PORTLAND — For nearly two decades, the Oregon Lottery has refrained from advertising video gambling on television. Lottery officials said they didn’t want to go too far in promoting gambling.

Fast forward to the present as the Lottery launches a new TV commercial campaign that shows the whirring wheels of its slot machine-style games in hopes of drawing more players.

The change in approach comes as gambling revenues from video machines have plunged.

The Lottery’s mission is to maximize revenue for the state, Lottery spokesman Chuck Bauman says.

“Video lottery is the most popular of all of our games, and if your heavy lifter is not doing what it had been in the past, you want to try to bolster that,” he adds.

The ads cost $430,000 to produce and air, and they’ll run until the end of December.

Video gambling accounts for about 70 cents of every dollar the Lottery collects, but the games are in a slide. The Oregonian reports that video gambling sales are off 22 percent from a year ago.

The Lottery blames the recession and a smoking ban that went into effect in January.

The Lottery sent $1.4 billion to the state budget in 2007-09. Most of it went to schools, parks and paying off state debt. The estimate for the current budget is that the Lottery will contribute just $1 billion.

When lawmakers first approved the use of state-run video poker machines in bars and taverns in 1991, Lottery officials agreed not to use commercials to promote video gambling. They also said they wouldn’t allow the bars and taverns to advertise the games.

Those prohibitions have fallen away, and TV viewers can now see commercials that show actors playing Zeus and Cleopatra promoting games available on state-run terminals.

Experts say problem gamblers are often overtaken by brain impulses that compel them to bet. As with other addictions, certain images or sounds can ignite the desire to gamble.

“It’s a tease. It’s like a flirtation,” says Joe Reisman, program director for gambling treatment services at LifeWorks Northwest, an addictions treatment provider. “It’s like putting a slice of chocolate cake down in front of you and you start to salivate.”

Lottery officials say their agency also runs ads that warn people about problem gambling and tell them how they can seek help.

Bauman says the Lottery doesn’t plan another TV commercial campaign until next June. The Lottery spends about $9 million a year on advertising and marketing, including TV commercials that promote other Lottery products, such as scratch-off tickets.