They mouth meaningless rhetoric about their "Responsible Gam[bl]ing" programs that don't exist - propaganda for the uninformed and for regulators willing to believe.
At what point will the Gambling Industry be forced to return stolen funds?
It's all about the money!
Shamed gambler sends a warning to other addicts
Leanne Scott with her parents, Lenore and Rodney, outside the Magistrates Court yesterday. Picture: Calum Robertson. Source: AdelaideNow
LEANNE Michelle Scott is ashamed she stole more than $810,000 from her former employers to fund her pokie addiction, but she hopes her story stops people from going down the same path.
Jailed for at least two years yesterday, Scott has become the face of problem gambling by taking her story to government and the hotel industry to prevent others from falling victim to the same trap.Before being jailed, Scott, 42, of Old Reynella, said she hoped her story would be used by the Australian Hotels Association of SA and others to show the consequences of pathological gambling.
"If my story can help one person, then it is worth the shame," she said.
Scott had previously pleaded guilty to 41 counts of theft, admitting she stole $810,705.75 from Newmont Mining Services and Accolade Wines between January 2004 and last September.
Coping with depression and a relationship breakdown, Scott said playing the pokies at her local hotel became an escape. "I didn't have to worry about what was going on at home; it was almost hypnotic," she said.
"I still remember my first $250 win when I thought, `I can make money from this'."
Scott said losing thousands of dollars each week did not deter her: "That made me go more because then you're chasing your losses."
In a meeting with the AHA on Thursday, Scott said that not once did gaming staff at her regular hotels - the Lonsdale Hotel, Crown Inn at Old Reynella and Woodcroft Tavern - approach her.
But nor did she seek help.
"If someone had tapped me on the shoulder, it may have changed my life. But I'm not blaming them," she said.
AHA SA chief executive Ian Horne said there were extensive help services available to gambling addicts who asked for support.
"But for whatever reason Ms Scott didn't want to, or wasn't able to (seek help)," he said.
"How better can we target this small number (of problem gamblers) for whom the consequences of their behaviour are tragic?"
Scott was sentenced to six years' jail with a minimum non-parole period of two years.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/pokies-addict-warns-others-to-seek-help-before-being-jailed/story-e6frea83-1226425273811
Pokie’s Addiction made her a Thief
Submitted by Danny Garcia on Sat, 07/14/2012
She has agreed of stealing money from her former employers, but Leanne Michelle Scott said she did this so she could fund her pokie addiction. Scott was jailed for two years, but now she wants that her condition should not become the condition of others.
Scott has asked the government that they should take steps, so that others do not fall prey in the hands of gambling. She has even asked the Australian Hotels Association of South Australia that they should use her story to aware people about the consequences of pathological gambling.
There was a reason for which, Scott started paying pokies at her nearby hotel. Scott revealed that she was suffering the stress of fail marriage and was sinking in depression. During that time, pokies gave Scott a needed respite from all the tensions.
The more she played the more she got stuck into the habit of playing. Scott remembers that the first time when she won $250, she was filled with the confidence that she can win more. She got so involved in the game that daily loss of money also did not deter Scott from playing.
Scott pointed out that if someone would have pointed at her habit at the right time then conditions would have been different.
http://topnews.us/content/249442-pokie-s-addiction-made-her-thief
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