, this type of online gambling offers many advantages. The website encourages kids to weigh costs and benefits, a skill necessary for the future when deciding what college to attend or what city to move to, for instance. The game also hones users’ pattern recognition and problem-solving skills when they must choose when to put money on Crash. For many students, Bloxflip acts as an outlet for creativity away from schoolwork. Sophomore Warren Peng stated, “Without taking gambling breaks, I could never focus on my homework.”
Despite its multitude of benefits, many sophomores express their concerns that Bloxflip could lead students down a path of addiction; however, the journey from a Roblox website to a slot machine in Vegas is unlikely.
An activity that promotes critical thinking, problem-solving, and decompressing, all while contributing to the creation of an interconnected community, is certainly an activity that should be encouraged and celebrated across our campus.
