CT: Spectrum Gaming Report #10

Criminal Justice System and Illegal Behavior

Gambling addictions lead to financial problems and can eventually develop into desperate behaviors, many of which are illegal. In our telephone survey, we found that problem and probable pathological gamblers were significantly more likely than non-problem gamblers to have:

Written a bad check or taken money that did not belong to them to pay
for their gambling (13.7 percent vs. 0 percent)
Committed an illegal act to pay for a gambling debt (27.3 percent vs. 2.4 percent)
Considered committing an illegal act to finance gambling (8.2 percent vs. 0.6 percent)


Federal and state prosecutors in Connecticut are concerned over a significant increase in embezzlements. There were 43 embezzlement arrests in 1992, the year the first Indian casino opened. In 2007, there were 214. No other state that reported 40 or more embezzlements in 1992 has had a higher percentage
increase than Connecticut. The state‘s increase is nearly 10 times that of the national average. From 1997 to 2007, there were 1,853 embezzlement arrests in Connecticut. The extent of embezzlements is discussed in detail in another section of this report.
– page 77-78 Spectrum Gaming Group (SGG) “Gambling in Connecticut” 2009


Overall Impact
As of July 1, 2007, there were 2,666,750 residents 18 or older in Connecticut. Our survey indicates a probable pathological gambling prevalence rate of 1.2 percent (lifetime NODS) to 1.5 percent (lifetime SOGS). The baseline estimate of for gambling losses is $13,586 per pathological gambler. It is a figure that has been used to determine the financial costs in several other gambling-impact studies. The losses of the pathological gamblers could therefore range from $435 million to $543 million.
– page 79 Spectrum Gaming Group (SGG) “Gambling in Connecticut” 2009

The Spectrum Gaming Report prepared for the CT DOSR is availble on the United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts web site. It's worth reading.