The Importance of Monthly Statements

One way to discourage compulsive gambling


The state House Gaming Oversight Committee on April 6 approved a bill, sponsored by Rep. Paul Clymer, a Republican from Bucks County, on a 14-11 vote, and it now goes to the full House for consideration.

Clymer's House Bill 587 would make our gaming operators send casino monthly statements to their patrons whom they're tracking through their rewards card programs. This legislation has been put forth in the last four sessions and has been the only legislation since our gaming law passed in 2004 that addresses the compulsive casino gambling problem before, not after, one has the problem.

I am a former compulsive casino gambling degenerate, and I would like to share with you why monthly statements are important.

Pennsylvanians are being affected in a negative way because our casinos are operating with no consumer protection. There are many who don't believe this, so I'm going to prove that there is no consumer protection by listing the provisions that our gaming law provides that address the compulsive casino gambling problem.

First, the state allocates millions of dollars annually for the prevention and awareness of compulsive gambling. These millions of dollars are spent on things like 1-800-GAMBLER, a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week telephone hotline that provides crisis counseling, plus TV commercials and brochures that reveal the ill effects of becoming casino gambling addicts. There's also the self-exclusion program for those who become addicted.

These provisions address the compulsive casino gambling problem after, not before, one has the problem.

Our casino operators say they don't want to send these monthly statements because no other state makes their casinos send them. They say statements are already available and that anyone who requests one gets one free of charge from a casino in Pennsylvania. They bring up the privacy issue and the cost to send the statements.

It shouldn't be a problem when it comes to the cost because it could be incorporated with all of the other promotional mail that rewards cardholders receive. They also could be sent by email. And to keep the cost down, the statements would be sent only when there is activity on the card.

I'm confused about the privacy argument because other businesses send monthly statements that track our spending. And it's true you can request your gaming activity statement free of charge from a casino in Pennsylvania, but by the time a rewards card patron would do such a thing, in many cases, it could be too late. Now the reason why no other state makes their casinos send statements is the same reason why casino monthly statements have yet to become part of our gaming law. In other words, it's all about the money.

The casino monthly statements would not only help prevent present and future casino gamblers from becoming casino gambling addicts, but they would also make our casino operators more adept at intervening when their patrons are excessively gambling six, seven, eight, nine or up to 15 to 24 hours nonstop, week after week, and constantly losing thousands of dollars.

I believe when people see their gaming activity, including their losses, in black and white month after month, it could help to prevent them from crossing that line that separates those who can gamble in a casino responsibly and those who can't.

Every industry that tracks your financial transactions sends you a monthly statement. So where is the harm in making our casino operators mail them, especially since this system is already in place? I can't imagine that there is anyone whose loved ones have chosen to gamble in our casinos and are enrolled in the casino rewards programs, not wanting them to be receiving casino monthly statements.

If we do nothing today to stop these casinos from breeding casino junkies, then be prepared to face the same ill effects that we have been addressing since the 1960s when the youth of America started entertaining themselves with drugs.

Bill Kearney, who resides in Philadelphia, is a former compulsive casino gambler who has educated Pennsylvanians on the pitfalls of gambling.