My survival from gambling addiction

Two weeks ago, Casino-Free Philly conducted an informal survey of casino-goers and the general public to find out how many were aware of the existence of the “self-exclusion list,” and how to get on it. Almost no one surveyed knew about the list.

An individual can place themselves on the self-exclusion list by notifying the PA Gaming Control Board that they wish to be banned from casinos. It’s important for those who know they are addicted to gambling to have the self-exclusion option, so that when they get the urge to walk into a casino they are prevented from acting on it.

Having lost my college fund and subsequently my father to a gambling-related suicide, I’m proud to be a part of Casino-Free’s demands that real support be provided to those who seek it.

Any casino patron should be able to immediately place themselves on the self-exclusion list, and be given information about gambling addiction services. That anything less is being tolerated by the city and state demonstrates why our community must continue to fight to protect ourselves from the effects of predatory gambling.

Incredibly, a person can only be placed on the self-exclusion list by traveling in person to the PA Gaming Control Board office in Harrisburg, despite the fact that the PGCB has an office inside of SugarHouse, and every casino in Pennsylvania.

I personally went inside SugarHouse and talked to casino workers about the exclusion list and the training they receive to work in the casino.

Casino employees are trained to get people to sign up for a SugarHouse rewards card, so that SugarHouse can track gambling patterns and target those who gamble the most with more incentives to gamble.

Casino employees are not trained to identify problem gamblers and cut them off, or trained to offer them information on gambling addiction or the self-exclusion list.

In comparison, every bartender is legally required to stop serving customers who are obviously intoxicated. At SugarHouse, meanwhile, you can be intoxicated with gambling 24 hours a day, without anyone doing a thing but encouraging you to stay even longer.

When Casino-Free Philly members visited SugarHouse, casino management said they would not share their policies with the public. Moreover, they refused offers by our members to post the PGCB’s own “signs of gambling addiction” posters in the casino.

Clearly, SugarHouse does not have and never has had any intention of addressing problem gambling. As we know, they receive a significant portion of their revenue from gambling addicts, and do everything they can to prey on those who are hooked and move new gamblers into a habitual pattern.

Casino-Free Philadelphia is calling on the city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania to demand from SugarHouse the resources our communities need to protect themselves from gambling addiction.

Every casino, including SugarHouse, should have information and knowledgeable personnel available for gamblers, friends and family to ask for help, inquire about gambling addiction services, and be placed on the self-exclusion list.

I was not aware that my father had been a gambling addict my entire life until after he committed suicide last year. You may have friends and family who are also struggling with gambling and you wouldn’t even know it.

Casino-Free Philadelphia continues to fight this fight by leading town watches, keeping the issue in the media and offering a public voice for an issue that many are too ashamed to talk about even among family members.