Thomson ReutersJune 6, 2014 5:35June 6, 2014 5:35

How to know when a 'gray gambler' is a problem gambler

By Mark Miller

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Once upon a time, bingo was the biggest game in town at the local senior center. But you're far more likely to find today's seniors manning a slot machine at the local casino - and some have become gambling addicts.

Problem gambling among older people is on the rise. Seniors have time and money on their hands, and the proliferation of casinos in most regions of the country has made gambling more convenient.

“What we are seeing is that seniors are the backbone of the modern casino industry,” says Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), a non-profit organization that advocates for programs and services to help problem gamblers and their families. "The marketing and promotion to seniors is light-years from what it was."

Experts say gray gambling addiction will become more prevalent as the baby boomers age. “Boomers are the first generation that grew up in a culture where gambling has been fully accepted,” says Dr. Timothy Fong, co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program. “We’re going to see problem gambling becoming a bigger problem as they get older.”

I can already see my email in-box filling up with notes from angry gray gamblers and concerned spouses and children. So let's agree on an important caveat: Not all senior gambling is addiction. As Fong is quick to add, recreational gambling can be OK for older people. More than OK, in fact.

"There are social aspects of game playing at a recreational level that can be good for an older person's physical and cognitive health," says Fong, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA. "The best parts of gambling are very interesting for people when they're tied into a larger recreational activity. It means seniors are using their minds and staying active. They're going with friends to play the slots, eat and laugh together. It's a bonding experience, and it can improve health."

The problems crop up when recreational gambling turns into an addiction. It's still more prevalent among young people than old, experts say, but seniors are most vulnerable.

"It doesn't take as many gambling losses before they start developing problems," Fong says. "It's the same as vulnerability to alcohol or drugs. By the time we see them for treatment, the damage already is extensive, and that's why it is so difficult to deal with. They've gambled away their life savings and there's no way to recoup."

Some seniors use gambling as a form of emotional escape, something women can be especially vulnerable to, Whyte says. "For women, getting involved often is precipitated by grief or loss and they're seeking escape.

They can go from having no problem at all with gambling, or just being a recreational gambler, to hitting bottom in just a few months."

Slot machines are far and away the most popular gambling option at casinos, and the latest generation isn't your father's machine with spinning lemons, cherries and melons. Today's machines offer intense sensory stimulation with large video screens, music and vibrating, ergonomic chairs. They are proving highly addictive for seniors, Fong says.

"We study the patterns of seniors coming in with addictions, and slots are far and away the preferred form - and the addiction is deeper."

How to know if your spouse or parent has a gambling problem? Whyte points to three measures of that can help with an evaluation:

- Preoccupation. "Is the person constantly talking about gambling? Is there a preoccupation there that wasn't present before?"

- Tolerance. "Does the person need to bet more and more to get the same level of excitement? If the amount they are gambling is jumping, that's a sign of addiction."

- Loss of control. "The easiest warning sign is a person who can't set a limit of time and money to be spent in the casino, and then stick to it."

Fong asks seniors to evaluate whether gambling is helping or hurting their quality of your life. "If it's just something to do with friends and your spending is in control, then it's just a form of recreation - even if you are going every day. But it shouldn't be used as an escape from life - to avoid feelings of sadness, despair or loneliness.

The NCPG has a problem gambling hotline (800-522-4700), which can direct you to resources in your state, including counselors who have been trained through the National Certified Gambler Counseling Program.



http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/thomson-reuters/140603/how-know-when-gray-gambler-problem-gambler

‘Compulsive gambling destroys lives’

‘Compulsive gambling destroys lives’

Niall McNamee, speaking to students on the problems of gambling.

STUDENTS at South West College, Omagh this week heard how compulsive gambling can utterly devastate lives. 

In a powerful testimony to students, Offaly GAA player Niall McNamee told how gambling was not only destroying his own life but also devastating his family and those closest to him. 

The event was organised by Tyrone and Greencastle Ladies star Eimear Teague GAA who facilitates the Sports course at the college. 

She explained, “Part of the course is a module called ‘health promotion’ and issues that arose included mental health issues, alcohol and drug misuse and it briefly came up about gambling. 

“We carried out a survey in the college and it was evident 68 per cent knew somebody they felt they had a gambling addiction.

The students also put together a promotional DVD on the topic.” Admiration The audience at the South West College expressed their admiration for the honesty and courage Niall showed in carrying the message that gambling can destroy lives. 

He also spoke of hope and help, for the compulsive gambler. 

Today he stays abstinent with the help of a support group, people who have been through the same experiences and with whom he can find identification and a shared strength.

Niall also emphasised that although he has not gambled since November 2011, every day he renews his commitment to staying abstinent – one day at a time – as he is still a compulsive gambler and “not cured.” 

He added, “I am very passionate about this and have a very fulfilling life. There is plenty of help out there. I have a close group I can ring every day. 

There are support groups for compulsive gamblers all over the country.”       - See more at: http://ulsterherald.com/2014/05/30/compulsive-gambling-destroys-lives/#sthash.Ykak4VaQ.dpuf

- See more at: http://ulsterherald.com/2014/05/30/compulsive-gambling-destroys-lives/#sthash.Ykak4VaQ.dpuf

Why are Black Women so Broke?

This is a good reminder....

Why are Black Women so Broke?

An Addict Runs To Recover

An Addict Runs To Recover

Adam Osmond of Farmington after the Greater Hartford Marathon last fall. (Handout / October 12, 2013)

Lori Riley

7:28 p.m. EDT, April 26, 2014

In 2008, Adam Osmond hit bottom.

He was a gambling addict. He lost his two stores in New Britain, where he used to play thousands of dollars worth of lottery tickets a day. When he told his wife and his family, he was ashamed and depressed. He wasn't healthy. He took a leave of absence from his job as an accountant and ended up leaving the position.

"I went through a lot at that point," said Osmond, who lives in Farmington. "I went through hell."

He went into a gambling addiction treatment program. That helped. But then he met Charlie Merlis.

Merlis wore shirts from road races to meetings. Curious, Osmond asked him about the shirts. Merlis told him that he should come run a race with him.


And that's how Osmond, 46, traded one addiction for another. In 2011, he finished his first 5K race in just under 40 minutes, and not only did he think he was going to die that day, he couldn't imagine that people actually ran farther distances than that.

On Sunday, he will run an ultramarathon, the Lake Waramaug 50K (approximately 31 miles) in New Preston. He hopes to finish in about 5 hours and 30 minutes, approximately 10 ½ minutes per mile, which is faster than the pace in which he ran his first 5K three years ago.

"Running is a great addiction," said Merlis, of West Hartford. "You can throw your heart into it and you know you're not hurting yourself."

Osmond, who is from Somalia, came to the U.S. to go to college when he was 17. He went to Central Connecticut, and when he got a job at a convenience store, that's when he started to gamble.

It started off small, $1 and $2 lottery tickets. But it grew. He graduated. He worked as an accountant.

He got married, had children. He bought two convenience stores. And that's when he started to play more and more. He kept the tickets in the back room of one of the stores to hide them from his wife.

"It's like being an alcoholic and having your own bar," he said. "It's in front of you all the time.

Whatever I'd win, I'd put it back."

In 2007, he won two $25,000 prizes. He cashed one, got $17,000 and put it right back into more tickets. Then he did the same with the other one.

When the bottom fell out, it was a tough time for Osmond and his family.

"I was financially in bad shape," he said. "Health-wise, too."

He gained a few more pounds in the gambling treatment program, where they would sometimes celebrate successes with food. Then he met Merlis and his life changed.

"He said, 'There's a race in North Haven,'" Osmond said. "I had never run before. We went there. I wasn't dressed for running. I had long sweat pants. Tennis shoes. We line up. I took off."

"The first two-three minutes, I was passing everybody. I'm thinking, 'What's going on? I'm feeling good.' All of a sudden, it hit me. I thought I was dying. I finished in 39:20-something. It was 39 minutes of hell. Honest to God."

But he went back for another one. He started to train with Merlis. Eventually, he stopped going to the gambling treatment program. Running was helping him recover.

He lost weight. His blood pressure and cholesterol went down. And he got faster.

"Today, you can't even compare his times today to 2011," said a running friend, Richard Zbrozek.

"Now his times are incredible."

Zbrozek and some others had started a movement with a goal of running races in all 169 towns in Connecticut. He broached the subject to Osmond. Osmond joined up, embraced it and started a website, a Facebook page and a Twitter account for what's known as DEBTIConn (Do Every Blessed Town In Connecticut) or the Run 169 Towns Society. Osmond is a visible ambassador at races for the society, appearing with a Run 169 banner, taking pictures of members and posting them on social media and encouraging new people to join. There are now more than 200 runners in the group.

"The man has a lot of enthusiasm," Zbrozek said. "And that has really shaped our society."

He can now run a very respectable 22-minute 5K. He has run two marathons. He is healthy. He is back working for the state as a fiscal administrative agent for the Department of Economic and Community Development.

He is happy. So is his family.

"It was a shock to [his wife] in the beginning," he said of his gambling addiction. "We have three kids. We stayed together. We worked it out. Now they are very happy because they see I'm doing something that makes me happy. Running motivates you in a lot of different ways in your life."

"Before, I was playing numbers and I used to do the analysis. Now I have different numbers — pace, splits. It's just a win-win."



http://www.courant.com/sports/hc-riley-column-0427-20140426,0,7370922.column

 

Hoping for riche$ — Part 3

April 23, 2014

Hoping for riche$ — Part 3
By WANDA MOELLER
Courier Editor
The Ottumwa Courier
Wed Apr 23, 2014, 05:09 PM CDT

OTTUMWA — At first, George bought a lottery ticket once or twice a week. Nothing big.
Spent $1 or $2 at a time.

As the big jackpots rolled around, he’d purchase a few more tickets. No big deal, he thought. Soon, playing the lottery became his obsession. His $1 to $2 twice a week spending became $50 to $100.

What George didn’t realize was that he was spending the bulk of his paycheck on lottery tickets. As his addiction became greater, he began selling items to purchase tickets, neglecting his financial responsibilities and avoiding his family and friends.

While George is fictitious, his story is not.

Some people play the lottery because they just know they’ll eventually win. There have been some people who actually have won a small lottery and just know it will happen again. Before they know it, they have lost it all while trying to win again.

The same scenario can be applied to scratch-off tickets. Many people who are obsessed with purchasing lottery tickets are just as compulsive and out of control.

We’ve read about these people in the news. In one example, a woman was charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her employer to fuel her addiction to scratch-off lottery tickets.

There are others, too. A lottery addiction led to a 42-year-old man’s death. He shot himself because of his gambling addition. He won big once and thought he could do it again. Instead, he blew through his life savings to fuel his addition.

Lisa Bachman, a problem gambling counselor with ADDS Gambling Treatment Services in Ottumwa, says people who have gambling addictions are not immune to any social stigma.

“It’s a silent addiction,” she said. “They don’t realize they have problem until they can’t pay the rent or mortgage or put food on the table. That’s usually when there is a call for help.”

- See more at: http://www.ottumwacourier.com/local/x2117347793/Hoping-for-riche#sthash.2Xh2zCBI.dpuf

Recovering gambling addict speaks out in campaign

Recovering gambling addict speaks out in campaign to tackle bookies’ betting games

Owen Baily

Published on the 31 January
2014

For Owen Baily, gambling was an exciting escapist adventure which offered him fast cash and a road to riches.
But it soon became a crippling addiction which saw him spend much of the last decade living on the streets and battling alcohol abuse.

“At my lowest point I was resorting to looking in phone boxes, trying to get enough money together for a tin of baked beans and some bread so I had something to eat,” Owen admits openly.

“With gambling, your money ebbs and flows. Sometimes I was stable and other times I had nothing.

“But I would only really feel comfortable when I was gambling.

“It made me neglect my rent and food, I was destructive and neglectful. It brought me to my knees.”
Owen got his first tastes of gambling while growing up in Boston, and then Sibsey, seeing it as a chance to better himself and win enough cash to live the lifestyle he desired.

“We didn’t have a lot of money when I was young,” he said.

“I saw gambling as the chance to make lots of money quickly and to get the money to buy the things I always wanted.”

Eye-opening adverts for books on ‘how to beat the fruit machines’ in the back of magazines, and playing the two-penny shuffle games on days out in Skegness first switched him onto the ways of gaining money for nothing.

But it wasn’t until he turned 18 and began visiting the arcades and bookies in Boston that Owen started taking gambling seriously.

When family circumstances saw him move to Leamington, Owen’s quest for the high life became magnified when he discovered casinos.

He won big and he lost big, once leaving with £5,000 in his pocket and, on another occasion, seeing £2,000 slip through his grasp in one sitting.

And as the big wins were celebrated and the heavy losses comiserated, Owen found himself turning more to drink to emphasise those highs and mask the lows.

But his life took its greatest turn for the worse when he discovered ‘FOBT machines’.

The Fixed Odds Betting Terminals, to give them their full names, are essentially touch-screen games – such as roulette and virtual horse racing – which you can play on machines in a bookmaker’s shop.

“From my personal experience I find them very addictive,” Owen added.

“Roulette itself is a hard form of gambling. Before the FOBT machines, it was only available in casinos.

“You have to get suited and booted, travel to the casino and also register at the casino. They used to be almost inaccessible. It’s the total opposite now.

“The problem is that you can put money into the machine every 20 seconds.”

Indeed, it is widely recognised that punters can wager up to £100 every 20 seconds on these machines, meaning huge amounts of cash can be lost within minutes.

It was this addiction to the brightly lit and easily accessible machines you see in the bookies in every town that saw Owen become trapped in a vicious downwards spiral.

For a 10-year period, Owen, 31, spent around 90 per cent of his money on gambling.

In doing so, he found himself swiftly flitting between rented accommodation, sleeping rough and hostels, depending on whether the chips were down or not.

As he drifted through life he also drifted across the country, laying his head in Leamington, Canterbury and then on to Oxford.

He explained: “The FOBTs brought the casinos to the high street and made it very accessible.

“The machines give you an illusion of control, whereas casinos can often be busy and you don’t always get the time and space to do what you want at the table.

“In the early days I had a few wins. I could take £10 into the bookies and come out with £500 or £700 in my pocket.

“But whatever I won would end up going back into the machines. I never really won.”

After finally deciding enough was enough, he began seeking help. And here’s where, fortunately, Owen’s story took a turn for the better.

After stays at a residential rehab in Oxford and work with a gambling clinic in London, Owen believes he is now in control of his urges.

Like most addictions, there is often a sense of denial surrounding those trapped in a downward spiral.

But after spending almost a year without placing a bet or having a drink, Owen is ready to share his story.

And the reason he wants to highlight the horrors of frittering away what he coyly describes as thousands of pounds, is because he is a man on a mission.

Instead of channeling his energies on destructive passtimes, he is now fighting to raise awareness of the dangers he believes these machines hold – helping a campaign that wants to limit the amounts that can be gambled on FOBTs and ultimately ban them,

Owen hopes the errors which have plagued his life throughout his 20s can act as a deterrent to the many people who could find themselves following the path he began taking as a youngster in Boston.

“The demographic of people who use these machines are often young people on benefits,” he continued.

“And you can quite quickly lose all your dole money on them - they’re very seductive.

“At first I felt they offered me hope, but really they destroyed me.”

And does Owen - who currently lives and works in Oxford - see himself ever slipping back into his old life?

“I never want to go back to that,” he said firmly.

“The buzz I get from living my life now is far greater than the buzz I ever got from gambling.”

Follow Owen on Twitter at @galiberation or learn more about how to combat gambling addiction by visiting www.stopthefobts.org

http://www.bostonstandard.co.uk/news/business/business-news/recovering-gambling-addict-speaks-out-in-campaign-to-tackle-bookies-betting-games-1-5846994

 

Gambling Addict Calls For Ban

Gambler Michael Goldfinch calls for ban on fixed odds betting machines after losing thousands in Herne Bay betting shops

by Lowri Stafford

• lstafford@thekmgroup.co.uk

A recovering gambling addict is calling for high-stakes betting machines to be banned from bookies after racking up debts of more than £20,000.

 

Michael Goldfinch squandered up to £1,000 a time while playing on the fixed-odds betting terminals, which allow people to wager £100 every 20 seconds.

 

At the height of his addiction, he was visiting bookmakers at least five times a week, spending all his wages and maxing out credit cards to fund his habit.

Michael Goldfinch lost £20,000 on fixed odd betting machines

The 46-year-old says: “I mainly played on the roulette machines. I started about eight or nine years ago and would only play if there was a free promotion. Somehow, I ended up £20,000 in debt.

 

“I’d go into the William Hill on Herne Bay High Street with £1,000 on the Saturday, then another £1,000 on the Sunday. I only came out once having won £1,000.

 

“I used to go in most afternoons, at least five days a week, for a whole year. Then I got behind with credit card payments. Once you start losing, you start chasing your money.

 

“You try to win it back, but it’s always going to go in the bookies’ favour. I never actually bet the maximum stake of £100, but still ended up losing so much.

The Hot Wax game on a fixed odds betting terminal

 

“I think the machines should be banned altogether. They’re too easy to put money into, and the amount of people who get into debt on them is worrying.

 

“There’s limits on the amount they’ll pay out, but not the amount you can put in. And there’s cash machines in the bookies to stop you from leaving. All they’re concerned about is keeping you betting.”

 

Mr Goldfinch, who lives in Stanley Gardens in Herne Bay, reached a turning point when he realised he had ploughed all his money into gambling, leaving nothing for Christmas.

 

He continues: “I was miserable and I stopped opening up to people. I was paying out more money than was coming in. It got to a point when I knew I had to do something about it.

 

“I started to tell family and friends about my problem. They were shocked, but they helped me out. Like any addiction, it comes down to willpower.”

The fixed odds machines are very different from the old-fashioned pub fruit machine. Library picture

Mr Goldfinch, who works as a supervisor at Hellyar Plastics in Whitstable, tried to get on top of his problem by seeking the help of a debt management company.

 

But he suffered a further blow when he was charged £400 plus interest for their services, plunging him further into financial trouble.

 

He finally managed to get the support he needed through the government’s Pay Plan scheme, but the effects of his habit are ongoing.

“I think the machines should be banned altogether. They’re too easy to put money into, and the amount of people who get into debt on them is worrying" - Michael Goldfinch

He adds: “They helped me get on top of things. It took five years, but I managed to clear my debt last October.

 

“You don’t realise the lasting effect it will have when you’re gambling. It’s going to take some time to sort out my credit rating.

 

“In a seaside town like Herne Bay where unemployment is fairly high, people might think it’s easy to get a win. It’s a slippery slope.”

 

The Association of British Bookmakers says the industry is committed to ensuring its customers gamble responsibly.

Spokesman Peter Craske says: “Betting shops have been trading on the high street for over 50 years, and we now serve eight million customers and employ 40,000 people across the UK.

“65% of the population gamble in one form or another, so this is a popular pastime.

“Gaming machines themselves are not new products - they are ones that have been played in our shops for over a decade and are popular with our customers.”

---

Related stories

Gamblers lose £33m on fixed odds betting machines in Kent and Medway

Councillors spends £100 of own money on betting machines

---

“Shop staff are trained to spot someone getting into trouble and ultimately a customer can self-exclude themselves from the shop.

“We are committed to making this system work better and will be rolling out new measures to do this in the coming months.”

To access help visit www.gambleaware.co.uk or call the free national gambling helpline on 0808 8020 133.

 

 

 

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentish_gazette/news/-id-spend-1000-a-11438/

 

 

37K accounts set up for NJ Internet gambling

Sucking discretionary dollars from wallets in the silence and privacy of your own home can no longer be labelled a 'job creator' or 'economic engine.'

FROM:
 Bill Kearney

How easy will it be for the youth of America to get hooked on these gaming sites when casinos with their high tech security systems have a problem with underage gambling, and parents are unaware of what their children are doing on the internet? These sites are the gateway to a casino gambling addiction.

Press of Atlantic City - November 29, 2013 - 37K accounts set up for NJ Internet gambling

Thousands of people have signed up for Internet gambling in the early days of its availability in New Jersey....

The state Division of Gaming Enforcement says as of Thursday, more than 37,000 accounts had been created.

Regulators could not say how many different gamblers actually made bets online. Some users have created accounts with more than one gambling site.

On Thanksgiving alone, 5,000 new accounts were created.
Full statewide Internet gambling began Monday afternoon in New Jersey after a five-day test period that started Nov. 21.

It marks the biggest expansion of gambling in New Jersey since the first Atlantic City casino opened in 1978.
New Jersey is the third state in the nation to offer online gambling, after Nevada and Delaware.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/ap/new_jersey/k-accounts-set-up-for-nj-internet-gambling/article_b3753e92-366b-5927-83da-b7fb3b4ba6ff.htmlSee More

 

 

Gambling Addiction Could Increase With Internet Gambling? Duh?

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts ‘Gaming’ Future

Press of Atlantic City - November 3, 2013 - Experts: Compulsive gambling could increase with online betting

"When you have it on the computer, people are going to get addicted to it," said Bill Kearney, a reformed compulsive gambler from Philadelphia who serves as an outspoken casino critic. "Now, you're going to be able to stay at home to gamble, because people don't want to waste $3.50 or $4 for a gallon of gas to travel to the casinos."

Read more: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic_city/experts-compulsive-gambling-could-increase-with-online-betting/article_20427f5d-b126-581d-8f5d-6b9b032117f9.html

 

Posted: Sunday, November 3, 2013 10:55 pm

Experts: Compulsive gambling could increase with online bettingBy DONALD WITTKOWSKI, Staff WriterThe Press of Atlantic City

Young people already acquainted with lotteries, fantasy sports leagues and poker websites often have only one place in mind to celebrate that rite of passage into adulthood.
"They look at a casino as the most exciting and most appropriate place to commemorate their 21st birthday," said Thomas Broffman, a social work professor at Eastern Connecticut State University and researcher of gambling disorders.
With more young people heading to casinos, there are fears that their casual enjoyment of slot machines and table games could turn into something far more insidious - gambling addiction.

But a new development in the medical world is being hailed by compulsive-gambling experts as a dramatic advance in the prevention and treatment of what was once considered a "personality disorder."

The so-called diagnostic bible of the American Psychiatric Association has reclassified compulsive gambling as an addiction. Experts say that could make it easier for pathological gamblers to get help, including funding from their insurance providers for treatment programs.

"This is really groundbreaking," said Donald Weinbaum, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey. "Looking at it as an addiction opens the door to consider different types of responses and approaches."

Jody Bechtold, a nationally recognized expert on gambling and substance abuse, believes more national attention will be focused on prevention and treatment programs now that compulsive gambling is considered an addiction.

"The whole nation will have to reorganize around this issue," Bechtold said. "It will definitely change medical reimbursements for compulsive gambling."

The reclassification of compulsive gambling was made in the American Psychiatric Association's newest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a compendium of more than 300 medical maladies. Weinbaum said compulsive gambling is now the only nonchemical-related addiction recognized by the diagnostic manual.

"This is a big step forward," he said. "Our hope is that it reduces the stigma attached to compulsive gambling and makes people realize there is help."

Weinbaum estimated there are 350,000 problem gamblers in New Jersey. The start of Internet gambling in New Jersey on Nov. 26 has Weinbaum and other compulsive-gambling experts worried that figure could go higher, particularly among younger people.

Speaking at a New Jersey conference on compulsive gambling in September, Broffman warned that tech-savvy college students seem the most vulnerable because of the proliferation of online betting through such outlets as fantasy sports leagues and offshore poker websites.

"Online gambling is very popular," Broffman said. "It's ubiquitous. It's everywhere."

Broffman said he finds it scary that young people "know the winners of the World Series of Poker like we knew baseball stars when we were kids."

New Jersey has joined Delaware and Nevada as the only states so far to legalize online gambling.

Internet gambling is already popular overseas. Some of Europe's top names of online gambling - PokerStars, Betfair and Bwin.party among them - are partnering with Atlantic City's casinos to capitalize on the arrival of Internet wagering in New Jersey.

Internet gambling will allow players to bet on casino-style slots and table games using their home computers, smartphones and other electronic devices as long as they are within New Jersey's borders.

They will now have the choice of staying at home to gamble instead of physically going to a casino.

"When you have it on the computer, people are going to get addicted to it," said Bill Kearney, a reformed compulsive gambler from Philadelphia who serves as an outspoken casino critic. "Now, you're going to be able to stay at home to gamble, because people don't want to waste $3.50 or $4 for a gallon of gas to travel to the casinos."

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the state regulatory agency overseeing Internet gambling, said a series of safeguards have been built into the regulations to prevent children and compulsive gamblers from playing online. The division worked with the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey and other groups to incorporate strict controls into the regulations.

Among them, New Jersey will automatically extend its list of "self-excluded" gamblers to casino websites. Compulsive gamblers are already allowed to voluntarily ban themselves from brick-and-mortar casinos by signing up for an exclusion list.

Online players will be able to set betting limits on their Web accounts as a way to curtail their gambling. They will also be told about New Jersey's 1-800-GAMBLER hot line for compulsive gambling.

Weinbaum noted that each Atlantic City casino that has Internet gambling will pay a $250,000 annual fee to fund prevention, education and treatment programs offered by the Council on Compulsive Gambling. New Jersey law also calls for an annual study of online betting's impact on compulsive gambling.

"We have an estimated 350,000 problem and compulsive gamblers. That's a sizable starting point," Weinbaum said.

 

Holocaust/Casino memorial in Atlantic City

Bill Kearney

Holocaust/Casino memorial in Atlantic City

Here’s something you may not be aware of, but did you know there are plans to erect a Holocaust memorial in Atlantic City? When I first heard of this I contacted the Jewish origination in charge. I told them I thought it was a great idea and location. My thoughts on this had nothing to do with the fact that Atlantic City has always been a Jewish vacation destination, because that all changed once casinos opened. What I was thinking is the masses coming to Atlantic City and mankind never forgetting this horrific event.

When I was talking to those in charge I asked if they would ever consider putting up a memorial for all the prominent Jewish families whose lives were destroyed by a loved one’s casino addiction. At first they thought I was kiddin...g, that was until I gave them a list of Jewish gamblers who lost their businesses, professions, along with approximately how much money and time they squandered away in the casinos. They were quite taken back, especially with the Leonard Tose story. He was the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1969–1985. He made a fortune in the trucking industry. He was known for his lavish lifestyle and being very generous. He was instrumental in helping establish the first Ronald McDonald House.

Tose was, by his admission, a compulsive gambler and an alcoholic. In 1991, the Sands casino sued Tose for $1.23 million in gambling debts, he countersued, contending that the casino got him too drunk to know what he was doing. But even with a casino cocktail waitress testifying that her duty was to keep Mr. Tose's monogrammed glass, courtesy of the Sands, filled with top-shelf scotch, a jury seeing markers he signed one night at 9:20pm, for $100,000, at 9:45pm for another $100,000, another $100,000 at 10:05pm, his signature after each transaction barely recognizable proved no malice or liability on behalf of the Sands. In the end, he lost it all, by his estimate more than $20 million at Resorts International and $14 million at the Sands. In 1996, on his 81st birthday, Tose was evicted from his seven-bedroom Villanova mansion after losing the house in a U.S. Marshal's sale. 

In 1999, he told a congressional hearing on compulsive gambling that his losses totaled between $40 million and $50 million. He spent his last years alone in a downtown hotel room after his home in Philadelphia's upscale Main Line district was confiscated for unpaid taxes. Mr. Tose died in his sleep in the hospice wing of St. Agnes Medical Center in Philadelphia on April 15, 2003. He was 88.

I have yet to hear back from that Jewish origination, but in the meantime I’m adding more names to the list.See More

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Detroit went broke

Great article! Great research! Great graphs that clearly display Detroit's slide!

This is one article that needs to be read and carefully considered.

Stop Predatory Gambling

Casino fiscalism is when we as a people fail — or refuse — to make the tough economic and political decisions we need to secure a better future. This excellent piece of journalism by The Detroit Free Press reveals how the culture of casino fiscalism took over Detroit and led it to financial ruin.

 

 

How Detroit went broke: The answers may surprise you - and don't blame Coleman Young

• By Nathan Bomey and John Gallagher/Detroit Free Press Business Writers
• | FILED UNDER -
• Local News
• / City of Detroit |
• 1:10 AM, Sep. 15, 2013

Detroit is broke, but it didn’t have to be. An in-depth Free Press analysis of the city’s financial history back to the 1950s shows that its elected officials and others charged with managing its finances repeatedly failed — or refused — to make the tough economic and political decisions that might have saved the city from financial ruin.

Instead, amid a huge exodus of residents, plummeting tax revenues and skyrocketing home abandonment, Detroit’s leaders engaged in a billion-dollar borrowing binge, created new taxes and failed to cut expenses when they needed to. Simultaneously, they gifted workers and retirees with generous bonuses. And under pressure from unions and, sometimes, arbitrators, they failed to cut health care benefits — saddling the city with staggering costs that today threaten the safety and quality of life of people who live here. The numbers, most from records deeply buried in the public library, lay waste to misconceptions about the roots of Detroit’s economic crisis. For critics who want to blame Mayor Coleman Young for starting this mess, think again. The mayor’s sometimes fiery rhetoric may have contributed to metro Detroit’s racial divide, but he was an astute money manager who recognized, early on, the challenges the city faced and began slashing staff and spending to address them. And Wall Street types who applauded Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s financial acumen following his 2005 deal to restructure city pension debt should consider this: The numbers prove that his plan devastated the city’s finances and was a key factor that drove Detroit to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in July. The State of Michigan also bears some blame. Lansing politicians reduced Detroit’s state-shared revenue by 48% from 1998 to 2012, withholding $172 million from the city, according to state records. Decades of mismanagement added to Detroit’s fiscal woes. The city notoriously bungled multiple federal aid programs and overpaid outrageously to incentivize projects such as the Chrysler Jefferson North plant. Bureaucracy bogged down even the simplest deals and contracts. In a city that needed urgency, major city functions often seemed rudderless. When all the numbers are crunched, one fact is crystal clear: Yes, a disaster was looming for Detroit. But there were ample opportunities when decisive action by city leaders might have fended off bankruptcy. http://www.freep.com/interactive/article/20130915/NEWS01/130801004

Destination Casinos

Casino-Free Milford

Just a thought.....

 

Struggling with Gambling Addiction

Woman dreams of world without pokies

Home » News » Dunedin

By Chris Morris on Thu, 20 Jun 2013

 

At the height of her gambling addiction, Karen Hansen dreamed of being locked in a prison cell.
Now the Dunedin woman dreams of a world without poker machines, so her grandchildren do not follow in her footsteps.
  
Mrs Hansen delivered to the Dunedin City Council's hearings committee yesterday a powerful personal account of her decade-long struggle with pokies. She told the committee her addiction had taken a heavy toll - consuming her wages, and later her job, as well as friendships and the trust of family members.

• Future of Dunedin pokies up for debate...

At her worst, Mrs Hansen was pouring $1200 a fortnight into the machines, leaving no money for groceries or to fill her car with petrol.

Sometimes, the urge to gamble was so powerful, she would stop vacuuming partway through, get into her car and rush to the machines.

''I couldn't wait to get there. I used to speed to get there and it was only around the corner,'' she said.

The only way to be ''protected from myself'' seemed to be the fantasy of a prison cell, she said.

''I was desperate to go to jail because I just wanted to be locked up.''

Her addiction had shut her off from much of the outside world, including friendships, and she lost her job at Christmas after she ''lashed out at another employee''.

''I was at breaking point as I had gambled the money I had put aside to visit my daughter and grandchildren for Christmas, and now I couldn't go.

''My children know I have a gambling problem and it's so hard looking them in the face. They buy birthday and Christmas presents for their children and put my name on the card because they know I can't.

''The little angels phone me to say thank you for the presents. I am lying to them as I can't even afford to buy them a card,'' Mrs Hansen said.

She was now receiving counselling for her addiction, which had helped, but was still sometimes overpowered by the machines' pull, Mrs Hansen said.

She had decided to speak out to support the committee's plan to cap numbers of machines and venues.
  
''I'm embarrassed about the situation I'm in ... It's something I wish had never happened to me, I can tell you that.''

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/261750/woman-dreams-world-without-pokies

 

Problem gambling: Who is at risk?

The rate of severe gambling addiction may double within 50 miles of a casino, one study shows. By 2016, nearly everyone in Maryland will live within that range. Read related article. 

 

Sources: "Gambling Prevalence in Maryland: A Baseline Analysis," by the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research. The Washington Post.Published on June 1, 2013, 7:26 p.m.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/problem-gambling-who-is-at-risk/2013/06/01/50551ea6-cb04-11e2-9245-773c0123c027_graphic.html

Illinois: More on Exclusion List Than Casino Emploees

Not only does this highlight the cost of Gambling Addiction that is being ignored, it also highlights how grossly overstated the Massachusetts Job Proections are.

According to the Illinois Gaming Board, 9,957 people have put their names on the state’s self-exclusion list.

That outnumbers the 7,828 employees employed by the 10 casinos in Illinois.

2 sides of gambling: Addicted mom attempts suicide, retiree seeks harmless fun

BY NATASHA KORECKI Political Reporter                                                         

May 30, 2013

 

 

The northwest suburban mother of three always knew what she would do if her secret was found out.

So when that day came, she carried out her plan, calmly standing in line at the pharmacy, filling two bottles with anti-hypertension medication.

She went home and downed both.

 

A divorce, a lost job, thousands of dollars in debt — and two suicide attempts.

 

That’s what having a casino near her home meant for the self-described gambling addict.

 

“It strangles you. It pulverizes you. It’s not harmless and it’s not innocent, when it gets to the point of no return. It is a predatory beast of an addiction,” said Melinda, 50, who asked that her last name not be used.

But Richard Scheibenreif tells a far different story.

 

Since the Rivers Casino opened in Des Plaines, he has become a regular, carrying a member “preferred” card that gets him free lunch and free valet parking. He enjoys the food, being on a first-name basis with casino workers — and a gambling rush he describes as part of a controlled habit, but not an addiction.

 

“When the dice get hot, the climax is longer for me than it is having sex with you,” the Bloomingdale retiree says he tells his wife. “She wants to hit me over the head when I say that.”

 

Scheibenreif and Melinda are two sides of the same coin.

 

The yin and the yang of gambling as state legislators weigh a massive expansion.

 

Proponents point to Scheibenreif as their typical target customer, someone with some expendable income out for some fun.

But opponents say Melinda is a snapshot of what Chicago could expect with its own casino.

 

“That’s the human side of what the politicians call a painless revenue stream,” says Tom Grey, spokesman and field director for the Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation. “The politicians don’t factor her into the equation.”

 

At issue in Springfield is a casino-expansion bill that would add a city-owned casino in Chicago; four other casinos, and slot machines at racetracks and at two city airports.

 

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is working behind the scenes to land a casino, selling it as a way to designate revenues to city schools. Gov. Pat Quinn said he would back the bill with the right oversight and so long as pension reform also is passed.

 

On Thursday, state Rep. Robert Rita (D-Blue Island), the House bill sponsor, said even with just one day before session ends, there was still time to find consensus.

 

“We have a lot of time for it to go either way,” Rita said.

 

Melinda is convinced the thousands in Illinois who suffer from debilitating gambling addictions would grown in number if legislation authorizing a massive expansion of casinos advances in the Illinois Legislature.

 

Her own addiction was a secret for years, and she said she always knew what she would do if her secret was found out.

 

So when that day came, she carried out her plan, calmly standing in line at the pharmacy, filling two bottles with anti-hypertension medication.

She went home and downed both.

She once had to drive to Joliet — in a planned, organized trip — if she wanted to play the slots.

 

When the Riverboat Casino opened in Elgin, just 10 minutes from her home, it became a constant temptation that she could not resist.

“What it did to me, I can’t even begin to tell you. I could not stop it any more than I could stop the tides of the ocean,” she said.

 

Melinda survived that suicide attempt — and one other. She also survived a divorce, losing a job of 27 years as well as tens of thousands of dollars — once losing $80,000 in three months.

In a nearby suburb, at a different casino, a different scenario plays out.

Twice a week, every week, Scheibenreif spends a few hours at the craps tables in the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, buying in at about $800. He knows which in-casino restaurant has the best Patty Melt “where they really grill up the onions right” and raves about Hugo’s shrimp cocktail.

 

On a recent day, casino workers there saw him perusing tables and called out: “Hi Rich!”

 

After 40 years of playing at various casinos and riverboats, Scheibenreif, 70, insists he has stuck by his guiding mantra: “Don’t spend the grocery money.”

 

But gambling opponents say the plight of the Melindas outweigh the pleasures of the Scheibenreifs.

According to the Illinois Gaming Board, 9,957 people have put their names on the state’s self-exclusion list. That list is made up of people who want to be arrested for trespassing and stopped from gambling if they’re found in any of the state’s casinos.

 

That outnumbers the 7,828 employees employed by the 10 casinos in Illinois.

 

“It is creating more victims than jobs,” says Grey.

 

Melinda says it’s the slot machines — which make up a greater part of casino gaming — that really suck in the addict. The thought of an expansion makes her want to scream from the rooftops.

 

“All we’re doing with this expansion is allowing people like me to fail. It’s wrong, just wrong,” she said.

 

At her worst, she’d leave a dollar in her car before heading into the riverboat so she would have some gas money left after gambling away every last penny she had. She often intended to gamble for just an hour but would easily stay for half the day.

 

One time, she realized it was 4 p.m. and she hadn’t picked up one of her kids from school. On another occasion — one of her lowest points — she was in the full throes of playing slots when an elderly patron collapsed and there were cries for help.

Melinda, a trained nurse, at first ignored the cries. She didn’t want to turn away from her game. She did administer CPR, but as she did it, she kept looking at the machine where she had been playing.

 

“I will be right there in a little bit! Nobody touch that machine!” she yelled out as she was trying to save the person.

 

But Scheibenreif says he has parlayed an enjoyable habit into a source of extra cash.

He describes a “magic drawer” where at the beginning of the year he allows himself so much money. When he wins, he puts the money back into that drawer. In January, it was $8,000, which he took out of a retirement account.

 

It has grown to $12,000 and took him to Las Vegas, where he visited his daughter, he says.

 

“It’s my trophy money. I’m still playing with that money,” he says. “You have good days and you have bad days.”

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/20443878-418/2-sides-of-gambling-addicted-mom-attempts-suicide-retiree-seeks-harmless-fun.html

 

Ilinois Gambling Addiction & Decay

Group of pastors oppose gambling expansion
Posted: May 27, 2013 9:01 AM EDT

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- A committee hearing is scheduled today on a proposal designed to add five more casinos in Illinois.
The bill, which has cleared the Senate, now awaits a House vote and faces steep opposition.
A group of Chicago-area pastors sent a letter to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan calling gambling an "unstable source of reveune" because of social cost, including affecting people who can't afford it and job loss.

The letter also questions oversight of a Chicago casino, something that's been a source of frustration for the Illinois Gaming Board.

The pastors include the Rev. Stephen Thurston of New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago.

The plan calls for casinos in Chicago, Rockford, Danville, Chicago's south suburbs and Lake County.

http://www.wandtv.com/story/22429037/group-of-pastors-oppose-gambling-expansion

Gambling Addict Smashes Machines After Losing His Paycheck

Gambler smashed up bookies after losing a month's wages

Published 24 May 2013

 

A GAMBLING addict smashed up four gaming machines in a Clydebank bookies after blowing a month's wages in one afternoon.

Father of three David Brogan lost £700 in a matter of hours before returning to the William Hill shop armed with a hammer.

Two terrified staff members at the Radnor Street premises ran for cover as the raging 26-year-old began his trail of destruction.

Brogan, of Crown Avenue, paid the price for his outrageous behaviour when he appeared in the dock at Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week after having pled guilty at an earlier hearing.

Fiscal depute Julie O'Hara told the court furious Brogan, who was a regular at the bookies, walked into the store shortly after 8pm on September 7 last year.

A customer service assistant and the store manager looked on in astonishment as the crazed man raised the hammer above his head and began his rampage.

She said: "They recognised a male customer who had been in the shop earlier that day and had lost some money on the roulette machines. He made his way towards the machine and started to smash the front glass screens of the machines. Once the accused had smashed up the machine he moved onto another machine and repeated his actions.

"The witnesses made their way into the rear of the shop and locked the door. They could hear the accused smashing the machines and a few minutes later they heard him leaving the shop."

Brogan destroyed four machines in total, causing over £1800 worth of damage.

Police were called but Brogan could not be traced at the time, however, a few days later staff contacted the police to tell them they had managed to identify the man responsible.

His defence agent Angela Millane told the court Brogan, who is a glass cutter by trade, was hooked on gambling and on the day in question he had also been drinking. She said his family was finding it hard to cope with his gambling addiction which had caused him to spend a month's wages in one afternoon.

She said he was "repentant and disgusted" by his behaviour and was trying to turn his life around, adding: "He is an extremely pleasant man and is ashamed of his behaviour. He is extremely sorry."
Sheriff Simon Fraser told Brogan: "I can understand your frustration at your stupidity at gambling away £700 in an afternoon but that does not entitle you to smash up other people's property."

He imposed a community payback order with a 12 month supervision requirement and ordered Brogan to complete 150 hours unpaid work within four months. Sheriff Fraser also told him to pay William Hill compensation of £1850 to cover the cost of the damage.

http://www.clydebankpost.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2013/05/24/458259-gambler-smashed-up-bookies-after-losing-a-months-wages/

 

Gambling Addiction...Trail of Deceit and Loss

‘Jane’ seemingly had the perfect life, until a gambling addiction brought a . . . Trail of deceit and $200k loss

By Allan Murphy

May 18, 2013

However, Jane also has a dark and long-held secret – one that inevitably was going to catch up with her sooner or later.

Jane is a gambling addict and has been for the best part of the past decade.

But Jane has also been brave enough to confront that addiction, albeit acutely aware that she has a long and difficult road to travel.

Jane (not her real name) reckons to have spent about $200,000 over the past seven years playing poker machines, but the addiction almost cost her much, much more.

The trail of deceit, or “not telling the whole truth” as Jane puts it, threatened to end her marriage, ostracised her from a close circle of friends and tested her sanity.

For every waking minute, Jane dreamed of being back in front of a poker machine ... and when she was, no one or nothing else mattered.

It also never mattered whether she won or lost – the only benefit of winning every now and again was that she could spend more time in front of the flashing lights, the bells and whistles and gamble away to her heart’s content.

That was until earlier this year when in one month alone she spent more than $11,000 (much of it her husband’s earnings) on electronic gaming machines­ and found herself riddled­ by guilt.

It was then that she decided to explain the problem to her long-suspecting husband and find a way out of the mire.

She has played the pokies again, only once, but that is a far cry from the daily, hour after hour she would spend in her own private cocoon – engrossed, bedazzled and wholly engulfed by the lure of the machines.­

“My life rotated around poker machines to the extent that just walking down the street I could hear different sounds that would bring me back in front of a poker machine,” Jane said.

“I stopped everything that I was doing to go to the poker machines,”­ she said.

“If my friends came to visit I didn’t have the time for them, I didn’t want them there, I didn’t want them to talk to me ... I just wanted to be able to go to the poker machines where it’s just you and the machine.

http://www.sunraysiadaily.com.au/story/1509587/jane-seemingly-had-the-perfect-life-until-a-gambling-addiction-brought-a-trail-of-deceit-and-200k-loss/?cs=1259