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You probably are only a few miles away from a place where some people spend most of their free time playing. And playing. And playing. It’s not a golf club or tennis club; it’s not a playground with swings and jungle gyms. But it is, in a way, a playground, an indoor pleasure palace.

Kids are forbidden. Adults only. They’re lined up when the doors open at 9 a.m. Many nights, it’s between midnight and 2 a.m. by the time everybody leaves.

This adult play place has been open almost two years, but despite that and the fact that I always see the parking lot there crowded with cars, I never made time to stop in and see what it’s all about.

When I did about two weeks ago, I was the 13,403rd person to pay $5 for a membership card in a wildly popular playground called Palace Games. It’s at Prime Outlets Mall on Collier Blvd.

What’s the secret to the manic popularity of this place, this casino with faux slot machines where a player can’t win money?

It’s simple. Palace Games, operated by a friendly sparkplug, a hard-working entrepreneur, Nancy Kelly, gives a lot of people a lot of fun at relatively small cost and a chance to win prizes.

They include gift cards to retail stores and restaurants such as Publix, Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Carrabba’s, Outback Steakhouse, Shell service stations and $100 Visa cards.

Play is relatively easy, made easier by Nancy and her staff, some of the friendliest people I’ve ever encountered in one place.

They know all the regulars by their first names and they know their personal stories.

“Some are widows and widowers who are lonely,” Nancy explains. “Other are working people for whom this is great, inexpensive relaxation in a congenial environment.

“Some who win gift cards save them to give their grandchildren at Christmas.”

Among the attractions at this clean, safe place are the daily free meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus free soft drinks. The night we were there, dinner was turkey with Thanksgiving-style trimmings.

So how do the 133 game machines work and how do you bet and thus win or lose? Experts say it’s a combination of luck and maybe, with experience, a bit of skill.

You pay $5 for a membership card. The house matches that and you have $10 on the card. You put the card into the machine and begin. The games are basically the same with a few superficial differences.

The lowest minimum bet is 8 cents, but you can go up to 99 cents, then press the start button, watch the fruit or horseshoes or pirate ships or other shiny things spin by. It resembles a slot machine, but you have to press another button to make it stop.

If the video shows a wining combination, and on some machines there are many, you are credited with from two cents to, once in a great while, hundreds of dollars. I was usually near the two-cent level, but people do win there.

Photos on the wall show smiling jackpot winners up to $1,000. That’s unusual, of course, and not in cash, but it could buy a lot of Outback steaks, Shell gas or Home Depot tools.

I suppose one could get addicted to this sort of modest, low-risk gambling, but it didn’t feel like a Vegas casino, where a sense of urgency, fear, desperation and doom can mix with the shouts of winners and the laughs of the casual players. Palace Games feels like fun and games.

“If nothing else it’s fun,” says Chet Hays of Marco Island. “You can come out here, get sodas and snacks free and maybe lose $20. Or win. I’ve probably won in the last year six or seven $25 Wal-Mart cards and my wife won a couple of $100 Visa cards. It’s great entertainment.“

Peggy Orsini of Naples says it’s a great way to relax after work.

“I’ve won many times. I like to come on Friday nights after working all week. It’s fun, a diversion. I won a lot last season, not too much so far this year.”

Peggy and Chet’s comments reflect what we heard from other players too.

Owner Nancy Kelly has thrown her energies and talent into making this place work, as well as her first Palace Games, opened three years ago in Bonita Springs.

She treats clients like family, giving them $20 gift cards on their birthdays and supporting their favorite charities with gifts.

Why, at age 69, did she tackle a business with such long hours and a lot of paperwork?

“I lost a lung from cancer and lost my son and husband. I was sitting home feeling sorry for myself when a friend told me about these kinds of places. But I didn’t decide to jump in until a couple of business people told me I was too old for this. Ha.”

She said it all.

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Don’s email: don@donfarmer.com.