The Young: Targeting the Next Generation of Gambling Addicts

Ohio counselors, casinos compete for attention of younger gamblers

 

By Thomas Ott, The Plain DealerThe Plain Dealer
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on May 26, 2013

As the casino industry tries to reel in younger gamblers, a state agency wants Ohio's counselors to keep college-age players from getting hooked.

There is cause for concern based on the latest list of gamblers whose problems are so worrisome they have banned themselves from the state's new casinos. According to the Ohio Casino Control Commission, the number of players under 30 in the "voluntary exclusion" program is growing and now represents a fourth of the 365 names.

The state Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, which is also a point agency on problem gambling, hopes to blunt problems by improving prevention and treatment at universities and colleges. A small conference that Ohio State University hosted last month put counselors on alert, though some said they had yet to detect widespread addiction at their institutions.

"We feel we are on the cusp of something," said Marcie Seidel, executive director of the Drug-Free Action Alliance, a nonprofit group that cosponsored the conference with OSU. "We don't want that to become a blatant problem in Ohio. We want to get out in front of that."

The casino industry, state lotteries and even charitable gaming are concerned about the graying of their core customers. They openly covet new blood, better known as the "emerging market."

When the American Gaming Association, a lobbying group, released an annual report on the health of the casino industry earlier this month, outgoing President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. celebrated a finding that players 21 to 35 years old accounted for 40 percent of casino traffic.

"The state of the industry is good, and prospects for the future are solid," Fahrenkopf proclaimed during a conference call with reporters.

Fahrenkopf cited the Horseshoe Cleveland as an example of a new-breed casino with an urban setting that appeals to a younger demographic.

Unlike traditional, insular casinos, the Horseshoe is supplemented on the outside by bars, entertainment and upscale restaurants, venues that the association's research indicates younger customers like to couple with casinos visits. The move to integrate with surroundings extends to Las Vegas, where MGM intends to build a $100 million park and promenade and Caesars Entertainment, operator of the Horseshoe line, is developing a $550 million outdoor shopping and dining district.

John Acres, founder and chief executive of Acres 4.0 urges the industry to go further and deliver games via wireless technology. The small company supplies portable pads that are used to play games at three casinos in California and one in Oklahoma.

Acres said younger gamblers prefer moving around and socializing to sitting isolated in front of slot machine. To make real inroads with the group, he said in an interview, operators should lobby regulators to let players place wagers with smartphones and compete directly against their friends on interactive games in the casino.

"If a casino is just going to be what it was 30 years ago, except for different colors in slot machines, we don't have much of a future," he said.

Far less is known about college students' gambling than other risky behavior like drinking and drug use, but research shows they are two or three times more likely than other adults to develop severe problems, said Matthew Martens, an associate professor in the Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri. Overall, the rate of pathological gambling is small, experts say.

Martens spoke last month at the conference in Columbus, telling of an intervention process he is testing with money from the National Council for Responsible Gaming, an industry-funded group.

Borrowing from a model used in alcohol treatment, researchers identified more than 300 University of Missouri students at risk of problem gambling and showed them how much their wagering worked out to per year or even per hour. The test, which began two years ago, will soon wrap up, and Martens will evaluate the feedback's effectiveness.

In Northeast Ohio, spokesmen for Cleveland State and Case Western Reserve universities said the institutions have not adopted any special programs for fighting gambling problems.

Ohio State has started watching for gambling addiction at its Student Wellness Center. The university also developing a gambling-addiction message and will begin including information on the subject as part of orientation for first-year students.

The university has not noticed a surge in gambling problems since the Scioto Downs harness track in Columbus added slot machines last June and the Hollywood Casino Columbus opened in October, said Bryan Ashton, a "financial wellness" coordinator. But he acknowledged that compulsive gaming is not as easy to recognize as alcoholism or sexual violence.

"That's part of the challenge," he said. "With gambling, you don't really have those outward signs."

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/ohio_casinos_both_focus_attent.html

Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh fined $100K

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts 'GAMING' Future

The Associated Press - May 15, 2013 - Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh fined $100K

PITTSBURGH - Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh has been fined $100,000 by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
...
The gaming board says in a Wednesday release that the fine involved three issues.

The first was a violation of internal controls in the count room. The second involved table games employees who ignored an automatic shuffler's red light which indicates an error with the cards. The third was for promotional items that were mailed to 93 people who had asked not to receive such material.

The gaming board says the company agreed to the fines in a consent agreement.

Rivers Casino spokesman Jack Horner says they respect the decisions of the gaming board and have introduced new internal procedures to help prevent reoccurrences.

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20130515_ap_riverscasinoinpittsburghfined100k.htmlSee More

A Pittance!

Govt spent S$10 million in FY 2012 to combat gambling addiction

TODAY File Photo

 

SINGAPORE — Revenue from betting and sweepstake duties collected by the Government went up over the last two financial years, and expenditure to combat gambling addiction also rose.

The Government collected S$2.2 billion in betting and sweepstake duties in Financial Year (FY) 2011, up from S$2 billion in FY10. In the first nine months of FY 2012, between April and December, S$1.5 billion in betting and sweepstake duties were collected.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who revealed these figures in a written parliamentary reply yesterday, said the collections are channelled into the Government Consolidated Fund and are available for spending for all government programmes, including social programmes to help the less fortunate.

Mr Tharman, who is also Finance Minister, added that the Government has increased expenditures to combat gambling addiction, from S$3.8 million in FY09 to about S$10 million in FY12. This includes setting up the National Council on Problem Gambling, which administers casino exclusion, and implements public education programmes to address problem gambling. The above amount, however, does not include grants that the Government provides to voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs), such as Family Service Centres, to defray the cost of counselling services that the VWOs provide to problem gamblers and their families.

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/govt-spent-s10-million-fy-2012-combat-gambling-addiction

Singapore

Govt to review rules of non-casino and online gambling

Singapore

Study to be done on youths, gambling

 

Casino visit limit not the best bet

Singapore: Protecting Its Citizens

Singapore has continued to treat Casino Operators as guests to protect their citizens and families, addressing problems, increasing fines as casinos fail to uphold the laws.

 

 

 

Singapore ups ante for casino firms with new rules, bigger fines

By John O'Callaghan and Kevin Lim | Reuters

 

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - In any casino, the odds favor the house. Using its house edge, Singapore is seeking to maximize economic profits and minimize social costs with tighter rules and tougher fines for two casino operators, along with new steps to curb problem gambling.

The wealthy and regimented city-state has enjoyed a windfall of tourism, jobs and revenue since Las Vegas Sands Corp and Genting Singapore Plc opened casino complexes in 2010, in part by linking their licenses to how well they develop attractions that are not related to gambling.

Under that mandate, the two operators have added theme parks, museums, theatres and high-end hotels, boutiques and restaurants to Singapore's landscape as the Asian business hub recasts itself as a global city and oasis for the rich.

Amendments to the Casino Control Act cleared parliament late last year and now await formal passage into law, giving the operators of Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa little choice but to adapt to the new rules - including fines of up to 10 percent of gaming revenue - and the costs of compliance.

"It is timely that the legislation be reviewed and further tweaks be made to ensure that the objectives of setting up the integrated resorts are achieved," said Yap Wai Ming, a partner at Stamford Law Corp who tracks casino regulation. "They have already invested billions of dollars and the casinos are still generating very healthy profits despite the enforcement actions."

Marina Bay Sands declined to comment on Singapore's new rules and a spokeswoman did not respond to another query about the prospects for its non-gaming business.

Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Genting Bhd, said last month he expects tourists to play a big part in Resorts World Sentosa's growth and its non-gambling business to continue to do better than the gaming side that brings in the bulk of revenues.

SOCIAL COST?

Although casino takings have dipped as some of the novelty wears off on a small island of 5.3 million people, earnings at both resorts likely topped $1 billion last year as visitors poured in from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and further afield.

But there are rumblings about social ills. Some lawmakers question whether Singapore really needs casinos and counselors say they see more people who cannot control their betting.

For Jimmy, the opening of the two all-hours casinos pulled him back into a gambling addiction he had managed to keep in check for 14 years, sending his world crashing down with losses of S$250,000 ($203,000) over 13 months at the Baccarat tables.

"Casinos did bring more jobs, more visibility for Singapore, more economic benefits," said the education professional, who is now free of debt and in counseling. "Yet it's also undeniably true that the undercurrents behind these benefits are there too - broken families and ruined lives and the increased social costs that come with it."

FINES AND BANS

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding leader and influential elder statesman, resisted casinos for decades. He finally relented, he told National Geographic magazine in 2009, when younger colleagues said "we must have a casino, otherwise we are out of the circuit of this fast set that goes around the world."

The government, which makes citizens and permanent residents pay a casino entry levy of S$100 a day or S$2,000 for an annual pass as part of efforts to deter problem gambling, shows no sign of abandoning its support for the two resorts.

But Las Vegas Sands and Genting Singapore could see fewer locals in their casinos under the new rules and risk much costlier punishments for breaking them.

The operators, which have been fined for admitting minors and failing to collect the levy for the government, will face a maximum penalty of 10 percent of annual gross gaming revenue. The current cap on fines is S$1 million but, if fully enforced, the new ceiling could be closer to S$200 million.

A panel will also be set up by the trade ministry to help the Casino Regulatory Authority determine how attractive the resorts are as tourist destinations - an assessment that will apply to the renewal of their casino licenses from January 2015.

"Protecting vulnerable groups and the society at large from the harm of casino gambling is another priority," S. Iswaran, Singapore's second minister for trade, said in October.

For those deemed to be at risk, the new rules include a monthly limit on casino visits to bolster existing safeguards.

Under a program now run by the National Council on Problem Gambling, more than 85,000 people have banned themselves from the casinos and nearly 1,300 more were excluded at the request of family members, the latest data shows. Another 43,000 people who are bankrupt or get state aid are automatically banned.

Singapore's "archaic and outdated" rules on Internet betting are a future target for changes, said Yap at Stamford Law. "Problem gambling and massive tax leakages and lack of visibility continue to pervade this sector," he said.

"This is a space to watch."

GLOBAL APPEAL

For Genting Singapore, gaming revenues at Resorts World Sentosa fell 15 percent in the first nine months of last year from the same period of 2011. Analysts have cut earnings estimates and downgraded the stock.

Third-quarter casino revenues at Marina Bay Sands fell nearly 30 percent, Las Vegas Sands said.

Still, the Singapore casino had a gross profit margin above 40 percent - higher than any of the company's U.S. and Macau properties.

Despite the tougher climate, the money rolls in.

"The domestic market is the one that gives you the adrenaline rush when it first opens, but it will be sustained by inflow from the foreign players," said Genting's Lim.

"As we open more facilities, that will give us an edge in marketing overseas and in telling the world we are not just a gaming resort, but we have other things for families to do. It does help us in our gaming revenue."

($1 = 1.2295 Singapore dollars)

(Additional reporting by Anshuman Daga and Charmian Kok; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/01/08/singapore-casinos-idINL1E8MR0HN20130108

Ignoring the costs of Addiction....

More Ohioans seeking help for gambling addiction
Posted: Dec 07, 2012
By Tiffani Tucker

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) -
A new report out shows gambling on the rise in Ohio. It also shows that more Ohioans addicted to gambling are getting help.

MORE

 

Louis Weigele is a clinical social worker who has worked with gambling addictions.

"People lose their jobs, people lose their livelihoods, people lose their families," says Weigele of the effect gambling can have.

Weigele says with more casinos opening up in the state along with other gambling options, there's an increase in people looking for ways to get a handle on their problem. The good news is there are more places to turn.

Weigele says, "The greater awareness of the availability of help and of interventions for individuals who have problems."

In the last fiscal year the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline received more than 2,500 calls, and only a few months into this year nearly 14-hundred people called in for help.

"There's going to be an initial, fairly significant rise in problem gambling, and then that's going to drop some as people start to adjust to having gambling in their community," Weigele explains.

Rolling the dice with a gambling addiction is serious.

"The worst cases are people who go to prison because they've embezzled money from an employer." said Weigele

The state has a voluntary exclusion program that keeps gambling addicts from entering a casino or face possible arrest.

For help call the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline 800-589-9966.

http://www.19actionnews.com/story/20292538/does-ohio-have-a-gambling-problem

Rivers Casino fined for underage gambling

From: Bill Kearney

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - November 21, 2012 - Rivers Casino fined for underage gambling

Rivers Casino has been fined $50,000 by the state gaming control board in connection with four incidents involving underage gambling and another in which a problem gambler gained access to slot machines.

The gambling board said the four incidents of underage gambling occurred between January and May and involved three 20-year-old individuals, two men and a woman, and a 19-year-old man. Each person gambled on slot machines before being discovered and banned from the casino, according to the gaming board. The casino was fined $45,000 for those breaches. In Pennsylvania, gamblers must be at least 21.

The casino was fined another $5,000 for a December 2011 incident in which a woman on the gaming board's self-exclusion list was able to obtain a players card and gamble on slot machines. The self-exclusion list allows people to ban themselves from gambling at state casinos. The casinos must refuse their wagers and deny them other privileges like players club membership.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/rivers-casino-fined-for-underage-gambling-662996/#ixzz2CrNc18zwSee More

32,410 barred from casinos

Sep 9, 2012

Casino growth leaves a bitter aftertaste

Image Caption: Gambling addiction can also be caused by games played outside of casinos (Ex-press)

Related Stories

• Swiss casinos by the numbers

by Daniele Mariani, swissinfo.ch

---

Switzerland has one of the world’s highest densities of casinos. Soon two more will be added to the 19 others that already exist, bringing in even more funds to the public coffers. But society foots the bill for gambling addiction.

As a nation, the Swiss are very partial to a flutter: in 2011, lotteries, betting and gambling earned the gaming industry over SFr1.7 billion ($1.78 billion).

Gaming represents a highly lucrative source of income. Last year, taxes on casinos yielded SFr360 million francs to the federal coffers, while SFr60 million were turned over to the cantons. The gross profit from gaming (the difference between bets and wins) was SFr824 million.

Swisslos and Loterie Romande, the two non-profit associations that run lotteries and some gambling in Switzerland, paid out Sfr557 million to the cantons as well as social, cultural, research and sports projects.

But there is the other side of the coin – when gambling becomes more than a simple pastime. According to the 2007 Swiss Health Survey, 85,000 people have a problem with gambling and 35,000 can be considered compulsive gamblers.

Compulsive gambling can lead to mental and physical problems, stress at home often ending in divorce, absenteeism, indebtedness and suicidal tendencies. According to research published in 2012 by Neuchâtel University’s Institute of Economic Research, the social cost of compulsive gambling is estimated to between SFr545 million and SFr658 million.

Prevention rather than prohibition

Given these figures, is legalised gambling economic madness?

Prohibition would probably not solve the problem, as suggested by experience with drug use. And the issue is not on the government agenda. In fact, two new casinos are due to open their doors in Neuchâtel and Zurich.

Just as with other activities where there are potentially dangerous behaviours, “we need to try to protect the populations at risk as best we can. In Switzerland there is a lot of gambling, governments make a lot of money, so we have to take responsibility”, says Fréderic Richter, coordinator of the intercantonal programme to combat gambling addiction created in 2007 by the six cantons in western Switzerland.

Federal gambling legislation, which came into force in 2000, prescribes a “social component”. This means that casino managers are required to adopt measures to “prevent or discourage socially harmful consequences of gambling”.

They must bar people who are heavily indebted or who make disproportionately risky bets. At the end of 2011, 32,410 people were banned from entering casinos.

“We check the identity of all customers, to see if any of them are barred. And employees get several days’ training so they can recognise potentially compulsive gamblers at an early stage”, Marc Friedrich, director of the Swiss Casino Federation, told swissinfo.ch.

Room for improvement

“The collaboration with the casinos is good. People looking after the social component in the gaming establishments have regular contact with us,” notes Nicolas Bonvin, president of the Ticino group for the prevention of gambling addiction.

According to Bonvin, the barring provisions, which apply to all Swiss casinos, have proved effective.

For Richter though, this collaboration could be improved. “Every year less than ten people referred directly from the casinos turn up in the specialised centres in western Switzerland,” he added.

This is a small number, considering that those banned from the gaming tables and slot machines number about 3,000 a year.

“With the law as it stands, checking on people barred from gaming establishments is not obligatory,” says Friedrich. “It depends on the casino’s own policies. The approach in Ticino is good and should be followed.”

“Every gaming establishment works with a specialised centre. However, people barred from gambling cannot be forced to go to these centres, and too few go.”

Not just casinos

The casinos are not the only players in this game. According to the Swiss Health Survey, 80 per cent of those suffering from gambling addiction problems don’t restrict themselves to casinos.

Along with online casinos, which are completely uncontrolled (see sidebar), there are lotteries, scratch-and-win cards, sports betting and other temptations.

The two associations – Swisslos and Loterie Romande – have an important role in this case, even if, as Bonvin notes, “there are games that lead more to addiction than others. The traditional lottery with numbers, for example, is less of a danger, because the result is not immediate.”

A percentage of 0.5 per cent (about SFr4.5 million per year) is deducted from their revenues and used to finance programmes against gambling addiction. The two associations have also put programmes in place to raise awareness among newsagents and café owners who have electronic scratch-and-win machines installed on their premises.

For the prevention experts, there is room for improvement though.

“There is no ban on acquiring lottery products for under-18s, there is dubious advertising – like the kind that says ‘we make the biggest number of millionaires in Switzerland’ – which casinos are prohibited from using, and there are few checks on the quality of programmes to fight addiction,” notes psychiatrist Tazio Carlevaro, a specialist in pathological gambling.

Some of these issues could soon be a thing of the past.

By accepting a new constitutional article, Swiss voters took a first step to overhaul gambling legislation. An amendment is being drafted at the moment and in the near future, lotteries and betting operations will probably have to do more to counter compulsive gambling.

Daniele Mariani, swissinfo.ch
(Translated from Italian by Terence MacNamee)

No Casino Penalties!

Raking in buckets of money, there are no penalties for abuse by casinos. 

"RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING PROGRAMS" are a joke!

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/barred-then-wanted-back-video-4960698

Barred gambler coaxed back to casino

Published: Sunday July 08, 2012
Source: ONE News

A woman legally barred from Auckland's SkyCity is appalled the company is attempting to coax her back to the casino via text messages.

Selina Watson and her husband gambled close to $50 million over 10 years as VIP customers at the casino.

Husband Richard Watson, who worked as an accountant for over 30 years, is serving as six-year jail sentence after stealing nearly $5.5 million from his employers.

SkyCity subsequently trespassed the couple from the casino's premises for two years. They were also barred from Hamilton and Christchurch casinos.

Selina said she was shocked when she received text messages from SkyCity coaxing her to gamble there, which could see her face prosecution in breach of the trespass orders.

"I was really, really angry when I received it," she told ONE News.

"I didn't know what on earth was going on and wondered why on earth are they sending me text messages."

The first message read: "Don't forget $50K sweepstakes draws in 27 July."

A second message said, as a VIP customer, she could collect $60 bonus gambling dollars by visiting the casino.

SkyCity issued a statement apologising to Selina and others who may have received texts, saying it was a computer glitch.




Selina said the text messages brought all of her past grievances with gambling up again.

"It regurgitated absolutely everything I have been through for the last two years."

As VIP customers with loyalty cards, the Watson's $50 million spending was recorded over ten years.

"Anyone that is using a loyalty card is tracked and if it's excessive, something should be said to them."

Selina said she only once received a responsible gambling pamphlet during that time.

Internal Affairs told ONE News the text messages could be in breach of SkyCity's host responsibility.

They encouraged other barred people who have received similar text messages to complain to them directly.

Since Selina's story ran on ONE News at 6, SkyCity said in a statement that it will investigate any breaches of its responsibility programme, which is a condition of its licence.

It said it welcomed contact from anyone who has been banned and may have concerns about being approached.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/barred-gambler-coaxed-back-casino-4960718

States Go To Casinos, But Does The Gamble Pay Off?

From: Stop Predatory Gambling -





PA journalist who covers casinos tells NPR about how govt's experiment with casinos is failing. http://t.co/pgmCW861


States Go To Casinos, But Does The Gamble Pay Off?

Maryland and Ohio are the latest states turning to casinos to help address tight budgets. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Suzette Parmley reports on gambling and says that nationwide, casinos brought in about $33 billion in 2011. Parmley speaks with host Michel Martin about the growth of legal gaming and the potential costs to the people who play.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, we'll meet a couple who didn't just worry when their daughters started coming home making disparaging comments about their own looks. They decided to surround the girls with positive messages that they, too, are beautiful. We'll meet them and hear what they did in just a few minutes.

But, first, to matters of personal finance and the economy. And you know those two things are often linked and we noticed that, these days, a number of states facing tight budgets are turning to casinos. Maryland and Ohio are just the latest.

Our next guest has been covering the spread of legal gaming around the country and she tells us that, last year, casino gambling brought in almost $33 billion in revenue and you can see the appeal. State officials get excited about the promise of more money for schools and other programs, as well as the jobs, but with every new casino comes the question about the cost for the people who play, as well as the question of whether there are hidden costs that aren't being considered.

Here to talk more about this is journalist Suzette Parmley. She has reported on gaming all over the world and is a gambling and hotels reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Thank you so much for joining us.

SUZETTE PARMLEY: Thank you, Michel, for having me. My pleasure.

MARTIN: And the fact that there is a gambling, hotels and tourism reporter at a mainstream publication like the Philadelphia Inquirer kind of tells you something, doesn't it, about just what an important industry this has become?

PARMLEY: Absolutely. I can just tell you, from my perch, I'm surround by casinos. I have three in Delaware, I have 11 now in Pennsylvania, I have 12 just 60 miles away in Atlantic City and then you have Maryland to the south, which just opened its third casino.

MARTIN: And it seems as though, you know, for years, there seemed to have been so much resistance to expanding legal gaming. Why now? Why are more states interested in legal gaming now?

PARMLEY: In states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland - the most recent - it all has to do with budget deficits. It's the magic elixir whenever a state needs additional revenue without having to raise taxes.

MARTIN: And the opposition that we have heard in past years - why is it that the opposition doesn't seem to hold as much sway as they had in the past?

PARMLEY: I think a lot has to do with, Michel, the economy. And you're lawmaker. You're turning to gaming as a creation of both revenue and jobs to what people say - to the cost of who's the population you're going to mostly impact by this? Those that are elderly, those that can least afford to gamble, those that have no control, and now you're bringing casinos within 10 minutes of their homes. So that is the pact you've made with almost the devil here. You're generating this for the state, but you're also going to impact a demographic that can't handle it.

MARTIN: Well, talk to me a little bit more about that. And, if you're just joining us, we're talking with Suzette Parmley. She covers gambling, hotels and tourism for the Philadelphia Inquirer and we're talking about the fact that a number of states are adding casinos and other forms of legalized gambling now, and it seems to be spreading much more quickly than it had in the past.

We're talking about the fact that the critics of this say that, you know, this is essentially enticing to people who can least afford it. But is that true? You know, when you see the ads for new casinos, they always feature kind of young couples, you know, like a night out on the town type of deal. Now, is that the typical gambling customer?

PARMLEY: I can tell you this, Michel. The quintessential customer is the 55-year-old female slots player. That is the majority and slots pay 70 percent of the bills in casinos. Then you have the table games customer, which is the late 20s, 30s, 40-year-old male.

And then you have that 30 percent, which you see in every casino that I've been in - in Pennsylvania, Atlantic City - is the elderly. They're retired. They're living off their pension and social security checks and you see a lot of them with canes and wheelchairs in these casinos. But mind you, these are people without a steady income. They're literally gambling away their pensions and Social Security checks. I've written about it. I see it constantly when I go into casinos in any state.

MARTIN: Tell me more about that. How do we know that people are gambling away their Social Security and their pension checks?

PARMLEY: When you interview them, they tell you up front. They know in their mind, this is not what you should be doing with your money and your check coming in monthly, but it becomes almost an addictive form of behavior for them. A lot of them have mobility issues, so the easiest form of entertainment for them becomes planting themselves in front of a slot machine for three or four hours at a time, and not move, and just plug that money into the machine, whatever it takes to, you know, get that form of entertainment and that becomes it for them.

MARTIN: Do the casinos actually offer the economic shot in the arm that jurisdictions believe that they will? What do we know, over time - since you've been covering this, you know, for years now - does the promise actually meet reality?

PARMLEY: It does, initially. I'll explain what happens over time, though. In late 2006, when the first casino opened in Pennsylvania, it was mid-November. We now have 11. It's created about 15,000 jobs in the state of Pennsylvania, but that tends to slow down after time and those 15,000 jobs - believe it or not - a big chunk of them came from Atlantic City. Those casinos, there, have lost about 10,000 employees.

So what the critics are saying - you're not really creating new jobs and you're really not creating new revenue. You're redistributing it to these different states and you're taxing it the most, you know, vulnerable population who could least afford to do it to create these so-called jobs and revenue. It's a redistribution - according to their mind.

MARTIN: And now, what about the next frontier of gambling, which is online gaming that you talked about? Do you expect to see an increased acceptance of online gaming?

PARMLEY: As technology continues to move forward, this has been on the plate of several legislatures, including New Jersey, which is tackling it right now. For New Jersey, it was vetoed by Governor Christie last year and it's still in a kind of a holding pattern right now because of issues he has - the governor has - with regulating it.

Delaware just passed an online gaming bill earlier this month. It's the key issue at the Global Gaming Conference this coming October, which I will be attending, on what this frontier holds and Congress is trying to figure out ways to regulate it. Do you have a national tax on it? Do you let the states decide how much tax to tax it?

For Atlantic City, they're saying, we just need that competitive edge to be able to offer it in our casinos by offering online gaming at servers in 11 to 12 casinos there. So, again, the issue is how do you regulate it? It all comes down - again, this might be the worst form of addictive form of gambling, online.

MARTIN: And let's end this conversation where it started, which is on this whole question of the addictive nature of it. Is there any sign that some of the regulations that states have already put into place have any effect? Like states, for example, require casinos to have warnings and 800 numbers before they can open, you know, with counselors kind of available to talk to the...

PARMLEY: Exclusionary lists. Right.

MARTIN: Right. Exclusionary lists for people who have demonstrated that they have an inability to control their spending or gambling, things of that sort. Is there any evidence that this works?

PARMLEY: I'll give you the national statistics based on some of the reporting I've done. One out of every five is considered a problem gambler; and one out of 20 is considered a pathological gambler, where it has become a destructive force in their lives. They're stealing from family members, or facing foreclosure or they're losing their jobs.

And the criticism of casinos is - yeah - they post all this stuff, you know, if you have a problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. If you've been identified as an extreme pathological gambler, we've got you on this exclusion list. We're not going to let you in any casino, like they do in Atlantic City and in Pennsylvania.

But casinos track everything you do through a player card. They know how many times you're in their casino, what you play, what you like to play, what you eat - and they target their mailings through slots comps for you to entice you to go back and do the exact same activity that you're having a problem with controlling.

So it's almost a catch 22. They know there's people out there who have an issue, but the mailings and the promotions are geared to getting them back there, over and over again. You have several people in Pennsylvania who will tell you, you know, with the casinos now 15 or 20 minutes from their houses versus having to drive to Atlantic City, they're there three or four times a week.

Before, there was some sort of checks and balance where, you know, you got to make that hour and a half drive to Atlantic City. You don't have to do that anymore, Michel. It's right there in your backyard. It's become a big issue. The casino has come to you.

MARTIN: Suzette Parmley covers hotels and gaming for the Philadelphia Inquirer. She joined us from Philadelphia.

Suzette, thank you so much for speaking with us. This is really interesting.

PARMLEY: Oh, thank you. Thank you, Michel. It was my pleasure.

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/03/156192405/states-go-to-casinos-but-does-the-gamble-pay-off

Dangerous games

Posted: 3/25/2012 Singapore casinos face tougher ‘problem customer’ regulations Singapore’s casino operators face tougher regulation on the monitoring of customers after research suggested more low-income punters and gambling addicts are visiting the state’s casinos. Findings from the 2011 Survey on Participation in Gambling Activities indicate a small but rising proportion of low earners betting amounts exceeding S$1,000 (MOP6,360)-a-month and a high proportion of “probable pathological gamblers” are visiting the island’s two casino resorts. Acting minister Chan Chun Sing said that the government would consider extending a third-party casino exclusion order to Singaporeans on social assistance schemes. Third-party exclusions, which currently number nearly 30,000, apply to bankrupts and those on state public support aid. Mr Chan said that “going forward, we will evolve a model whereby the help will come not just from the social organisations but also casino operators working in concert with government agencies. “What we want are targeted measures rather than very blunt measures that cut across different groups, which may not give us the necessary impact or which may cause unintended consequences.” Potential regulatory measures, which may be introduced over the next few months, could include recipients of social assistance being barred from entering casinos, operators playing a bigger role in the monitoring of frequent visitors and the introduction of “circuit-breakers” that prevent casino gamblers from chasing their losses. Double-edged sword Mr Chan said that people requiring help with employment and those on the medium-term ComCare Transitions assistance scheme could come under third-party exclusion schemes. The 2011 survey by the National Council on Problem Gambling found that nearly seven in 10 probable pathological gamblers gambled at least once a week in the past 12 months. Chan said that there were “conflicting opinions” on the issue of raising entrance levies — one suggested solution to the issue. Increasing the levy may not deter frequent gamblers and may cause some to intensify their betting when in the casinos, he said. Another fear was that gamblers might substitute casino trips with alternatives such as online gambling that could be more problematic. “Because of differences in the nature of gaming products, we have to be quite surgical in the way we apply the measures,” Mr Chan said. The government will study measures already in place in casinos in Austria, Australia and the Netherlands. “If you look at the models which have been practised by casinos in either Holland, Australia or Austria, the casinos find that it is in their interest to also not have the pathological gamblers among their clientele … because it is also with their interest to promote responsible gaming,” Mr Chan says. Whatever regulatory changes are brought in, the S$100 levy for Singaporeans to enter the casinos at the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa will remain unchanged because of a 10-year contractual agreement fixing the price. Singapore’s two casinos have already had reprimands over their entrance policy but both have agreed to support any government policy. A Marina Bay Sands spokesperson said it would “continue to work in a cooperative and collaborative manner with regulatory authorities”. The spokesperson added that Marina Bay Sands was committed to providing information and guidance to its guests on the rules and regulations that govern the casino environment in Singapore. Resorts World Sentosa said it strongly supported the government’s initiative to protect Singaporeans from pathological gambling. It also welcomed the measures to exclude recipients on social assistance from gambling in the casinos. The 2011 Survey on Participation in Gambling Activities showed a 7 percentage-point drop from 54 percent to 47 percent in gambling participation overall and a fall in the number of Singaporean visitors as the novelty factor of the casinos wears off. The survey found that the proportion of low-income gamblers went up from between 0 percent and 0.8 percent in 2008 to 2 percent in 2011. These gamblers earn less than S$2,000 a month but they place an average monthly betting amount of more than S$1,000. By Dan Townend*

Casino failing to stop problem gamblers

“If they are winning money, they are told to go home and get some sleep. But if they are losing money, nothing is said,” says Problem Gambling Foundation spokesperson Andree Freude.


Casino failing to stop problem gamblers
Mon, 02 Apr 2012 6:05p.m.
By Patrick Gower

3 News can reveal that SkyCity is failing to stop hundreds of barred problem gamblers from entering its casino.

This comes as the Government is poised to do a deal with SkyCity, changing the law so it can install up to 500 more pokie machines.

One woman, a problem gambler, told 3 News she put thousands of dollars a week into the pokies at the Auckland casino.

The only way she could stop was by barring herself – effectively taking out a trespass order so she couldn’t go inside.

“After one or two weeks I’m back again… but Sky City never took me out,” the woman – who would only be identified as Nancy – told 3 News.

She’s not alone.

3 News has learned there were 265 trespass breaches last year. Of those:

201 were barred by the casino but got back in
64 had barred themselves

The Problem Gambling Foundation says SkyCity’s host responsibility is poor and fuels problem gambling.

“If they are winning money, they are told to go home and get some sleep. But if they are losing money, nothing is said,” says Problem Gambling Foundation spokesperson Andree Freude.

The casino also had:

54 incidents of deserted children last year
25 cases of fraud
14 assaults – some serious

“Sky City are making a lot of money out of problem gamblers,” says Mr Freude.

Despite this, the Government is about to do a deal with Sky City and change the law so it gets up to 500 more machines.

“This deal is a shonky deal. John Key told us that Sky City could look after problem gamblers – that is complete nonsense,” says Labour Party leader David Shearer.

While National’s ministers are big on the economic growth benefits, they aren’t always across the social issues - but Mr Key says the casino deal is worth it, and he isn't convinced the "modest increase" in pokies will have an impact on problem gambling.

So the Government will go ahead with its big gamble on the pokies deal, trading a law change for the benefits to economic growth.

As for the social harm, the Government’s position seems to be “trust the casino”.



Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Casino-failing-to-stop-problem-gamblers/tabid/1208/articleID/249033/Default.aspx#ixzz1rAZdZv1V

A piece of heaven turned to hell

A piece of heaven turned to hell
Kate Allen
Staff Reporter

Very slowly, the sisters approach the building that has caused their financial ruin.

Joyce Williams, 70, and Pat McLaughlin, 63, have come in Williams’ rusting minivan. They peer into the windows of their former church in Scarborough, where the gold satin drapes still hang askew.

“Puts a knot in your stomach,” says Williams.

Later, McLaughlin clutches her sister’s hand at a Tim Hortons down the road as Williams recounts their ordeal, her eyes brimming with tears. The saga began with a pastor they trusted too much, turned south with a real estate investor who owes tens of millions to casinos, and now rests in the hands of a man who claims he could bankrupt them at any moment.

Because of what they invested in a church they thought would help others, the sisters, their children and other parishioners are in danger of losing their own homes.

The pastor, Hilary Salmon, denies any wrongdoing, claiming her parishioners collectively agreed to pursue church group’s vision. The real estate investor, Semion Kronenfeld, says he’s not responsible for his gambling debts.

Broke and lawyerless, the sisters cling to their Christian faith, and their bond with each other. “That will never shake,” says Williams.

What turned hellish at first looked like a golden opportunity. In 2007, Salmon, the pastor of Greater Works Ministry, a Pentecostal congregation that was renting service space, approached Williams and McLaughlin with a vision: she wanted to buy a church. Salmon is also a licensed real estate agent.

Though the sisters did not attend her church, Salmon had been extremely close to Williams’ and McLaughlin’s mother, Daphne, before Daphne died 10 years ago. Many mornings since then, Salmon joined the two sisters in prayer over the phone.

So when Salmon presented the idea of a community that would include youth outreach — a pet cause of McLaughlin’s — along with a daycare centre, a restaurant and space for Sunday services, the sisters were enthusiastic.

Then Salmon asked the sisters to help out financially. Williams is a retired nurse living off her pension. McLaughlin is a house cleaner. They balked at first. “Oh my god, I don’t have any money!” McLaughlin remembers telling Williams.

But eventually, both relented — a decision they now call “foolish.” They assumed they would be paid back in due course.

“We thought we could be of service, or help, to others,” says Williams. “But now, in retrospect, we think: how did we get here?” Williams remortgaged her Scarborough house, and the sisters tapped lines of credit, credit cards and an accident insurance payout to lend $50,000.

Another parishioner, June Douglas, says Salmon asked her to borrow $100,000 for the church: “She called me to tell me what the Lord is doing, and asked if I could help,” says Douglas, 47.

Douglas is a single mother of four who had quit her job because her dementia-stricken mother needed full-time care. Though Douglas was already borrowing $30,000 to put her mom in a nursing home, she eventually gave Salmon what she wanted.

“She just kept pulling — it’s like a magnet,” says Douglas. Salmon said she would provide the monthly payments for both loans.

Salmon did not answer questions posed to her by the Star, responding only that the allegations presented in this story are “falsified.” Previously, in response to a lawsuit brought by Douglas, she said that she, too, suffered financially after borrowing more than $100,000 to finance the church. She also said that she did not call Douglas to ask for a loan, and that the loan was “voluntary.”

The parishioners’ money was plunged into the down payment on their church-to-be, a huge, one-storey strip of brick at 430 Tapscott Rd. in Scarborough.

Since 2006, the property had belonged to AJGL Developments, a North York-based real estate development company. The president of AJGL, Semion Kronenfeld, was a man of extravagant tastes.

Kronenfeld lived in a gated, nine-bedroom, $4-million dollar mansion in North York with a driveway big enough to park his small fleet of luxury cars: a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Ferrari Spider and two S-Class Mercedes-Benzes, among others. He was also part owner of two condominiums.

According to one casino executive, Kronenfeld, 40, wore white Louis Vuitton shoes, collected expensive watches and liked to smoke cigars.

Blackjack was his game of choice. Says Vincent Salvatore, an occasional business associate and acquaintance of Kronenfeld: “He was a whale. He was a big gambler.”

Kronenfeld was selling the 46,000-square-foot Tapscott property for $3.7 million.

The ministry was given a conventional mortgage, but it covered only $2.3 million of the purchase price. So Kronenfeld offered a vendor take-back mortgage, a type of private loan offered by the seller of a property to the buyer.

There was one condition: Kronenfeld would only provide a $1.25 million mortgage if the group offered five properties as collateral. Under pressure from Salmon, Williams and McLaughlin say, they both agreed to include theirs. Their children (both have two sons), who own the homes on paper, agreed to the deal.

After resisting, Douglas caved and agreed to add hers last-minute — she says Salmon told her church members could lose all the money they had already invested. Another couple who knows Salmon agreed as well. Salmon herself put up one of her properties, in Markham. She owns another on tony Balliol St. in downtown Toronto.

The mortgage didn’t seem risky because of one crucial detail. As a condition of the sale, Kronenfeld guaranteed Greater Works Ministry a five-year lease for an appliance business that was renting half of the building, an arrangement that would supply the church with thousands of dollars in income.

So, every month, when the ministry wrote Kronenfeld a cheque for $10,417 in mortgage payments, it would receive more than $15,000 in rent payments. The ministry could put the extra money towards its mortgage payments to the bank.

However, the balances on both mortgages were due in a year, not uncommon in commercial real estate. How Salmon planned to come up with the money by then is unclear.

The deal closed on Aug. 8, 2008, with Salmon acting as the agent for the ministry. Salmon’s former brokerage, ReMax Crossroads Realty, confirmed that she received a commission of $74,000 on the sale. (She was terminated from the brokerage last month for lagging sales, the branch manager said.)

That very same day, according to legal documents, Kronenfeld went to Casino Niagara and Niagara Fallsview Casino and took out a $1 million line of credit.

The ministry moved in and, for a few months, the community grew. The sisters attended prayer meetings, breakfasts and services. Williams and McLaughlin say Salmon asked for more money to renovate the space. They loaned another $50,000.

Then suddenly, in the fall of 2008, the rent cheques stopped appearing. Salmon called a meeting to say that the appliance business had moved out. Without the extra income, the church group began struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments.

What no one knew was that in a matter of months, Kronenfeld had racked up millions of dollars in betting debts while living the life of a high roller.

According to charging documents in the U.S., bankruptcy files in Ontario and lawsuits filed by casinos, between August and November of that year Kronenfeld jetted across North America, allegedly piling up debts at a different casino nearly every weekend.

Kronenfeld’s lawyer, Stanley Rosenfarb, told the Star that neither he nor his client was interested in commenting for this story. In statements of defence to the casinos’ lawsuits, Kronenfeld denied responsibility for the debts, in part because he claims the casinos did not advise him to obtain legal advice when he entered into credit arrangements.

The same week that the Tapscott deal closed, Kronenfeld took out the $1 million line of credit in Niagara Falls plus another $1 million line of credit at Casino Rama.

In September, he was in Las Vegas, where he lost $1.2 million at the MGM Grand and $700,000 at Caesars Palace.

In October, Kronenfeld gambled $5 million over two days at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Kronenfeld claims he was induced to gamble because casino executives lavished him with limousines, private jets and a diamond watch for his wife (the casino denies this). Later that month, he was in Las Vegas again, gambling away $7.9 million at the Venetian and another $5 million at the Green Valley Ranch casino.

In November, he lost $2.1 million at the Niagara casinos and Casino Rama.

By the New Year, his lifestyle was crumbling. Casinos were after him for $21 million.

The Taj Mahal, the MGM Grand, Casino Rama and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., which operates the Niagara casinos, were all suing him, claiming he failed to repay his debts. A warrant for his arrest was issued in Nevada after two Las Vegas casinos brought cheque fraud charges against him.

His bank, RBC, also sued him and froze his account after he allegedly deposited two cheques in December 2008 worth $1.1 million and immediately wired the money to a Swiss bank account before the cheques bounced. In his statement of defence, Kronenfeld states he was just as shocked as the bank when the cheques were dishonoured. He denies he defrauded RBC.

In February 2009, Kronenfeld filed for bankruptcy. His list of creditors includes, besides the casinos and RBC, vehicle leasing companies for eight different cars, $7,000 at Best Buy and hundreds of thousands in credit card debt. His nine-bedroom mansion and two condominiums were sold off. He claims that he and his wife separated and he moved in with his sister — although, in an unrelated lawsuit, Kronenfeld states that nine months after his bankruptcy filing he and his wife were living in a rented five-bedroom mansion when it caught fire and burned down. The owners of the house are suing the couple for $3 million; Kronenfeld and his wife deny responsibility.

The church group, meanwhile, fell into default on their mortgage, and the situation quickly deteriorated. In early 2010, Salmon reneged on her promise and stopped paying for the $100,000 loan Douglas had taken out for the church. The Tapscott property was seized by the bank and sold, which paid off only the first, conventional mortgage. In June, the church members were mailed warning letters noting that they were in default on the second mortgage, and that power of sale proceedings would be issued on their homes imminently.

But the letters came from a company they had never seen before: Vincorp Financial.

Unbeknownst to the church group, in November 2008 Kronenfeld sold the second mortgage on 430 Tapscott Rd. to a company called Vincorp Financial.

Vincorp’s president is Vincent Salvatore, Kronenfeld’s business associate. Salvatore told the Star they had also been on gambling trips together.

On the same day that the Taj Mahal sued Kronenfeld for $5 million, the casino also filed a complaint against Salvatore, claiming $3.5 million in unpaid gambling debts. In his statement of defence, Salvatore says he was at the casino on a trip arranged by Kronenfeld, and those millions were actually gambled by his friend, who is therefore liable for the debts.

Salvatore says he bought the Tapscott mortgage from Kronenfeld for $1.3 million. “I guess he needed the money,” Salvatore says.

Salvatore, 62, told the Star their relationship soured after Kronenfeld went belly up. “Kronenfeld screwed me too,” says Salvatore. According to records, when Kronenfeld declared bankruptcy, he owed $100,000 to a company called Salvatore Empire Investments, whose president is Salvatore’s wife.

The fate of McLaughlin, Williams, Douglas and the other church members is in Salvatore’s hands, he says: “Right now I actually can bankrupt them.” But he notes that he paid $1.3 million for the Tapscott mortgage. As it stands, if he collects on all five homes tomorrow, he still won’t make that back, because the equity in the properties is probably around $400,000.

“I really feel bad for the people. That was my main concern right from day one. People like them should not lose their houses,” Salvatore says. But, he adds, “I can’t walk away from a million three (thousand dollars) . . . that money is my family’s money.” Salvatore says he is open to negotiating a new payment plan.

“Who created the problem was Hilary (Salmon) . . . by getting into a deal that was too big for her,” he says.

“I trusted her, we all trusted her,” says Douglas. “It almost destroyed me.” For more than a year now — since Salmon abandoned her promises of repayment — Douglas has been forced to use her mother’s monthly pension cheques to pay down ballooning interest on the $100,000 loan. She can’t afford to put her mother in a nursing home anymore.

Douglas filed a lawsuit against Salmon but later dropped it when she, Williams and McLaughlin retained a lawyer, hoping to bring a larger lawsuit against their former pastor. But the group abandoned that plan when the legal bills became too much for them. They would like to pursue further legal avenues, but their finances won’t allow it.

The sisters both say that Salmon had good intentions. But Williams adds: “I really trusted her that everything was going to be okay, and she knew what she was doing. But when I look back at it, the fact that she’s a leader . . . to bring us through this, that was the hardest part.”

The knock at their doors could come any day.

“We’re just trusting God,” says Williams.


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VIDEO: Church deal goes wrong for sisters


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Cast of Characters

Semion Kronenfeld

• Born in Soviet Union, raised in Israel and moved to Canada as a teen, according to bankruptcy documents.

• Married, 40-year-old father of four, including two from previous marriage.

• Established successful investment real estate business and lived a lifestyle to match, with nine-bedroom mansion, part ownership of two condominiums and fleet of luxury cars.

• Former president of AJGL Developments, and was the president of Electronic Liquidators, which declared bankruptcy in 2008. He is listed as an “incorporator” of the numbered company that rented the appliance business space at 430 Tapscott Rd., and which also shares the same address as AJGL Developments.

• Declared personal bankruptcy in February 2009, blaming the global recession. He also claims his gambling debts — more than $21 million, according Kronenfeld’s list of creditors — were brought on due to “extravagant and constant incentives” provided by casinos.

• Bankruptcy documents include testimony from two addiction counsellors he has visited since 2010. But according to one, Dr. Albert de Goias, Kronenfeld “did not have a gambling addiction. He had a lifestyle addiction.” Kronenfeld has signed up for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.’s self-exclusion list.

Hilary Salmon

• Pastor of Greater Works Ministry, a Pentecostal congregation, and also a licensed real estate agent.

• In 2008, led a group including Joyce Williams, Pat McLaughlin and June Douglas to purchase 430 Tapscott Rd. for the purpose of establishing a church.

• Says she borrowed $100,000 off the value of her home to finance the church. She also collected a $74,000 commission on the purchase of 430 Tapscott Rd, according to her former brokerage.

• Owns two houses, one of which is collateral for the $1.25-million mortgage the group took out with Kronenfeld.

Vincent Salvatore

• The 62-year-old says he buys and sells mortgages for a living.

• He and his wife, Elena, run several companies between them, including Vincorp Financial, Salvatore Empire Investments, Bostion Inc. and Arnach Inc.

• Says he brought Kronenfeld’s mortgage on 430 Tapscott for $1.3 million.

• Says that when the mortgage first went into default, he advised Hilary Salmon to sell the Tapscott property and release the five homes attached as collateral, but she did not.

• “I’m waiting for a miracle,” says Salvatore of efforts to collect on what he is owed.

Joyce Williams, Pat McLaughlin,

June Douglas

• Three women were all part of group that put in money for down payment and renovations on 430 Tapscott Rd.

• Williams, a retired nurse, and her sister McLaughlin, a house cleaner, together provided $100,000, part of which came from Williams remortgaging her home.

• Douglas, a single mother of four, borrowed $100,000 for church down payment. Salmon, their pastor, promised she would make the monthly payments on the loan.

KATE ALLEN

THE DEAL

• AJGL Developments, Semion Kronenfeld’s company, sells 430 Tapscott Rd. to Greater Works Ministry for $3.7 million on Aug. 8, 2008.

• Greater Works makes a down payment of $150,000.

• The church’s first, conventional mortgage is for $2.3 million. Monthly payments are $23,000, with the balance due in a year.

• Kronenfeld provides the group with a second, “vendor take-back” mortgage for $1.25 million. Monthly payments are 10 per cent, or $10,417, with the balance due in a year. Five homes are included as collateral.

• The church’s income includes more than $15,000 monthly from an appliance business renting half the Tapscott property — Kronenfeld “indemnified”, or guaranteed, that lease as a condition of the sale — and thousands of dollars from charitable donations.

• In November 2008, Kronenfeld sells the second mortgage to Vincent Salvatore for $1.3 million.

• When the church falls into default on its mortgage payments, the Tapscott property is seized by the bank and sold for $3 million, paying off only the first mortgage.

• The second mortgage, now belonging to Salvatore, is still outstanding, and the $1.25 million lien still stands on all five homes, including pastor Hilary Salmon’s. The equity on the homes amounts to far less than that figure, however.

Many gamblers tell Hoosier Park: Keep me out

Many gamblers tell Hoosier Park: Keep me out
129 in county request voluntary exclusion; racino happy to oblige
By Melanie D. Hayes
The Herald Bulletin The Herald Bulletin

ANDERSON, Ind. — Gambling at Hoosier Park and other Indiana casinos is a source of entertainment for many. But for some, it is a problem, an addiction and a downhill spiral to the point that they request that casinos not allow them in.

In 2004, the Indiana Gaming Commission created the Voluntary Exclusion Program where people could choose to be prevented from entering casinos across the state. People have to sign up on their own accord and can choose to be on the list for one or five years, or for their lifetime.

Madison County has the third highest number of participants in the state with 129 members.

In Indiana there are 1,846 active members and the counties with the highest memberships are Lake County with 471 and Marion County with 202. And although the program only deals with Indiana casinos, residents from other states can sign up too, which brings the total number of active members to 4,184.

John Shipley, manager of compliance at Hoosier Park, sees the high enrollment in Madison County as a positive thing because it means more people are getting the help they need for their gambling problems.

“The last thing we want is to have folks here who have problems,” he said. “We are an entertainment venue. Some people go see movies, some go play golf, some go to fancy restaurants, and some like to come to Hoosier Park for a night out. But other folks who have problems, they have the program which is a means by which they can help themselves.”



Hoosier Park is close by

Tom S., who runs two of the three weekly Gamblers Anonymous meetings in Anderson, believes the high numbers in Madison County are due to the fact that Hoosier Park is so accessible to residents. People who have serious addictions to casinos can more easily avoid their urges if they don’t have a casino nearby. Those who do live near one can give in more easily.

“I would say with something that close, individuals do have to say ‘I’m ready to stop,’” said Tom, 60, who, like other Gamblers Anonymous members, prefers to withhold his last name. “They think, ‘I know the casino is going to be there.’ Just like with alcoholics, they know the bars are going to be there.”

Lake County, which has several casinos and a large population, has the most residents signed up for the program, which makes sense, Shipley said.

Shelby County, where Indiana Live! Casino is located, only has 18 participants in the exclusion program, according to the programs statistics.

The casino, though, is located in a rural area and is not highly populated, so its clientele is largely from outside of the county, Shipley said. A majority of visitors are from Marion County, which is one explanation for why so many Marion County residents are on the exclusion list.

Meanwhile, Madison County is more populated and Hoosier Park is more centrally located in the state, so more resident from Madison County and surrounding counties go there, Shipley said.

Having a casino nearby can make the path to recovery tough for gambling addicts. But having them nearby also helps them join the exclusion program since anyone can walk into any Indiana casino and asked to be placed on the list.

When people ask about the program at Hoosier Park, employees contact on-site state gaming commission representatives who help them through the process and add them to the statewide database, Shipley said. People can also call or visit the gaming commission office in downtown Indianapolis to be added to the list.



Signs of a problem

Hoosier Park employees also provide people with information and resources for where they can get help for their problems. But once they are on the exclusion list, casinos cannot contact those people in any way or send them any promotional material, Shipley said.

Employees are also trained to help people who ask for help. They interact with clients and can ask gamblers several questions to see where they stand. That list of questions is on the Hoosier Park website for people who want to determine how serious their problem is.

Among those questions that people need to ask themselves are: Do you lose time from work due to gambling? Does gambling make your home life unhappy? Do you ever feel remorse after gambling? Do you often gamble until your last dollar is gone?

Casinos don’t actively enforce the program by stationing guards or checking everyone’s IDs, Shipley said. But the names and personal information of people on the list are available at all Indiana casinos. So, if people on the list go to Hoosier Park to play, and try to use their player cards to use slot machines or other games, employees are notified. And if they need to make a transaction at the cashier, they will also be found out. Or if they try to claim their winnings, employees will be notified and gamblers will lose their winnings.

“Sometimes we have team members who recognize a regular customer and know they have signed up, so that’s another way to control it,” Shipley said. “When you have 4,000 people on a list, you don’t expect everyone to know them each by face.”

It’s not a foolproof program, and there are probably people on the list who make it into casinos, but overall its an outstanding program that helps people control their problems, he said.

Tom, who lives in Anderson, said he has on average three to five people at each local Gamblers Anonymous meeting.

About 80 percent of his members have signed up for the Voluntary Exclusion Program, he said. According to gaming commission statistics, 38.5 percent of members sign up for a one year exclusion, 23.6 percent for five years, and 37.8 percent for lifetime.

“Some say it helps them because they know that technically, if they go (to a casino) they are trespassing,” he said. “People said they have gone and casino employees were nice to them and escorted them out.”

Being on the exclusion list is a deterrent for gamblers. They know they will be asked to leave. Or, if they make it in and win, they will be found out and won’t be able to claim their winnings, adding to their frustrating addiction, Tom said.

Some gambling addicts attend the Gamblers Anonymous meetings for support and help, but are not quite ready to bar themselves from casinos. Or some feel they can change their lifestyle on their own.

And some who do sign up say it doesn’t help because they can still go in to the casinos and play on slot machines without having to show an ID.

“Of course, the program doesn’t help if you’re into scratch-off tickets or Hoosier Lottery or bingo,” Tom said. “There are all kinds of gambling.”

Parx: 2nd child left in car in less than a week

UPDATE: Another Child Left Unattended in Parx Parking Lot
A father left his 6-year-old child in locked car Saturday while he gambled.

According to a report on PhillyBurbs.com, Michael Roytman, 29, of Oakwood Drive, Huntington Valley, left his 6-year-old daughter in his car in the parking lot of Parx Casino on Saturday at about 1:35 p.m. while he gambled.

Parx security officers discovered the child, who had been unattended for less than 10 minutes, according to a report on Philly.com.

"Our security identified the situation within mere minutes," Parx spokeswoman Carrie Nork-Minelli told Philly.com. "The most important thing was that the child was okay."

Bensalem police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Anisman confirmed the incident Sunday and released additional information today.

“This is the second case in less than a week,” he added.

In today's release, Anisman said the temperature was over 90 degrees at the time of the incident and witnesses described the child as being sweaty, hot and her face was flush. He said the child was treated at the scene by Bensalem Rescue and released.

Roytman was arraigned in district court late Saturday on charges of endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person. He was lodged in Bucks County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail, according to PhillyBurbs.

Similar incidents have occurred at Parx over the past year or so, including the following:

•On July 16 at 6:55 p.m., Parx security observed three children left alone inside a running vehicle. Bensalem police found a 1-year-old boy, a 2-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl in the car for at least 17 minutes. Frances Casey, 39, of Abington, the children's aunt, said she went into the casino to redeem a promotional voucher for free pots and pans. She also played two slot machines before returning to her vehicle. Casey was charged with endangering the welfare of children. She will appear in court at a later date.

•In April, Sharon Balek, 35, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to two years of probation and banned from Pennsylvania casinos for leaving her two daughters in the parking lot at Parx Casino while she played slot machines for over six hours.

•In January, Donald Waige, 60, of Philadelphia, plead guilty to child endangerment for leaving his 15-month-old son in a parked car in June 2010 while he played penny slots.

In addition to criminal charges, individuals who leave children unattended in the casino parking lot are placed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on its involuntary Exclusion List, which forbids him from entering state casinos.

Pennsylvania Casinos Allow Problem Gamblers, Then Keep Winnings

Pennsylvania Casinos Allow Problem Gamblers, Then Keep Winnings

Some casinos in Pennsylvania appear to be taking advantage of problem gamblers by letting them enter the casino, gamble, and then confiscating winnings of those who had opted-in to a self-exclusion program.

Pennsylvania casinos had better get a whole lot more serious about their self-exclusion program for those patrons with gambling addictions.


This past week, another gambler was permitted to play slot machines, and then had his winnings confiscated when the gambler hit a jackpot.

The man won $2,001 on a slot machine at Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Erie, Pennsylvania on Friday. When the casino took his identification to award him the winnings, they realized that the gamblers was on the self-exclusion list.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board created the list for gamblers with addictions to keep themselves out of casinos. It is not fully the responsibility of the casino to monitor the list, but they are responsible for keeping those on the list out of their establishments.

“This is an issue that could become very serious in the coming years with table games being added at these Pennsylvania casinos,” said Gaming Analyst Steve Schwartz. “If the Gaming Board does not address this now, it could lead to a failed system that problem gamblers do not trust.”

Presque Isle Downs kept the money that the gambler had won. There are over fifty other cases of people who were on the self-exclusion list winning jackpots and then having the casinos confiscate their winnings.

The situation has some weary of the casinos’ motives to the point where they feel the casinos may be ignoring the list for the purpose of making more money. No evidence has been found to back that claim, but still there are some skeptics.

“These casinos make their money from gamblers who come back again and again,” said Mary Williams. “Who is to say that they are not allowing these problem gamblers in to keep revenue up. I mean, they allow the gambler to play at the casino, and when they win, the casinos keep the money.”