Stop Predatory Gambling

“The Smartest Guys Not in the Room” makes its video debut featuring America’s favorite casino stars

Caesars stock will end up like Enron’s: virtually worthless

Caesars Casinos, the casino operator taken over by buyout firms TPG Capital and Apollo Global Management LLC in 2008, announced plans to sell shares in an initial public offering at $8 to $10 apiece. According to Bloomberg News: “Caesars, which… Read more

“We need to pretend we care…just long enough to get the casino bill passed”

Boston’s Fox 25 has an excellent report this morning about how states ultimately strip funding for problem gambling treatment even though grand promises were made to help the tens of thousands of new addicts created by government’s predatory gambling policy…. Read more

America’s evolving “two-caste society” is due in no small part to government’s predatory program

Today, David Brooks of The New York Times spotlights the recent book by Charles Murray titled “Coming Apart.” Brooks writes:  ” Murray’s basic argument is not new, that America is dividing into a two-caste society. What’s impressive is the incredible… Read more

Watch Miami business leader Norman Braman effectively explain why casinos are a failed policy

Why casinos program slot machines to simulate near misses

Numerous studies over the last two decades have noted the tendency of gamblers to remember their wins better than their losses.  Others have noted that gamblers frequently underestimate their losses and claim to have “broken even” for a night or… Read more

As Speaker, Gingrich gutted national commission to examine the failed government program of predatory gambling

Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, as Speaker of the House,  “recommended a substantial weakening of a major bill to examine the runaway growth of legalized gambling in America” according to this Washington Post story from May 1, 1996. By eliminating… Read more

NY Times spotlights New York’s Bad Bet

Journalist Paul Davies, a fellow at the Institute for American Values, has an excellent op-ed today in The New York Times. Read it below: THE governor of New York, Andrew M. Cuomo, is sending his state down the same wrongheaded… Read more

The Faith Community in America at Its Best

Kentucky pastor  Hershael York was invited to deliver the prayer before Gov. Steve Beshear’s budget address on Tuesday. York spent half his 80-second prayer talking about government’s failed policy of predatory gambling. York told Baptist Press he felt burdened to… Read more

Kentucky newspaper guts the false casino “jobs and revenue” narrative

Despite the billions of dollars spent by casino operators to deceive the public otherwise, the truth behind casino “economics” has remained the same since Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Samuelson wrote the following more than forty years ago: “There is a… Read more

“You people are takers. You don’t give anything to a community. All you do is take.”

There continue to be a growing number of Americans who are speaking out about government’s failed policy of predatory gambling. The highly-successful, Miami-based auto dealer Norman Braman is the latest. At a press conference surrounded by other business leaders, Braman… Read more

“They own your state”: In his own words, watch super lobbyist Jack Abramoff explain government’s failed partnership with predatory gambling

Speaking at Harvard University, former lobbyist Jack Abramoff explains how your state is “owned” by predatory gambling operators. He starts by explaining that “everything about the gambling industry is politics.” This aired on C-SPAN on December 27, 2011. Thanks to SPG… Read more

Former Addict: Online Casinos Run by New York, Other States Will Target Gambling Addicts

Former professional blackjack player Josh Axelrad writes an excellent piece in The Daily Beast about how the recent DOJ ruling allowing states to operate Internet gambling sites for profit will result in a system whose speed is stacked against compulsive… Read more

New York Economists Agree: Casinos are a bad bet for the Empire State

Many of New York’s economists from the state’s leading colleges and universities agree that casino gambling is a bad bet for the Empire State, according to the results of an opinion survey released Tuesday. In fact, a majority of the… Read more

A glimpse at what future ad campaigns against government’s failed predatory gambling program might look like

As we begin 2012, we are now one year closer to ending government’s failed predatory gambling program. Here is a glimpse at the kind of ads you will see aired in the not-so-distant future:

New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo Should Fold His Hand on Casino Debate

Jerome Nathaniel of PolicyMic has a first rate column about why building casinos in New York is the wrong direction for the state. He writes: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo deserves all the acclaim he has received for an impressionable… Read more

Who will fight for America’s Lottery Class if not the Department of Justice?

To underscore how much government’s predatory gambling program of casinos and lotteries best represents what is broken about the American political system, the U.S. Department of Justice released a highly controversial opinion – on the day much of the country is… Read more

New Slot Machines: Who’s Playing Whom?

Ron Dicker of The Huffington Post exposes server-based slot machines, the newest development in government’s failed predatory gambling program: More than a million slot machines inhale $1 billion a day in American casinos. Apparently that’s not enough. The machines are… Read more

Watch Florida casino promoters be afraid to use the word “casino” at their own press conference

Predatory gambling operators promote the “destination resort” message because it polls very well, much better than framing it as casinos or slot parlors. The public conjures nice restaurants, golf courses and high-end retail as opposed to the most predatory business… Read more

US Supreme Court will decide tribal casino’s land-into-trust scheme

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act represents one of the biggest failures of U.S. policy in the last fifty years. Passed by Congress in 1988 under the guise of “economic development” for the country’s impoverished Native American tribes, IGRA has resulted… Read more

Billionaire casino operator concedes the technology is not good enough to prevent young people from gambling online

Sheldon Adelson, the world’s richest casino executive, said this week he opposes online gambling because he rightly says the available technology is not good enough to prevent young people from making wagers on the Internet. Other casinos operators like Caesars… Read more

Virginia Lottery’s bait and switch

From The Virginian-Pilot on the big fraud of government’s predatory gambling program: Virginia’s lottery receipts are supposed to boost funding for schools. Instead, the annual $450 million goes everywhere but. A quarter-century ago, Virginians approved a state lottery on the… Read more

Lottery Sales Rise to Record as Cash-Hungry States Search for More Revenue

While severe income inequality continues to worsen here in America, below is an excellent report from Bloomberg News on our government’s primary response to this major challenge: Facing growing unemployment, record home foreclosures, declining tax revenue and an annual budget… Read more

“You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”.

Somerville, Massachusetts artist Edie Bresler presents her month-long participatory installation “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”. Bresler’s installation is at the Inside-Out Davis Square Art Windows located on Elm St between Dover and Day St. The Installation focuses on… Read more

Betting against ourselves

While the government committee charged with getting the country back in the black failed to even meet very often, let alone devise a plan, there is at least one strategy for America’s future that our political class can agree on:… Read more

When will state Attorneys General go after the business practices of government’s gambling program?

In 2006, prior to the massive crash of the highly-predatory subprime lending business which nearly every state Attorney General sued for their predatory practices, Harrah’s top executive Rich Mirman boasted to Wall Street Journal reporter Christina Binkley: “I worked in… Read more

Massachusetts predatory gambling bill gets even worse

Below is a strong Boston Globe editorial makes the case why the Governor of Massachusetts should veto the casino bill that may make its way to his desk: THE CASINO bill that the Legislature is sending to Governor Patrick is… Read more

“The risks to New Hampshire from expanded gambling are simply too high” – NH Governor Announces He Will Veto Any Legislation Allowing Casinos in the State

New Hampshire Governor John Lynch yesterday announced that he will veto any legislation allowing casinos or racinos in the state. In a detailed letter to legislative leadership, the Governor outlined a number of reasons for his decision to veto any… Read more

Some editorial boards “officiate at the marriage ceremony” of government and predatory gambling interests

Former Massachusetts State Senator Sue Tucker has an excellent letter to the editor in Friday’s Boston Globe. Check it out below: YOUR NOV. 8 editorial “Flawed casino legislation leaves public interest too vulnerable’’ is loaded with irony. Several years ago,… Read more

Maine voters reject predatory gambling proposals

The citizens of Maine soundly rejected two predatory gambling proposals on Election Day. Congratulations to those who led the opposition effort there, specifically Dennis Bailey and the CasinosNo group who have long fought against the state’s predatory gambling program.

Few things are more ridiculous in politics than watching casino money go up against casino money

Maine voters are about to vote for the sixth time in twelve years on whether to allow government to bring more predatory gambling into the state. Questions 2 and 3 would allow for racinos in Biddeford and Lewiston. A new… Read more

Casinos are fighting against efforts to reduce gambling addiction in Pennsylvania

Casinos like to declare they are “just like any other business” but they continually to defy efforts that treat them like any other business. In Pennsylvania, a grassroots push is underway that would require casinos to mail monthly statements to… Read more

How casino ATM vendors share “intelligence” with casinos

Because most legislators are not frequent gamblers like those citizens losing their money at casinos almost five times a week, they possess little understanding about the highly predatory practices involved with this failed public policy. Casinos like Caesars make 90%… Read more

Who knew public libraries were based on creating addicts and pushing citizens into deeper personal debt

When you are promoting a failed public policy, deceit and dishonesty represent your only way to win and it is all made possible by spending millions of dollars to spread a phony narrative. This explains why as Maine attempts repel… Read more

Key predatory internet gambling supporters don’t lose their own money gambling online

As the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Manufacturing subpanel prepares to hold a hearing Tuesday on Internet gambling, it is important to note that four of the leading proponents of legalizing predatory internet gambling, including the bill’s chief sponsor, don’t… Read more

What other government program causes this result…over and over and over again?

Below is the latest in an endless story of children being left in cars while their parents lose their money to government’s predatory gambling program. This time it happened at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh- a casino owned by billionaire Neil… Read more

Government creates addiction in order to feed off of it then breaks promise to fund help for the victims

From The Miami Herald’s Fred Grimm: It was the sop lawmakers tossed to Floridians apprehensive about the social effects of legalized gaming: Don’t worry. Some portion of these suckers’ losses will fund a prevention program for problem and pathological gambling…. Read more

Government official personally thanked those who were scamming the Lottery for propping up flat sales

As if there was not a mountain of evidence already showing how government’s predatory gambling program is a major failure, along comes another damning news report. Andrea Estes of The Boston Globe has a must-read account about how the Massachusetts… Read more

The Smartest Guys Not in the Room

Imagine the legendary chicken business owner Frank Perdue, when asked if he ate the poultry he sold, responded by spitting on the floor and declaring his chicken was “for losers.” What business would ever say that about their product or… Read more

Florida needs your voice

Below is an excellent email by Florida CasinoWatch…please read it and take action if you are a citizen of Florida. From Casinowatch: Senate President Haridopolis has hand picked his committee chairs to guarantee passage of gambling expansion next January.  That… Read more

One day closer to getting government out of the predatory gambling business

The Daytona Beach News-Journal rips the failed government policy of predatory gambling in a must-read editorial. Read it below: Lawmakers escape into gambling fantasyland Florida is on the cusp of becoming the Disney World of gambling. Uh, make that gaming… Read more

Problem Gambling Awareness Day 2011

Julie Hynes, one of the organizers of Oregon’s Problem Gambling Awareness Day, posted this video of our speech at the State House in Salem, Oregon on September 29th. Hynes joined with Ronda Hatefi to honor Ronda’s brother Bobby (who killed… Read more

Oregon: Welcome to the International House of Lottery

At a time when many state governments are relentlessly pushing highly predatory forms of gambling to its citizens, Oregon may claim the title as the biggest predator. To point out just one of many examples, it is virtually impossible to… Read more

How did America’s leaders view predatory gambling operators during the Great Depression?

During the Great Depression, leaders like the legendary New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia aggressively went after those who preyed on the financial struggles of his city’s working class. Below is a brief video of Mayor La Guardia dumping… Read more

Casino gambling and drinking alcohol ARE fundamentally different

Drinking a glass of wine or a can of beer is fundamentally different than playing a slot machine or buying a $20 lottery scratch ticket: 1) No sip of a Miller Lite has ever offered the false promise of a… Read more

Government-created gambling addicts are not equal citizens

In the news video below, WPRI recently spotlighted how more than HALF the revenues from government’s casino program comes from citizens who have been turned into gambling addicts- citizens just like Sandy Hall who appears in this story. She lost… Read more

The collapse of government’s failed policy of predatory gambling draws one step closer

For anyone curious about what the long-term future holds for government’s failed policy of predatory gambling, one must read the remarks delivered on the House floor yesterday by Massachusetts State Rep. Ruth Balser, D-Newton, during the casino debate. She put… Read more

New U.S. Census report shows poverty rate at its highest level in fifty years; Government responds with a failed policy that further shrinks the middle class

The New York Times reports today that another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in the United States last year and the number of Americans living below the official poverty line, 46.2 million people, was the highest number in the… Read more

Children’s Arcades Now Offering Slot Machines to Kids

As further evidence about how government’s failed policy of predatory gambling is dramatically influencing America’s kids, the photo on the left was taken at Joe’s Playland Arcade in Hampton Beach, NH this past Saturday, September 10th. Why is an arcade… Read more

Philadelphia leads way against “Quicksand credit” at casinos

Casino-Free Philadelphia, a vocal and effective citizens group against government’s policy of predatory gambling in that city, is hosting a meeting TOMORROW, Saturday, Sept. 10 from 1:30 to 4:30 PM at their Center City office, 714 Market Street, Suite 3…. Read more

Is there any state where people are not going over the border to gamble?

Below are three TV ads from different parts of the country that perfectly capture the phony narrative that predatory gambling operators promote in state after state to deceive voters into supporting the legalization of casinos. A central part of the… Read more

Lotteries are now running ads to teach citizens how to play lottery games

One publicly-stated reason why government got into the predatory gambling business in the first place was “citizens are doing it anyway so we may as well capture that money.” The evidence is indisputable, however, that government has turned a nation… Read more

Solved that gambling problem? Well, come on back!

A must-read editorial from a major predatory gambling state about the sham which is “self-exclusion.” Thank you, St. Louis Post Dispatch, for shining a bright light on it. Here it is: In its wisdom, the Missouri Gaming Commission last week… Read more

Unwieldly and unprofitable to taxpayers, the failed government program of casinos and lotteries will ultimately follow the path of OTB

The New York Times has an excellent story about one example of the failed government policy of predatory gambling – Off-Track-Betting in New York.  Here is the the key excerpt from The NYT Times story which holds true for the… Read more

“Ultimately, this is about protecting the general welfare and these people, quite frankly, failed that responsibility miserably.”

Parx Casino, a Pennsylvania casino which has local residents losing money 200 times a year thanks to marketing practices like “free play,” continues to be in the news for the large number of parents who have been caught leaving their… Read more

New Jersey government to end its policy of predatory gambling…for one day

Up and down the East Coast today, government leaders are declaring a state of emergency and ordering residents to evacuate shoreline areas in advance of Hurricane Irene.  The storm is so menacing that it is forcing Atlantic City’s 11 casinos… Read more

How is “Set for Life” not an example of deceitful and predatory advertising practices?

At a Texas Lyceum forum in Corpus Christi, TX on August 5, 2011 (at which I also presented), Harrah’s executive Marybel Batjer told the audience that “people don’t go to a casino thinking they’re going to win. They go to… Read more

Predatory Gambling Interests Putting Children at Risk Again

We have all read the recent news stories about children being left in cars while their parents or caregivers gamble for hours in casinos. Now, the predatory gambling industry is working on technology that could put children at risk in… Read more

An opportunity to finally have a national conversation about the failed policy of predatory gambling

The New York Post reports today there will be a renewed push in Congress this fall to legalize predatory internet gambling across America.

States Looking to Open Lottery Retailer in Your Home

An article in this Sunday’s New York Times highlights the growing pressure from legislators and predatory gambling interests to legalize Internet gambling: from online lottery subscriptions to poker and other games of chance. These interests play upon the traditional image… Read more

New York Looking to Expand Predatory Gambling Amid Economic Downturn

As reported in Tuesday’s New York Times, Governor Andrew Cuomo is considering changing the state’s constitution to legalize commercial casinos in the state. The Empire State already has five tribal casinos. The governor cites competition from neighboring states as a… Read more

Hard times are great for state lotteries

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, California Lottery sales rose $400 million, or 13 percent, joining a long list of states that saw sales increases, including Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Texas.  Scratch ticket sales helped fuel California’s… Read more

Cash Win-Fail

This weekend’s excellent reporting from The Boston Globe’s Andrea Estes and Scott Allen revealed a “quirk in the rules” on a lottery game in Massachusetts called Cash WinFall. They found that the game had been exploited by a few bettors,… Read more

They Were Expendable

Step inside any casino and you will likely see a few children trailing behind their parents, or wandering around unattended. However, cases of children being left behind in cars at casino parking lots occur more frequently than casino owners would… Read more

Staring you right in the face

In yet another example of how  predatory gambling operators and their government partners try to create the public impression they care about the citizens and their families they exploit, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation announced they will be installing… Read more

Why is predatory gambling considered a public health issue in other countries but not in the U.S.?

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation recently broadcast a segment titled “Gambling: a public health issue” featuring prominent public health experts speaking out about how problem gambling can cause mental illness and family breakdowns and is one of the most serious public… Read more

“Get Government Out of Gambling” effort kicks off

Paul Davies, a former first-rate investigative reporter and editorial writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer who is now a fellow at the Institute for American Values, has kicked off his “Get Government Out of Gambling”  blog. The link is www.getgovernmentoutofgambling.org. Paul’s… Read more

Why It’s Time to Disrupt the “Business as Usual” Approach to the Government Policy of Predatory Gambling

This MUST-READ report by Charles Livingstone and Richard Woolley provides what may be the best analysis about how almost 100% of the responsibility for problem gambling is placed on the backs of the afflicted citizens. Predatory gambling operators and the… Read more

“I would go to bed at night hoping the next day would be different … but it was never different.”

Sharon Oczkowski, a former bookkeeper at Eastern Star Home & Campus in Oriskany, New York, said in court Tuesday that the lure of gambling at the Turning Stone Resort Casino was too much for her, and she spent more than… Read more

Pressure mounts on Connecticut’s failing casinos

The Hartford Business Journal reports again about the decline in annual slot revenues at Connecticut’s two casinos, continuing a six-year slide for Foxwoods and a four-year slide for Mohegan Sun. Read the report below. CT casinos’ slot revenue short again… Read more

A must-read new book about the policy of predatory gambling in America

Sam Skolnik, a former reporter with The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and The Las Vegas Sun, has written a must-read new book titled “High Stakes: The Rising Cost of America’s Gambling Addiction,” from Beacon Press. The article below is an excerpt from the… Read more

More evidence why government needs to get out of the gambling business

False promises. Predatory practices.  Deeper levels of personal debt. Expendable citizens. There is perhaps no present government policy that emits a more wretched  stench of failure than government’s policy of predatory gambling. Here is the most recent evidence in what… Read more

Fake comments, fake supporters, all in the name of sneaking through a failed policy

Jessie Powell of Massachusetts, a citizen leader against the failed government policy of predatory gambling,  recently spotlighted testimony about how predatory gambling interests paid a viral marketing firm to post fake comments on news websites to give the appearance of… Read more

Making the experience of losing almost $3500 feel like you’ve only lost $100

A recent column in The Sydney Morning Herald underscores how little knowledge problem gamblers have about the amount of money they are losing. While people often underestimate their spending on various items, like transportation and clothing, the amount of money… Read more

Public Agency Acts as Casino Debt Collector in Nevada

The taxpayers of Nevada are funding efforts to collect debts for the state’s casino industry. According to this recent Las Vegas Sun column, this is the only state in the country where this occurs. Casinos make a practice of giving… Read more

Launch of predatory online gambling in D.C. may be delayed

Efforts to expand predatory gambling in Washington, D.C. slow down as the public learns more about the issue. Read about it here.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel explains why a Chicago casino is one of his top priorities

In a remarkable example of how we no longer challenge citizens to work for better government, Mayor Emanuel quotes JFK in defending his choice to make a Chicago casino a top priority.

New film reveals how the failed policy of predatory gambling has impacted the black community

The Penn Program on Documentaries & the Law has produced a film examining gambling addiction and its effects on the African-American community in Philadelphia, weaving together interviews from community leaders, casino patrons and academics.  Watch it below.

Connecticut citizen leader acts to reveal state lottery’s predatory practices

The Hartford Courant’s Rick Green, one of America’s elite journalists on the failed policy of predatory gambling, has an excellent column about a citizen effort in Connecticut led by Adam Osmond, a former lottery agent who has filed a series… Read more

Students protest against the government’s policy of promoting slot machines

Students at Otago Polytechnic challenged the government policy of predatory gambling during what they called a “down-to-earth” demonstration. They were particularly interested in highlighting electronic gambling machines, the most extreme form of predatory gambling because they are highly addictive and… Read more

Government Needs to Stop Growing the Casino Economy

Yesterday’s New York Daily News featured a story about a pawn shop opening up near the Aqueduct racino, which is scheduled to open this summer. The owner hopes to make huge profits from gamblers seeking to chase their losses from… Read more

Department of Interior goes off the reservation with latest decision

In a highly disappointing reversal of a prior decision, Larry Echo Hawk, the assistant secretary for Indian affairs at the Department of Interior, announced the rule preventing Native American casino tribes from opening casinos far from their reservations has been… Read more

Addictive Nature of Slots Forces Australia to Consider a Policy Change

According to a 2010 Australian Productivity Commission Report, 60% of total poker machine losses in the country were lost by problem gamblers. Now, the Australian government is considering major reforms of predatory gambling policies in the country. This includes reducing… Read more

Maine moves closer to “casino republic” status

Dennis Bailey, the talented, longtime leader of CasinosNo! in Maine, sent out the news alert below early this morning. From Dennis: Yesterday, the Maine House of Representatives bowed to the unprecedented lobbying campaign by the pro-casino forces and approved three… Read more

North Carolina Community College Students Become “Collateral Damage”

The North Carolina House recently voted on a budget that will cut financial aid from lottery funds to low-income community college students. Since creating the state Lottery in 2005, lawmakers have “tinkered with the formula” that initially allocated 10 percent… Read more

“The smell of desperation on slot machines permeates our political class”

Responding to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s drive for a Chicago casino, journalist James Warren writes one of the best op-ed pieces we have read in some time about the failed policy of predatory gambling. It is a must-read. Here are… Read more

State-sponsored gambling wildly exceeds the kind of gambling offered by local bookies

A common misperception among some public officials around the country is the idea that if government was not in the predatory gambling business, all of the extreme forms of gambling being promoted today would be available at the local bookie… Read more

A New Low in America’s Predatory Gambling Policy

In an action that symbolizes the broken condition of government in several states across the country, the Illinois Legislature passed a bill that would add five new casinos to the ten casinos already legalized in the state. It includes a… Read more

Corruption at Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

Yesterday, a grand jury responded to alleged corruption at the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board by recommending a major overhaul of personnel and procedures at the Board and strengthened casino regulations. It also suggested dramatically reducing the number of secret meetings… Read more

Transparency Needed at Massachusetts Lottery

The Boston Globe reported over the weekend about how the Massachusetts Lottery is pursuing a very aggressive goal of $1 billion in profits by launching new raffle-style games and selling tickets to jumbo drawings like Mega Millions through hundreds of… Read more

Another example of the failed policy of state lotteries

This week, a Houston TV station reported that while the Texas Lottery’s sales have doubled since 1998, the percentage of lottery proceeds going to education has dropped by 10% over the same period. In addition, the size of jackpot prizes… Read more

Why is the U.S. so far behind on “harm minimization” policies?

In his excellent series this week on the technology behind slot machines, John Mangels of the Cleveland Plain Dealer points out that many countries are enacting policies that minimize the harm that casinos and slots inevitably cause to individuals and… Read more

Another major U.S. media outlet exposes the failed government policy of predatory gambling

Following on the heels of the 60 Minutes investigation into slot machines that aired in January, The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Science Writer John Mangels publishes his investigative series into predatory gambling this week appropriately titled “Game of Trance.” The quality… Read more

Casino Companies Send Workers Home Due to Fear of Tax Increase

On Wednesday, the predatory gambling industry halted construction of 2 casinos in Ohio after the state legislature proposed increasing taxes on them. After already spending $200 million dollars on the projects, executives at Rock Gaming and Caesars Entertainment sent hundreds… Read more

Area of brain that predatory gambling operators exploit found by Caltech researchers

Caltech researchers say they have discovered the exact location in a human brain that influences a gambler’s belief that a payoff is “due,” it was reported Saturday. The study, done by a Caltech professor in Ireland, shows that wagers made… Read more

ESPN reveals high stakes wagering on youth football games in Florida

While our mission as an organization focuses specifically on the failed government policy of predatory gambling, the recent ESPN segment revealing the high stakes betting taking place on Florida Youth Football games is one of the most disturbing news items… Read more

Prove that slot machines and casinos are safe to be promoted to the public

Below is testimony I submitted at yesterday’s casino hearing in Massachusetts: Good morning, my name is Les Bernal and I’m the Executive Director of Stop Predatory Gambling, a national organization based in Washington DC, and our mission is to end… Read more

New report out of West Virginia offers more damning evidence about how predatory gambling is a failed government policy

West Virginia recently released some jaw-dropping data about the impact of the failed government policy of predatory gambling in that state. Here are some key findings: 1) Since the Problem Gamblers Help Network of West Virginia began operating about 10… Read more

Is there a soup kitchen across the street from Pebble Beach Golf Course?

In states across America, predatory gambling operators and some political officials have deceptively framed their proposals as a push to legalize “destination resort casinos.” They use the frame to avoid arousing serious questioning by media, legislators and citizens about the… Read more

Yale’s Carter on why state-run lotteries are bad for taxpayers, the poor, casinos, and bettors

Yale Law School’s Stephen Carter has a terrific column on the state lottery. Carter writes: “Why on earth do we allow the government to hold a monopoly on the very profitable (if rather disgusting) business of persuading the suffering to… Read more

“I have a feeling but I can’t quite pinpoint the research”

Previously we have highlighted the push in Pennsylvania to require casinos to send monthly statements to gamblers about how much money they lost. This week, in an effort led by activist Bill Kearney and Rep. Paul Clymer, the bill passed… Read more

“Keep It Fun”….because our profits depend on these problem gamblers

Steve Friess has a first-rate, must-read opinion piece in The Las Vegas Sun about how the big predatory gambling interests give lip service to the issue of problem gambling. Research shows more than 60% of casino profits comes from problem… Read more

Associated Press: Prosecutions turn online poker into a shaky bet

Last Friday’s takedown of the nation’s three largest predatory internet poker sites continues to reverberate across America. Here’s the latest from Associated Press: Prosecutions turn online poker into a shaky bet By OSKAR GARCIA, Associated Press – Wed Apr 20, 7:13 pm ET LAS… Read more

One of the world’s experts speaks out on electronic gambling machines

Dr. Tim Falkiner, one of the world’s foremost experts on electronic gambling machines,  is interviewed on Australian radio as the predatory gambling debate dominates the national agenda in that country.  “Pokies” is the term used by Australians to describe electronic… Read more

FBI shuts down Internet poker sites

The FBI shut down the three biggest online poker sites on Friday. Check out the LA Times story below: By Nathaniel Popper and Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles TimesApril 15, 2011, 7:34 p.m. Reporting from New York and Los Angeles— A… Read more

How is it possible the casino did not know this woman was an addict?

After watching the news report below from Good Morning America, how is it conceivable that anyone associated with the Seminole casino in Tampa did not know this woman was a gambling addict? It is impossible to believe that an individual… Read more

The latest on the “Carcieri Fix” effort

Check out the important news  report below from The Providence Journal: U.S. Senate to consider Indian tribe land trust bill A key Senate committee has voted unanimously to send to the full Senate a bill that would let the Narragansett… Read more

A black woman’s reflections on the failed government policy of predatory gambling

Sandy Adell, a Wisconsin college professor and author of Confessions of a Slot Machine Queen, recently posted the excellent column below. Check it out. From Sandy Adell’s blog: A Black Woman’s Reflections on Casino Gambling, April 2011 A few weeks… Read more

Predatory gambling interests turning Ohio into The Suckeye State

Under the ruse of  “save the tracks,” the predatory gambling interests in Ohio are seeking to expand even further across the state. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports the state’s seven racetracks are pushing for slots in the current legislative session… Read more

The answer is Yes

The District of Columbia Lottery, whose advertising represents the daily voice of government to citizens living in the nation’s capital, just launched another TV ad in its “Do you need a lottery intervention?” series. Check out the ad here and… Read more

Promoting indebtedness, addiction and now cancer to pay for government

The Illinois House voted this week to lift a smoking ban in all of the state’s casinos during a debate that pitted the health of gamblers and casino workers against hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues. The proposal,… Read more

Gambling Problems More Common Now than Drinking Problems

In a study published in this month’s Journal of Gambling Studies, gambling problems were discovered to be more common than alcohol problems among adults in the U.S. Dr. John Welte, a national expert on alcohol and gambling pathology at the… Read more

The failed policy of exploiting human weakness for profit faces unrelenting fire in Australia

A MUST-READ piece by the editors of The Kings Tribune from Australia about why government’s partnership with predatory gambling interests is a failed public policy. They make a powerful, evidenced-based public argument.  Here it is: Don’t gamble with human weakness… Read more

New effort by casinos takes aim at college students

Inside Higher Ed has a story this morning about how predatory gambling interests have launched a public relations effort designed to set the agenda for how colleges should approach the issue of student gambling. Read it below: Gift Horse or… Read more

State’s take of Lottery profits continues to get smaller and smaller

Chris Joyner of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals how less and less money from the Georgia Lottery is going to its stated goals of funding college scholarships and early childhood ed – further evidence that lotteries are a failed policy. Check… Read more

Some legislators are questioning one of government’s biggest policy failures of the last fifty years

The Oklahoma State Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday killed an amendment to abolish the state lottery while at the same time, the committee advanced the measure it was attached to banning the Oklahoma Lottery Commission from using children in advertisements…. Read more

Blame it on the casinos, not the brothels

An Associated Press story on the severe economic crisis in Nevada reports there were 167,564 empty houses in the state last year, according to newly released U.S. Census data, more than double the number in 2000. The number of vacant… Read more

“Come Play” and then later we’ll sue to recoup the money we loaned you to gamble with

Mohegan Sun in Connecticut is suing a Florida man who gambled away $1.2 million in credit that the casino loaned him in May 2009. Court documents filed by the man say the casino solicited him to open a line of… Read more

Local Iowa citizen pulls back the curtain on the state’s “good corporate citizens”

Antonia Russo of Iowa wrote an excellent guest commentary in the Iowa City Press-Citizen that underscores how casinos in Iowa have failed to deliver the mythical economic and public revenue boost they promised twenty years ago.  Nice work, Antonia. Read… Read more

Native American tribes need to move beyond predatory businesses to make money

Robert Porter, president of the Seneca Nation of Indians based in New York state, told attendees at the Reservation Economic Summit organized by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development that tribes should go beyond tobacco and gambling to… Read more

Professional lottery ticket cashers provide a window into another reason why state lotteries are a failed public policy

The Boston Herald’s Hillary Chabot breaks a major story this morning about the prevalance of  “professional lottery ticket cashers.”  These individuals hand in multiple winning lottery tickets given to them by people who want to avoid back taxes, evade child… Read more

Must-watch video of a Merchant of Deceit

Roxbury News captures Sands Bethlehem (PA) president Robert DeSalvio testifying before the Pennsylvania Legislature that sending monthly statements to gamblers about their losses will violate privacy and may encourage citizens to gamble more because it will remind them about their… Read more

C’mon, Gary. You need to get out more.

The latest scandal involving the government’s biggest public policy failure in the last fifty years shows how money laundering and loan sharking operates in casinos. The Asian gambling director (an example of what we at SPG describe as racial-profiling casino-style)… Read more

Watch how the most predatory business in America brands itself to deflect public scrutiny

State lotteries spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising every year. While much of that spending is intended to get citizens to lose even more money buying virtually worthless lottery tickets, lotteries also run aggressive ad campaigns with the… Read more

Government’s biggest dirty secret

The Philadelphia City Paper’s Isaiah Thompson writes another excellent column this week about casinos, this time about the recent hearing on a bill that would allow the revoked Foxwoods Casino license to be re-bid statewide. Thompson writes: “Less cunning was… Read more

Everyone was greedy

The world’s most famous something-for-nothing schemer Bernie Madoff said in a recent interview from his North Carolina prison that “everyone was greedy” when referring to his clients who lost billions of dollars. Madoff’s statement better describes what is broken about… Read more

Pennsylvania business leaders rip the state’s casinos

Pennsylvania’s version of CSPAN, PCN-TV, aired a show about the state’s economic climate. Two guests on the program David Thornburgh, Executive Director of Fels Institute of Government at University of Pennsylvania and David Taylor, Executive Director of PA Manufacturers’ Association,… Read more

State government and casinos aim to exploit Asian and Slavic communities

Kellie Patrick Gates of Plan Philly wrote a must-read news account about how casinos, in partnership with state government, aggressively target Asian and Slavic populations across the U.S.  Her account is below: Philadelphia’s large Asian and Slavic populations help make… Read more

Children don’t belong in state lottery ads

An Oklahoma legislator is moving ahead with a bill that would prevent the lottery in that state from using kids in its advertising. The Oklahoma Lottery Commission last year had a series of advertisements featuring children in them. Most recently,… Read more

The first question every legislator and member of the media needs to investigate and answer about predatory gambling

The Florida Legislature is holding a “Discussion on Gambling in Florida” in the state capitol this morning. These information gathering sessions are almost always dominated by predatory gambling interests. To help intensify the spotlight on casinos and lotteries, we shared… Read more

We already know you can’t stop yourself but we’ll keep the burden on you to stop because we’re making a lot of money at your expense

The concept of the “self-exclusion list” has always been a scheme for casinos and government to help deflect attention away from how they severely exploit addicted gamblers to reap their profits. Such lists allow them to say, like the Indiana… Read more

Ohio taxpayers are only beginning to see the bill for their state’s predatory gambling program

Alexander Coolidge of The Cincinnati Inquirer has an excellent news story about how the state revenues from proposed Ohio casinos will be 40% less than what the casino interests promised during their unprecedented $60 million campaign in 2009 to amend… Read more

Take five minutes to help stop predatory slots

Native American casinos have been a driving force behind the massive expansion of predatory gambling that has overwhelmed the U.S. over the last twenty years. It’s happened in large part because so-called “Class II” slot machines, often called “electronic bingo… Read more

Philly investigative reporter: “Why I can’t stop writing about casinos”

One of the country’s best reporters investigating the government program of predatory gambling, Isaiah Thompson of the Philadelphia City Paper, wrote a  great column about how maddeningly frustrating it can be for reporters to cover the story of casinos:  “I’m… Read more

Chrysler Super Bowl ad pointedly leaves out Detroit casinos

In what may have been the best TV ad of yesterday’s Super Bowl, Chrysler ran a powerful ad showing rap artist Eminem driving one of its sedans with visual images of the city of Detroit as a backdrop.  You can… Read more

Bally Slots Wins Coveted Title of “Best Slots Manufacturer;” Heads to roll at IGT

On the eve of Super Bowl Sunday, Bally Slots is proudly hoisting its own championship trophy this morning as it won the title of ‘Best Slot Manufacturer’ at the recent 2011 International Gaming Awards. After winning the prestigious award, Bally… Read more

Statistician who cracks the lottery scratch ticket system: “There is nothing random about the lottery”

2011 has been a rough year so far for the predatory gambling operators. First, 60 Minutes spotlighted slot machines on national television and now the February edition of Wired Magazine has a must-read story titled “Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code”… Read more

A video every legislator in America needs to watch

Dr. Kevin Harrigan, a gambling researcher at the University of Waterloo in Canada, has been an international leader in exposing the highly-deceptive and predatory nature of electronic gambling machines. He has produced several brief, must-watch videos to spotlight the issue,… Read more

The scales of justice crash over for casinos

Liz Benston of The Las Vegas Sun provides an interesting glimpse into the debt collection practices of the most predatory business in America. Benston writes: Nevada casinos commonly grant credit to gamblers who provide evidence of sizable bank accounts to… Read more

National gambling addiction specialist speaks out against predatory sports gambling

One of America’s most outspoken gambling treatment specialists, Arnie Wexler, recently published an excellent column about how aggressive some in the media have become about promoting point spreads for sporting events. Read Arnie’s column below: From Arnie Wexler, a gambling addiction treatment… Read more

A good day for Illinois and for America

There was another major decision by an Illinois court this week besides Rahm Emanuel’s bid to stay on the Chicago mayoral ballot. The Illinois State Court of Appeals ruled the General Assembly violated the state constitution when they bundled a… Read more

Arizona House votes to allow Glendale to annex potential casino land away from Native American tribe

In what could be a signal of things to come for tribal casino interests in other states, the Arizona House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday to allow the City of Glendale to annex 54 acres owned by the Tohono… Read more

Ohio Supreme Court Justice: Casino money should not be allowed to emasculate state constitution

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer has called for a full review of the Ohio Constitution and rules that allow it to be altered, finding it hard to believe that the constitution can contain a provision allowing four casinos that… Read more

Make the casinos return the stolen money

The government program of predatory gambling can now add several more names to its continually expanding list of victims. A longtime bookkeeper for a small Chicago machinery company has been charged with embezzling more than $1.5 million from the business… Read more

How Vegas Security Drives Surveillance Tech Everywhere

Popular Mechanics examines how the predatory gambling trade employs the most effective and invasive surveillance technology in the world. How Vegas Security Drives Surveillance Tech Everywhere

Why predatory gambling interests spend so much money on lobbying

Over the last twenty years, there are countless examples how predatory gambling interests will spend whatever it takes to overwhelm the political process. Just yesterday, the Associated Press reported that casino interests spent more than $3 million lobbying in Massachusetts… Read more

Double Standard for Casinos?

A recent story highlights the ongoing problem of hackers accessing customer databases at Las Vegas casinos. This could put thousands of people’s credit card and other financial information at risk. When retail giant TJX experienced a computer security breach by… Read more

Granite State of Mind

Jim Rubens, the remarkable leader against predatory gambling in New Hampshire, recently shared that less than 36 hours before they will be called upon to vote this Wednesday, New Hampshire’s five Executive Councilors received a “Late Item” request to approve… Read more

MLK would have strongly fought against the government program of predatory gambling

As the nation honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King today, it is fitting to consider how Dr. King would view the major challenges facing our nation. There can be no doubt that Dr. King would be standing alongside… Read more

60 Minutes Interview Sparks Visit to SugarHouse Casino for Answers

Casino Free Philadelphia, a strong and active citizens group in the city opposing predatory gambling, organized an action against SugarHouse casino yesterday in a followup to the 60 Minutes expose. Below is the media advisory they distributed prior to the action: A group of… Read more

New report: 338,000 in Wisconsin have a problem with gambling

New data out Wednesday shows 14,380 people called the Wisconsin gambling helpline just last year. Experts say the first three months of the year can often be the most problematic when it comes to gambling addictions. Counselors say the Super… Read more

Huge push for predatory gambling expansion dies in Illinois

On the heels of the powerful 60 Minutes segment that aired this past Sunday night, a massive bill to expand predatory gambling during a lame duck session of the Illinois Legislature went down to defeat. You can read the news… Read more

60 Minutes Airs Story on Predatory Gambling

60 Minutes hit the truth about electronic gambling machines so hard that if this was the NFL, they would have been fined for helmet-to-helmet contact against a defenseless receiver. It also established why the government program of predatory gambling will… Read more

Georgia’s “Education” Lottery Proving to Be Hopeless

The New York Times ran a major story on Friday about the tenuous future of the Hope Scholarship program- a merit-based college scholarship program funded by the financial losses of Georgia’s working poor. The money gets redistributed thanks to the… Read more

Eyes Wide Shut

Professor Fred Gottheil, a faculty member in the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois, writes a powerful opinion piece on government and predatory gambling in The Springfield Journal-Register, the state capitol’s newspaper. Read it below:  Hockey is a… Read more

60 Minutes takes on predatory gambling this Sunday night

The national news program 60 Minutes will be broadcasting their segment about predatory gambling in America this Sunday night, Jan. 9th. It will have a special focus on electronic gambling machines. As you know, predatory gambling is a major issue that… Read more

National expert on predatory gambling weighs in on the potential of Illinois becoming the number one predatory gambling state in the country

Dr. John W. Kindt, a professor of business and legal policy at Illinois, has been one of the nation’s leading experts about the predatory gambling business in America for nearly twenty years. Check out his interview about the latest predatory… Read more

Where does the $330 million “jackpot” come from?

As the media loses its normal sense of sobriety as tonight’s MegaMillions drawing nears, one important question remains unanswered amid all the news coverage: where does the $330 million “jackpot” come from? It all comes from money that has been lost by other Americans,… Read more

The facts clearly prove the North Carolina Lottery is a failed public policy

In yet another expose about how the government program of predatory gambling is a failed public policy, The Winston-Salem Journal (NC) editorial board unmasks the North Carolina Lottery  Here it is: The looming state budget crisis that threatens to land a staggering… Read more

It’s official: the Sport of Kings is dead

Horse racing has long been described as “the sport of kings.” But for the last twenty years, in the face of declining interest in horse racing, track owners have spent their resources adding slot machines and other gimmicks to make… Read more

Blizzard shuts down nearly all of state government but the Lottery sleds on

Across the northeast today, government leaders have declared a state of emergency as a massive blizzard roars through the region. All nonemergency state and city workers were ordered to stay home. Yet despite the severe blizzard, at least one government… Read more

Oregon Lottery’s holiday advertising campaign sinks to new low

The Oregon Lottery is running a new ad campaign this holiday season, “What’s in Santa’s Beard?“  It adds more momentum to the emerging national push to stop lottery advertising and end its exemption from truth-in-advertising laws. Look at the ads below… Read more

No One Should Stand Alone

Oregon, a state with a very aggressive predatory gambling program, recently recognized Problem Gambling Awareness Day. It was the result of effective advocacy by Oregon citizens standing up for those who have been victimized by this government program. The activities of… Read more

Host a party to watch 60 Minutes spotlight predatory gambling

The national news program 60 Minutes has been working hard for a long time on a segment about predatory gambling in America with a specific focus on electronic gambling machines. The segment is scheduled to air in 2011. We are… Read more

Report shows N.C. lottery sales thrive in the state’s poorest counties

A new report from NC Policy Watch shows that North Carolina lottery sales tend to be higher per capita in counties where poverty is also high. Read the full story here. Of the $1.4 billion spent on the lottery tickets… Read more

Predatory internet gambling bill appears to be dead for 2010

From The Las Vegas Review Journal: Gamblers and casino interests are throwing in their cards as prospects to legalize poker gambling over the Internet are all but dead for this year in Congress. Even though only days remain in the… Read more

Leaked memo shows a glimpse of casino business practices

Tina Detelj of WTNH in Connecticut gets the exclusive on a leaked memo from Mohegan Sun that offers a glimpse into casino business practices. The memo included a reference to the casino’s push for its employees to “Sex It Up.” You can… Read more

Predatory Gambling Victim Needs Our Help Today

SPG Foundation Executive Director Les Bernal just returned from visiting Arelia Taveras in a New York jail. Arelia was once a highly-successful attorney who became a gambling addict – in the language of the casinos she was “played to extinction” –… Read more

“Carcieri fix” rider inserted into the U.S. House Continuing Resolution last Wednesday

On Wednesday night, the United States House of Representatives approved a $1.1 trillion continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the federal government through September 30, 2011. A Continuing Resolution was Congress’ last resort as it failed to pass any of… Read more

New Jersey bill doesn’t “reform” casino regulations – it destroys them

Below is a must-read column written by former N.J. Casino Commission member Carl Zeitz that appears in today’s Press of Atlantic City newspaper. It is a response to the push by predatory gambling interests to emasculate New Jersey’s oversight of casinos…. Read more

The latest in the intense push to legalize predatory internet gambling

Liz Benston of The Las Vegas Sun has the best news report thus far on the latest in the intense push to legalize internet gambling during the present lame duck session in Congress. Check it out here.  UPDATED: Politico also… Read more

Congress should defeat bid to legalize predatory internet gambling

Aides to Senator Harry Reid  have indicated he intends to push a rider during the present lame duck situation to legalize predatory internet gambling. It is the equivalent of opening a casino in every home, office and dorm room, twenty-four hours… Read more

Arizona fights against push for urban casino

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer filed a legal brief Friday in support of Glendale’s challenge to a federal decision to designate land near the city’s sports and entertainment district as an Indian reservation. The Tohono O’odham Nation plans to build a casino and… Read more

Why Predatory Gambling is Like No Other Business

In his recent keynote speech to the Global Gaming Expo, Harrah’s CEO Gary Loveman took exception to the way his business is considered by the public. He titled his remarks: “The Stockholm Syndrome: Why Addressing the Misinformation that Plagues Gaming… Read more

Garden State Needs to Bury “Casino Reform” Bill

Wall Street ratings company Moody’s Investors Service said yesterday the New Jersey’s Legislature’s fast-tracked proposal to help Atlantic City’s casinos would add up to a “zero-sum game” because predatory gambling revenue would simply go “in one pocket and out the other.” The government… Read more

Aqueduct jobs come from out-of-state but its profits will come from the neighborhood

Local political leaders in the Queens borough of New York pushed through a deal to legalize slot machines at Aqueduct horse track in the name of jobs for their constituents. Now with its slots license in hand, the overseas casino… Read more

Who knew the Garden of Eden was really a casino?

To get their something-for-nothing schemes passed, predatory gambling operators rely on relentlessly promoting their very tall tales. But even by their own standards, the “artist’s rendering” of the proposed Catskills casino may be among the tallest tales of all. The citizens of… Read more

Slot machine designers target kids

International Gaming Technology, the biggest maker of slot machines, offered previews of the company’s machines based on “American Idol” and “The Dark Knight” at last week’s Global Gaming Expo. There can be no question who the target audience is for these machines…. Read more

More facts why casinos don’t create economic prosperity except for those who own them

Pat Loontjer, Executive Director of Nebraska’s opposition group to predatory gambling “Gambling with the Good Life”, has published a must-read opinion piece in The Omaha World Herald. Check it out below: “Casinos won’t aid economy” Repeat after me: Casinos do not… Read more

Backpedaling starts already in Ohio

Predatory gambling interests recently spent more than $60 million on an Ohio  referendum to promote a false narrative that legalizing casinos would bring back the state’s fading job base and revive some of its cities. It is a false narrative because casinos milk… Read more

Arkansas Lottery director scolded by legislators

From Arkansas News: An Arkansas state audit has revealed a variety of deficiencies in how the Arkansas lottery is being run, and one legislator told the lottery director he “would be gone” if he led any other state agency. Members… Read more

Virginia newspaper on the mark with editorial opposing predatory gambling

The Virginian Pilot newspaper has a strong editorial today against expanding predatory gambling in their state. The media plays a critical role in exposing the deceptions and falsehoods spread by the predatory gambling interests and we applaud their staff for… Read more

Governor-elect Cuomo must act against secret New York casino scheme

The New York Times reports that lame duck New York State Governor David Paterson is near an agreement with an out-of-state Indian tribe to build a full-scale casino in Sullivan County only 90 miles from Manhattan. As is typical with… Read more

The government program that considers Asian-Americans expendable

Philadelphia community leader Helen Gym writes a must-read column on her Young Philly politics blog. Read it below and consider how the government program of predatory gambling squares with America’s core democratic principles: Remember how Chinatown made that big ole fuss… Read more

Leaderless in Illinois

Predatory gambling profits in Illinois are in a free fall. The state already has an aggressive state Lottery, nine casinos (a tenth is on the way) and recently passed a proposal to turn bars and restaurants across the state into… Read more

When the facts don’t support their answer, gambling interests change the question

For almost twenty years, racetrack owners across the country have pushed for slot machines at their facilities in the name of “saving jobs at the tracks.” Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on PR and public affairs work… Read more

California city rejects casino push

Despite millions of dollars spent by predatory gambling interests on media and public affairs to drive their deceptive message, the citizens of Richmond soundly rejected a bid to bring a casino into their community. Led by a thoughtful mayor who… Read more

The Most Predatory Business in America Now Also Runs Its Own Coerce-The-Vote operation

When it comes to the nation’s elections and legislative process, the mantra for gambling interests has always been “Let Us Buy the Vote!” But now, in its relentless quest to legalize internet gambling and with its Initial Public Offering looming,… Read more

What other government program produces this result?

The Philadelphia Inquirer puts a spotlight (again) on how the government program of predatory gambling impacts children and how these new social costs are billed to taxpayers. Read below: “Turns out the Parx Casino doesn’t have a monopoly on gamblers… Read more

“Gambling-addicted governments enslaving others”

A must-read column today by Susan Martinuk of The Calgary Herald. Read it below: Most of us don’t wake up each morning wondering what we can do to lose a lot of money today. But, apparently, a growing proportion of Canadians do and,… Read more

Rendell’s something-for-nothing scheme leaves Pennsylvania in a fiscal mess

Outgoing Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell’s primary legacy will be the introduction of casinos across the state. To sell his predatory gambling plan politically, he tied it to “tax relief.” So what does the future look like for the state’s taxpayers… Read more

Updated results from predatory gambling election measures

Here’s the latest results on key predatory gambling election measures from across America: 1) Oregon: Non-Tribal Casino Measure Goes Down To Defeat 2) Missouri: Cape Girardeau approves casinos 3) California: Richmond voters appear opposed to $1B casino 4) Maryland: Anne Arundel voters… Read more

Give them their money back

Yesterday, Courthouse News Service’s Tracey Walsh published this must-read story from Alabama: On the heels of corruption indictments against Alabama state senators and lobbyists involving electronic bingo, hundreds of bingo players sued the Macon County Greyhound Park aka Victoryland, claiming… Read more

Nothing sweet about Sugar House casino in Philly

Many well-intentioned media professionals write about casinos yet do not visit them frequently nor do they lose their own money inside casinos. They have little understanding of the casino business model, their “products” and “services” and their highly predatory marketing… Read more

The voices are loud and clear from both coasts

In a demonstration how the issue of predatory gambling extends across the entire U.S., here are two must-read items from Sunday’s papers: one from Maine’s Morning Sentinel  which spotlights why casinos represent failed public policy in that state and the… Read more

Casinos continue to bilk taxpayers

Hillary Chabot of The Boston Herald writes an important follow up story about how welfare recipients are using their Electronic Benefits Transfer cards at casinos. It follows on the heels of the recent Los Angeles Times report that found California… Read more

Indictments Reflect Emerging Pay to Prey Political Culture

Below is the statement issued by Stop Predatory Gambling on today’s federal indictments in the Alabama gambling vote-buying scheme:   “Today’s indictments reflect America’s emerging “pay to prey” political culture. Casinos are the most predatory business in the nation and they have escaped scrutiny… Read more

The push for more tribal casinos continues

This news article by a pro-tribal casino media source provides a window into the swirling political winds involving the intense push for off-reservation Indian casinos. Casino interests are now the biggest spending political players in America – six out of ten… Read more

Indiana Supreme Court Exempts Casinos from State Common Law

Yesterday the Indiana Supreme Court ruled against a woman who said a riverboat preyed on her gambling addiction. Jenny Kephart of Nashville, Tenn., filed a lawsuit against Caesars Indiana in 2007 after the Ohio River casino near Louisville, Ky., sued… Read more

Leading the way

Josh McCanless, a citizen leader in Missouri, wrote a passionate, fact-based op-ed about the government program of predatory gambling in The Southeast Missourian today. The people who are going to get America heading in the right direction will come from… Read more

Missouri casino revenue is not going to fund education as promised

To help pass casino and lottery legislation, predatory gambling interests run PR campaigns promoting how their profits will benefit the public yet in the end, it seldom ever happens. In Missouri, they promised their profits would go to fund education… Read more

An Iceberg of Greed Sinking Foxwoods Casino

For more than ten years, Jeff Benedict has been one of the most articulate and politically astute leaders to stop predatory gambling in America. Today, he published a must read op-ed in The Hartford Courant about the dire situation facing… Read more

Stupid Policy Leads to Stupid Behavior

A story out of Pennsylvania today describes a new legislative effort to punish parents who go to area casinos and leave behind their children in the car. The push comes after there were seven cases involving 12 children left in… Read more

Your Midnight Ride to Riches!

Tom Mashberg writes an entertaining opinion piece in The Boston Herald mocking the push by predatory gambling interests to build casinos at major historical landmarks across America. “It should be clear by now that our wealth of past glories is… Read more

Forgetting what they did there

This week the Pennsylvania Gambling Control Board is holding public hearings on a proposed casino in Gettysburg – a place where more than 50,000 men were killed, wounded or captured in one of the most important events in American history. More… Read more

Saying it loud and clear

Charlie Pierce, the talented journalist who writes for the Boston Globe Magazine, has an excellent column this week unmasking those who advocate for slot machines to save “jobs.” Pierce writes: “If slots can save the racing industry, why not all… Read more

Profiting by pushing their fans into deeper debt

Officials from the four major professional sports franchises in the Boston area – the Red Sox, the Patriots, the Celtics and the Bruins – gathered together yesterday to heap praise on their business partnership with the State Lottery to sell… Read more

The Expendable Children

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a powerful, must-read editorial about the amount of children being found left in cars at Philadelphia area casinos. These kids are simply the cost of doing business for the government program of predatory gambling.

Sooners are getting swindled

In a news story that reads like a press release written by casino interests, The Oklahoman reports that state revenues from Indian gambling have soared in recent years, largely due to the success of casinos operated by the Chickasaw, Choctaw… Read more

A stuffed horse will never win the Triple Crown

For at least fifteen years, horse track owners across the country have relentlessly lobbied state legislatures to give them slot machines. They said they needed slots for the preservation of horse racing, the employment of the horsemen, and for the… Read more

How the daily voice of government wants us to change the world

The ad below from the Washington Lottery asks us “whose world can you change? Every bird should get a chance to fly.” One out of five of Americans now think the best way to achieve financial security is to play… Read more

New York Times online op-ed and Stop Predatory Gambling

The New York Times is holding a discussion forum on internet gambling in their online opinion section. SPG contributed an op-ed which appears below: Internet gambling is one of the most predatory businesses in the world which is why public… Read more

The Economist hosts a debate on gambling

Over the past week The Economist has been conducting a debate on whether government should have no restrictions on gambling. Stop Predatory Gambling was invited to make the case against the proposition. Here are the opening statements, the rebuttal statements… Read more

What we own is broken and it’s up to us to fix it

News about another massive public corruption scandal spread across America yesterday. This time in New Jersey. It comes on the heels of other recent corruption scandals, extreme examples of mismanagement and inept leadership from around the country including Illinois, California, Pennsylvania,… Read more

Soaking the Lottery Class and the Investor Class

Below is yet another example of the daily voice of government to most Americans, this time from the North Carolina “Education” Lottery. Today, one out of five Americans believe the best way to achieve long-term financial security is to play… Read more

Casinos put people on welfare and profit from welfare

California casinos continue to reel from news reports that the state’s casinos are profiting from the gambling losses of welfare recipients using taxpayer-funded debit cards. How did the casinos respond? They expressed surprise that the ATMs can be used by… Read more

Casinos are worse than nothing

The Boston Globe has an excellent story this morning about how predatory gambling continues to expand once it enters a state. Why during these severe economic times does government continue encouraging its citizens to lose their money instead of urging… Read more

Tax collector becomes another victim of “voluntary taxation”

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a somber story about Michael O’Neill, a local tax collector who embezzled $225,000 to feed a gambling addiction at the Parx Casino just outside of Philadelphia. Many public officials defend the government program of predatory gambling… Read more

How you pay even if you do not play

The federal government has awarded $54 million to Connecticut’s politically well-connected Mohegan Indian tribe, which operates one of the highest grossing casinos in the U.S. The Mohegan tribe, which owns the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn., has been awarded… Read more

Casino interests continue to use Native American tribes to force their way into communities

The New York Times is reporting the Obama administration has approved the Shinnecock Indians on Long Island for federal recognition on Tuesday, culminating a court battle lasting three decades and paving the way for the tribe to build a casino… Read more

A huge ripoff even by the standards of a business based on ripoffs

The Baltimore Sun reports Maryland state government agreed this week to pay nearly $50 million to buy about 1,000 slot machines for the planned Cecil County casino. Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, a longtime leader against the government program of predatory… Read more

Racial profiling, casino-style

East Coast casinos are intensifying their targeting of Asian-Americans in an effort to get them to lose more money. They are hiring directors of Asian-American player development, expanding dining areas and menus, and spending money on foreign-language advertising in newspapers… Read more

Turning love your neighbor as yourself into the American Way

The Dallas Morning News has a terrific story this week in which they ask area faith leaders this question: If Texas is looking at cutting spending on education, health care, and other vital services, is it wrong to turn to… Read more

The next story that needs to be written

The Erie Times (PA) has a report about a local man who was denied a $2001 jackpot at Presque Isle Downs & Casino because he put himself on the state’s self-exclusion list. He now faces a summary criminal trespass charge…. Read more

Integrity and lotteries are mutually exclusive

A Florida woman is suing the Florida Lottery over its refusal to pay a $500,000 prize on an allegedly misprinted ticket. Ann Marie Curcio received the $20 ticket from her husband for Mother’s Day in 2007. But when they tried… Read more

The truth still the same 18 years later

The Hartford Courant, the largest daily newspaper in a state with two of the biggest casinos in the world, published an editorial yesterday with the headline “Is gambling worth it?” It strongly questions whether the small percentage of overall budget… Read more

Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes rips predatory gambling

Last night Andy Rooney took aim at the government program of predatory gambling and scored a direct hit. Here are his comments: “I have good news for you tonight. According to an American Gaming Association report, revenue from casino gambling… Read more

Staying on the predatory gambling story

Philadelphia Citypaper newsman Isaiah Thompson, the reporter behind what may be the best investigate news story into the business practices of the predatory gambling trade to date, predicts this week how Pennsylvania will attempt to fund its billion-dollar budget shortfall…. Read more

An avoidable tragedy in New Mexico

A heart-wrenching story from The Albuquerque Journal: The countdown to Kathy Borrego’s judgment day had already begun. In less than 55 hours, she would be standing in front of state District Judge Stephen Pfeffer to find out her punishment for… Read more

Deadbeat optimists

The Miami New Times has a terrific cover story this week portraying the business and politics around predatory gambling in Florida, all done with the government’s blessing. It is a must-read.  Within the story, the reporter described a frequent casino… Read more

Swindling the Lottery Class for every last dollar

Lottery players across the United States purchasing Powerball tickets with the Power Play option will have a chance to increase their “winnings” by ten times starting May 1. But like everything connected with the government program of predatory gambling, there is… Read more

Big Deception will win the Derby

On the eve of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, much is being written about the economic decline for horse racing. Money bet on horse races, known as the handle, is off nearly 30 percent, to $12 billion in 2009. Casino interests have… Read more

Why does our government consider this man less equal?

A Massachusetts firefighter/­paramedic was arrested for embezzling $46,000 from his labor union’s bank account to feed a gambling addiction at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. As the 35-year old firefighter was arraigned in court, the defendant’s elderly father watched from the… Read more

Going head to head with porn nowhere to be found in the Constitution

The New York Times has a story about Off Track Betting, another example of the government program of predatory gambling in action. Despite losses of tens of millions of dollars, the New York OTB’s board of directors voted to keep… Read more

Nothing sensible about the government program of predatory gambling

A hospital nurse, curious about what tipped patients into suicidal crisis, prompted a screening program in an Australian hospital’s emergency department. The program’s findings are depressingly stark: problem gamblers made up almost one in five of the 898 suicidal patients… Read more

Goldman Sachs and the Las Vegas ethic

Many policy makers and members of the news media regularly draw on images of “casino” capitalism, which is front and center again as controversy swirls around Goldman Sachs. The critique is implicit in the image/metaphor. But they rarely apply the same scrutiny… Read more

Federal Reserve Bank study reaffims the truth

A Federal Reserve research paper just released Thursday stated that Pennsylvania casinos are not revitalizing local communities as gambling interests promised. In Philadelphia in particular, the local benefits of casinos could be outweighed by costs such as increases in pathological gambling,… Read more

The state lottery business plan in its full glory

The California Lottery announced yesterday it is increasing the prize pool for the scratch tickets it sells to increase its profits. Higher prize pool (i.e. payout percentage) = more people win = more people put their winnings back into scratch… Read more

Thrill-seeking dreamers

While states like Massachusetts are hotly debating whether to bring casinos into their states, the Orlando Sentinel has a story about another major element to the government program of predatory gambling: the Lottery. The Florida Lottery “has shelled out millions”… Read more

The most predatory business in America today

SPG executive director Les Bernal has a column about predatory gambling in today’s Boston Globe.  We urge you to check it out.

We Can Do It

America was once a country that ran public campaigns using now classic images like Rosie the Riveter, with her biceps flexed declaring “We can do it” – an icon symbolizing a generation of people we now call “the Greatest Generation…. Read more

The reality of how much public funding actually comes from lotteries

Rachel Norton, a San Francisco School Board member, recently wrote an excellent post on why the Lottery has failed as a public policy: “…I was chagrined to read in the PAC/PPS report that more than a few people are still… Read more

Whatever happened to Reinventing Government?

In the early 1990’s, David Osborn wrote a book titled Reinventing Government which for a time received significant national acclaim for its ideas on how to make government work better. The energy around reinventing government was so infectious in the… Read more

Awakening our conscience requires understanding

The Boston Globe reports this morning that the Massachusetts House will not hold a public hearing on a bill to legalize casinos and racinos in the state that was released yesterday. The government program of predatory gambling is one of… Read more

The Glitch

A Colorado woman won $42 million at a penny slot machine but the casino says it was a “glitch” and will not give her the money. This story adds even more credibility to the description of slot machines as a… Read more

You are the media

Here is an excellent example of how citizens are exposing the truth about predatory gambling in a very persuasive way. This brief video was put together by a woman in Massachusetts who continues to be very active in the state fight… Read more

Casinos look to end their support for racing

Liz Benston of The Las Vegas Sun has a story this week about how casinos are trying to shed greyhound racing as part of their predatory gambling operations because it is no longer profitable. Casino gambling would not exist in… Read more

Why you pay higher taxes because of predatory gambling

The Morning Call, a newspaper based in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, ran a story yesterday revealing that much of the roughly $4.8 million a week being lost at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem is likely coming from people who are poor. According… Read more

You pay whether you play or not

Legislation that would allow the imposition of a new gross receipts tax in New Mexico’s Lincoln County has been signed into law. Revenues from the potential tax would finance a casino tax credit for the Ruidoso Downs Race Track and… Read more

Predatory gambling receives poor grade in new poll results

The Day newspaper in Connecticut reports about a national survey on predatory gambling by PublicMind, Fairleigh Dickinson University’s research center. Here are some of the findings: A majority of those with an opinion on the subject think casinos hurt local… Read more

There are no snow days in this government program

Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Monica Yant Kinney writes a first-class story exposing the most predatory business in America. Here are a couple of the most remarkable excerpts in which she quotes the President of the former Philadelphia Park racetrack now known… Read more

Florida reporter exposes the Lottery’s highly predatory practices

Reporter Lindsay Peterson of The Tampa Tribune wrote one of the best investigative stories on the lottery that has appeared anywhere in America in recent years. Read it here. Some of the story’s highlights include: “The state pays millions to… Read more

The Expendable Americans

The government program of predatory gambling is dependent on addicted or heavily-indebted citizens. Predatory gambling operators attempt to elude charges of exploitation by pleading it is a “voluntary” act, hiding under the cloak of “freedom.” But by definition, someone who… Read more

Now the Symbol of Phony Prosperity

Over the weekend there was a news story about the Bethlehem (PA) casino, built on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel- once a symbol of America’s industrial might. It was supposed to be a “destination resort casino” yet they… Read more

Another victim of predatory gambling speaks out

Kent Glowinski, an attorney and former gambling addict, speaks out against the government program of predatory gambling. Glowinski rightly argues that government is unwilling to aggressively stop the predatory business practices used by casinos because it depends on the revenue…. Read more

The government program like no other

The Las Vegas Sun reported yet another lawsuit has been filed involving Harrah’s for its unparalleled predatory business practices. Christian Peterson, a 41-year old Wisconsin business owner, has testified that Harrah’s pressured him into signing a $3.45 million loan- known… Read more

The Regeneration

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman wrote an excellent column yesterday about what will be required to face the serious economic challenges in front of us:  “Our parents truly were the Greatest Generation. We, alas, in too many ways, have… Read more

America is becoming the world’s biggest casino republic

The San Jose Mercury News reported this week that six of the top 10 largest donors to political causes nationwide were Indian casino tribes, spending a total of $160 million, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics study. The… Read more

Philadelphia puts the casinos on trial

Today, thirteen Philadelphia citizens arrested in a highly-publicized but peaceful demonstration against the government program of predatory gambling were found not guilty. The citizens had lined the entrance to the proposed SugarHouse casino site which recently started construction. The Sugarhouse… Read more

Lotteries are part of government and not a private business

Georgia lawmakers are pushing the Georgia Lottery Corp. to end its practice of handing out bonuses when teachers and state workers experience furloughs and no salary increases. The Georgia Lottery handed out nearly $3 million in bonuses to its staffers… Read more

Casino lets man gamble and lose for 23 hours straight

Yesterday in Massachusetts a top executive of the Mohegan Sun Casino helped release recommendations for dealing with problem gamblers if casinos are legalized in the Bay State. For public relations purposes, casinos spend tens of millions of dollars trying to… Read more

Casino ownership is about loving yourself more than your neighbor

Today’s New York Times has a story about a politically influential African American pastor in New York City who is an investor in a soon-to-be Queens casino. The casino business model and its business practices are predicated on greed, deceit… Read more

Problem machines. Not problem gamblers.

Yesterday there was another major story about the amount of injuries being inflicted by casinos and slot machines. “Slot machines produce a trance-like state,” said Wiley Harwell, executive director of the Oklahoma Association for Problem and Compulsive Gambling. “People lose… Read more

Turning the American Dream into a something-for-nothing scheme

Nearly every state Attorney General in America has sued subprime lenders for their predatory lending practices. Congress acted to roll back the predatory practices of credit card companies. Yet across the country, there is a massive effort to expand the… Read more

How much does he use and lose on electronic gambling machines?

Mobile County (Alabama) District Attorney John Tyson questioned whether Milton McGregor, who operates more than 6,000 electronic bingo machines at Victoryland casino in Shorter, Alabama, crossed a legal line when he hired a detective to recently follow a state law… Read more

New Jersey gives casinos even more political power

The New York Times recently reported that New Jersey lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow state officials to get jobs working for firms that work for casinos immediately after leaving office. Currently, state employees and board members must… Read more

First-rate reporting on the Lottery as a predatory institution

Pam Zubeck of the Colorado Spring Independent writes a terrific story this week on the Colorado Lottery. Zubeck writes: “In 2008, Carnegie Mellon University looked into why the jackpot dream seems particularly attractive to people with low incomes. Researchers found… Read more

The Swindle Flu

Workers are sanitizing Harrah’s Cherokee (NC) Casino after 200 people became ill at the facility. Officials at the casino said that those 200 people, which include both guests and employees, reported nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The Jackson County Health Department… Read more

Trading one something-for-nothing scheme for another

Guess where the FBI found a Massachusetts man fleeing federal charges for running a $28 million Ponzi scheme? A casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. The FBI tracked him to Mississippi after he left (yes, follow your instincts here)… Las Vegas. It… Read more

The palace of truth and justice

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell recently signed a new law expanding predatory gambling which included legalizing table games and allowing casinos to extend credit to players. In a media interview, Rendell believes his state didn’t have much choice since extending unsecured… Read more

Predatory gambling transforms 7th grade English teacher into Jesse James

A 49-year-old seventh grade English teacher in New Hampshire was arrested last week for robbing two banks in Massachusetts and one in Connecticut, walking away with as much as $3,000, police charge.  After robbing the bank in Plainfield, Conn., she… Read more

A republic if you can keep it

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, 1787, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin as he emerged from the long task now finished: “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” “A republic… Read more

Maine gears up for another fight against the predatory gambling trade

Predatory gambling interests turned in petitions yesterday aiming to force another referendum next year on whether to allow a casino in western Maine. Maine voters have repeatedly rejected such initiatives since 2003, when a proposal by two of the state’s… Read more

Kansas becomes a casino republic

Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City, Kansas yesterday. The casino opening is significant because it represents the first state-owned casino in America. Kansas state government is now “the house.”… Read more

NBA Commissioner misses big on predatory gambling comment

NBA Commissioner David Stern said in this Sports Illustrated interview that he is open to legalized betting on professional basketball games.It’s bad for the game of basketball and it’s bad for America. The casual bettor is not relevant to these… Read more

Financial losses, not winning, is the purpose of the new Sex in the City slot machines

The Las Vegas Sun reports about the new Sex in the City slot machine based on the hit TV show. According to the story: Although typical slot machines feature one screen of spinning reels, this game divides the screen into… Read more

Pennsylvania State Senator acknowledges casinos are predatory

Pennsylvania citizens opposed to predatory gambling have been working hard to defeat legislative efforts that would allow casinos in their state to extend credit to gamblers. The Philadelphia Inquirer has a report here. Predatory gambling opponents visited the West Philadelphia… Read more

The Chairman of the Expendable Americans caste

The Wall Street Journal has a MUST-READ story about Terrance Watanabe, the Nebraska man who lost nearly $127 million during a year-long gambling binge at the Caesars Palace and Rio casinos in 2007. The government is a full-fledged partner in… Read more

Our country cannot afford any more Bernie Madoff-style something-for-nothing schemes

Bloomberg News has a report about yesterday’s predatory internet gambling hearing before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee. According to the story:  A top Federal Bureau of Investigation official said internet-based poker games can be subject to manipulation. “There are… Read more

Turning America into a casino republic

The St. Regis Mohawks of New York voted last week to stop efforts to pursue a casino in Sullivan County, a news event we highlighted. But the tribe announced Monday that its election board nullified the results after determining that… Read more

Can we now say the slots user has zero chance?

The Las Vegas Sun has a news story today about new technology that will allow the first Vegas casino to network all of its slot machines on the floor, regardless of which company designed the machine. According to the report:… Read more

Wall Street executives would be right at home among State Lottery officials

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that a Georgia state senator has pre-filed a bill that would force lottery officials to get legislative approval before they hand out bonuses to staffers. The bill from Senate Majority Whip Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) would… Read more

Who really buys lottery tickets at airports?

Wayne County Airport Authority officials say a newly approved contract to sell state lottery products at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport will generate more revenue for the airport. The officials said contracts approved Tuesday will allow travelers to play instant lottery… Read more

Lottery items belong next to other examples of injustice from American history

The Kentucky Historical Society is adding some early items of the 20-year-old Kentucky Lottery to its collection. Here is an excerpt from the Louisville Courier Journal story: “We are trying to be pro-active in collecting materials that people see today… Read more

A money making scheme based on getting people into debt defaults on its own debt

Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, one of the world’s largest, has failed to make a full payment on its debt, leading to a default and another credit-rating downgrade to D, Moody’s lowest grade. According to the AP wire story, the… Read more

The Oregon Lottery is addicted to addicted gamblers

According to a news report by The Oregonian, a major newspaper in the state, more than half the money the Oregon Lottery collects from video gambling — about $375 million last year — comes from a small number of Oregonians,… Read more

The New Grinch

The Illinois Lottery is launching a new campaign to encourage people to buy lottery scratch tickets this holiday season. The campaign encourages people to “Joy Someone” by giving special holiday scratch-offs to the unsung heroes in their lives. Central to… Read more

Why do you think they called the movie American Casino?

The Baltimore Sun ran an article today about the recently released documentary American Casino which spotlights the shocking story of the subprime lending scandal, the U.S. financial system failure and how mortgage companies ripped off the poor. The filmmakers selected… Read more

Taking action against allowing casinos to extend credit to slot machine users

Philadelphia citizens are rightly challenging legislation that would allow casinos to extend easy credit to anyone playing a slot machine. They are organizing an action outside of State Senator Shirley Kitchen’s district office this afternoon at 1:30pm. Participating groups include:… Read more

They will not use their own product but they will sing their own theme song

Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut is looking for a new voice to resurrect its catchy “Wonder of It All” theme song and has launched an online “American Idol”-type contest. The contest is open to professionals and amateurs. To attract the… Read more

Who stands for the children of the Lottery Class?

Education advocates are pressing the Oregon Lottery Commission to reduce what they say are overly generous payouts to bars and taverns that host the state’s video gambling machines. Stand for Children and other groups say the lottery has provided excessive… Read more

The decision to support Go Lobo Loco was loco

In 2008, the University of New Mexico signed a contract with the Laguna Pueblo casino that called for $2.5 million in support for UNM athletics in exchange for the casino being able to use the UNM Lobos as part of… Read more

The new story line about the predatory gambling trade in America

The Massachusetts Legislature held a public hearing on casinos last week and not one of the gambling operators who testified denied that their business model, their product or their marketing was predatory. 1) They did not deny that casinos earn… Read more

Something for nothing schemes like predatory gambling require a lot of money to deceive voters and legislators

In 2008, nine states considered whether to replace declining revenues with money from gamblers. Voters in five states (Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maryland and Missouri) supported ballot measures that expanded gambling in their states. Alaska, Maine and Ohio voters rejected their… Read more

The best house in a really bad neighborhood

There’s more evidence the era of phony prosperity is over. Forbes runs a story today about how fears that casino visitors’ spending will not bounce back for the rest of this year left shares across the entire predatory gambling sector… Read more

The government program that profits from addicted and heavily indebted people

The Tennessee lottery is attempting to add the Mega Millions game to its lineup and will vote next Monday on the proposal. Rebecca Hargrove, CEO and president of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. said new innovations aren’t a reaction to… Read more

One of the most revealing reports about the predatory gambling trade you will ever read

Jim Rubens, leader of New Hampshire’s No Slots effort, distributed an excellent email summary of a must-read report released October 21. Here’s an excerpt from his email: Video slot machines became pervasive across almost the entire Australian nation by 1995…. Read more

If the public really wanted it, the predatory gambling trade would not need to spend $32 million to remind them

A pro-casino group in Ohio reports it has spent nearly $32 million promoting a fall ballot issue that would authorize casinos in the state’s four largest cities (and there is still twelve more days to go in the campaign.) A… Read more

The biggest nightmare for casinos? No casino ATMs

Global Cash Access, a Las Vegas company that operates ATM machines in casinos around the country, said Tuesday it’s working to resolve a problem in which about 40,000 customers nationwide were charged for cash withdrawals, but did not receive their… Read more

The spend enough money until you win strategy

For nearly 10 years, Maine voters have defeated referendums to legalize casinos yet the predatory gambling trade continues to come back again the next election cycle to push another casino referendum. This same strategy, replicated in other parts of the… Read more

Bono, you left out at least one important threat: extreme greed

Bono, lead singer for the rock band U2, published an opinion piece in Sunday’s New York Times about how, in his view, “America might just hold the keys to solving the three greatest threats we face on this planet: extreme… Read more

Casino capitalism only benefits the casino operators

The crisis on Wall Street- AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bernie Madoff and so on – are all part of what’s been called “casino capitalism” – using predatory practices and financial gimmicks to promote an illusion of free money, all at the… Read more

Innovative at pushing people into even deeper levels of debt

Margaret DeFrancisco, Georgia Lottery Corp. president and CEO, was selected to be the next president of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) this week. She will serve a one-year term in addition to her current role… Read more

But the winemaker drinks his own wine

Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut released an iPhone application this week that lets users play an electronic slot machine and offers tutorials on table games available at the casino. There’s no actual money involved. The application must be downloaded through Apple’s… Read more

Expanding the Lottery Class in Massachusetts

Massachusetts announced this week residents will be able to buy Powerball tickets as a result of a new agreement allowing the multistate lottery game to be offered in the state. Because Powerball and Mega Millions drawings are held on different… Read more

The Casino Olympics

Chicago may have lost its bid to host the Olympics but two Chicago aldermen, evidently bewildered by all the Olympic spirit, yesterday proposed to build a casino complex where the city had hoped to build an Olympic Village. The Olympics promote… Read more

Betraying the promise of America

A newly released report from the Nebraska Gamblers Assistance Program lists the average gambling debt of 250 people who sought gambling-treatment services in the last fiscal year at nearly $27,000. Most of the debt came as a result of citizens… Read more

Another example why Congress needs to act now against slot machines

A story from Pennsylvania provides us another look behind slot machines and the nefarious regulatory process surrounding them. Three people — including a former borough police officer — are accused in a plot to rig a slot machine at the… Read more

What other issue brings America together more than predatory gambling?

Citizens for Community Values, a socially conservative organization in Ohio visited the headquarters of liberal group ProgressOhio yesterday. The two organizations, diametrically opposed on most issues, have joined together to stop the predatory gambling proposal in their state. “It’s not… Read more

The only party that benefits from the Lottery are the people who own and promote the Lottery

The New York Daily News reports this morning about Curtis Sharp, winner of a large NY lottery jackpot back in 1982. For a time, Sharp was the most famous lottery winner in America courtesy of the NY Lottery which used… Read more

When talented political leadership takes on predatory gambling

Most people in elected office are either very good on the substantive, policy side or they are very good at the political side of things – possessing a keen political savvy. It is uncommon to find both qualities in a… Read more

A movement to restore economic principles and values

New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote a MUST READ column on America’s critical loss of economic values. And the first culprit he targets on the list is state-sponsored predatory gambling. Brooks writes: “Evidence of this shift in values is… Read more

Saving what was supposed to be the savior?

When casinos were legalized in Gary, Indiana, they were supposed to “save Gary.” Now, there are five casinos that stretch for 30 miles. Yet in a story that has been repeated over and over again across America, the casinos have… Read more

Stop Predatory Gambling reaches Taiwan

SPG was contacted in early August by the leader of a Taiwanese predatory gambling opposition group who was working to defeat a September 26th casino referendum in that country. They were looking for facts and talking points about predatory gambling… Read more

New report reveals government-sponsored predatory gambling adds to long-term budget problems

Here’s the must-read press release and the report: “State and local government revenues from authorized gambling operations declined by 2.8 percent from fiscal year 2008 to 2009, marking the first time those revenues have declined in over three decades, according… Read more

The Philadelphia Movement is a source of inspiration for us all

The Philadelphia City Paper ran an excellent story today about the growing movement to stop predatory gambling in that city that should be read by every concerned citizen across America. All successful social movements have had four pieces: education, legislation,… Read more

Ohio Supreme Court Strikes Down Slots Proposal

The Ohio Supreme Court did its part yesterday to help get the state and America back on the right track and reaffirm our founding democratic principles. In a 6-1 decision, the Court ruled that voters must have the chance to… Read more

The Top 10 Best Practices in the Predatory Gambling Trade

Yesterday, a “Best Practices in the Gambling Industry” conference sponsored by the predatory gambling trade was held at Suffolk Downs racetrack in Boston. Here are the trade’s Top 10 “Best Practices”: 1) Base your business model on 90% of the… Read more

State-sponsored predatory gambling defies the Constitution

Yesterday was Constitution Day, a day celebrating the creation of the U.S. Constitution signed on September 17, 1787. One of the Constitution’s most vital missions, established clearly in its preamble, is “to promote the general welfare.” State-sponsored predatory gambling violates… Read more

Bernie Madoff must have Neil Bluhm envy

Billionaire “something for nothing” investor Neil Bluhm and his financing proposal for a casino in downtown Philadelphia received approval yesterday from the Pennsylvania Gambling Commission. Bernie Madoff went to prison for his role in what has been called “casino capitalism”… Read more

One of the undeniable truths about predatory gambling

Our growing movement to stop predatory gambling is the most diverse social movement in America. The reason for our opposition is not based on partisanship: we are non-partisan and our movement is made up of people whose views span the… Read more

A police escort for scratch tickets?

Most states are facing severe budget problems yet in Arkansas, the State Lottery Director just paid for a police escort for a truckload of new scratch tickets. Read the story here. How can any reasonable person, from whatever place on… Read more

Will Indiana lead the way to stop predatory gambling?

Indiana is about to experience the reality of a something for nothing scheme which is more commonly described as “casino capitalism.” As surrounding states like Michigan, Ohio and Illinois all consider adding more extreme forms of predatory gambling into their… Read more

Rosie the Riveter never relied on gimmicks and false hope

The Bethlehem Sands casino, built on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel which was once a symbol of America’s industrial might, asked the state of Pennsylvania for more slot machines yesterday. When the casino was proposed, the something for… Read more

New York Times spotlights state-sponsored predatory gambling

The New York Times ran a must-read story about how states are facing a drop in their revenues from predatory gambling. According to the story: “The data shows that states take a real chance in depending on gambling because this… Read more

Protect and serve is now the responsibility of Florida grocery clerks

In yet another example of how extreme our nation has become in promoting state-sponsored predatory gambling, the Florida Lottery is installing free standing lottery scratch ticket machines and will put the responsibility of preventing children from buying the tickets on… Read more

The predatory gambling mission of New York: Outperform pornography

New York Governor David Paterson ordered the New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. to prepare for a reorganization under Chapter 9 of federal bankruptcy law, after four years of losses totaling $38 million. The filing, the first involving a New… Read more

What happens when one something for nothing schemer collides with another?

A Las Vegas casino is suing accused swindler Allen Stanford for repayment of a gambling debt of more than a quarter million dollars, according to court papers. The Bellagio Casino seeks to recover the $258,480 debt Stanford accrued in January… Read more

Florida families are being denied a chance to live the real American Dream

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said he heard the concerns that lawmakers are raising about the predatory gambling compact that he signed Monday with the Seminole Tribe but said he hopes that the Legislature will ratify it anyway. Crist said. “I… Read more

Predatory gambling supporters lose one of their products

A candidate for Massachusetts governor recently said a key part of his platform will be to promote more predatory gambling in the form of legalized sports betting like Delaware did. Yet according to a news report today: “A federal appeals… Read more

Racial profiling, Lottery-style

Jodie Winnett, acting superintendent of the Illinois Lottery, reinforces the truth why the Lottery is the most predatory institution still standing in America in this news story from Abraham Lincoln’s hometown newspaper. According to the news report: “…the state on… Read more

The daily voice of government to most Americans

Lottery advertising is the daily voice of government. During these severe economic times, is the daily voice of government persuading people to buy saving bonds so they can get out of debt and accumulate the capital they need to live… Read more

How is offering free slots play not predatory?

The Connecticut Attorney General announced yesterday the state’s two Native American casinos will pay the state $25 million in slot revenues to compensate for promotions that allowed gamblers to use slot machines for free. State officials said Foxwoods offered some… Read more

Illinois is asking the right questions about video poker

Yesterday, the Illinois Gambling Board publicly shared some of its analysis about efforts to place 45,000 video poker machines in every bar and tavern in the state. One Board member described it as “the equivalent of putting up 50 new casinos… Read more

Be sure to touch the magnificent cloth

Public discussions around predatory gambling continue to focus mostly on superficial aspects like how “momentum is building for slot machines” yet there is virtually no analysis of the product or business model for which “momentum is building.” This story from… Read more

Texas Lottery using back door efforts to expand predatory gambling

The Texas Lottery is considering some rule changes that will make the Lottery even more predatory.  The proposed rule changes would allow retailers to sell what essentially amount to electronic scratch off tickets.  Called “terminally printed instant tickets,” these games… Read more

Good intentions and predatory gambling money are mutually exclusive

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh media ran a story how four charities accepted $34,000 each from the recently opened casino in that city. The charities were the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Allegheny General Hospital and the… Read more

How do scratch ticket vending machines promote the general welfare?

During the push to legalize the North Carolina Lottery in 2005, one of the primary arguments made by lottery proponents was it would “recapture” the money some citizens were spending on neighboring state lotteries. But the reality of state-sponsored predatory… Read more

Ohio attempts to exploit its younger generation

Even though Ohio citizens have voted four times against legalizing casinos in their state, state officials found a legally questionable way to bring them into Ohio through executive order. Now state officials want the legal age to use slot machines… Read more

The need to publicly investigate casino databases

The Las Vegas Sun published two good stories this morning that highlight the need for public officials and citizens to put an intense spotlight on the players clubs rewards system that is the backbone for the casino marketing machine. The… Read more

There is one winner in the predatory gambling trade

Atlantic City casinos are now asking for New Jersey state government to create a $20 million annual marketing fund to be used on their behalf. They want taxpayer dollars to help aggressively market their casinos so that citizens can lose… Read more

An Inconvenient Truth About Lottery Funding

Today’s Denver Post has an interview with Lise Aangeenbrug, Executive Director of Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO). GOCO receives 50% of the proceeds from the Colorado Lottery and invests it in open space, parks and wildlife habitats. The Lottery is its… Read more

Manifest Destiny and Predatory Gambling

Manifest Destiny is a term that was used in the 19th century to designate the belief that the United States was destined, even divinely ordained, to expand across the North American continent, from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean…. Read more

But does she use the product frequently?

Cleveland lawyer Kathleen Burke was announced yesterday as the new executive director of the Ohio Lottery Commission. Burke’s background “in litigation with high financial stakes should help her on the job.” She steps in just as efforts get under way… Read more

But does she use the product frequently?

Cleveland lawyer Kathleen Burke was announced yesterday as the new executive director of the Ohio Lottery Commission. Burke’s background “in litigation with high financial stakes should help her on the job.” She steps in just as efforts get under way… Read more

Life, liberty and the pursuit of debt

“States end up losers in gambling pullback” reads the headline in today’s Wall Street Journal. The story highlights how many states who have embraced predatory gambling as a revenue source are facing even worse budget problems. Because states are so… Read more

To achieve our potential as a nation, we need to disrupt these practices

A former casino employee was arrested yesterday for hacking into a Pennsylvania casino’s computer system. He is accused of disrupting the Mount Airy Casino’s computer system, including access cards used for gambling. These access cards are more commonly referred to… Read more

To achieve our potential as a nation, we need to disrupt these practices

A former casino employee was arrested yesterday for hacking into a Pennsylvania casino’s computer system. He is accused of disrupting the Mount Airy Casino’s computer system, including access cards used for gambling. These access cards are more commonly referred to… Read more

This teenager’s rating was E for “Expendable”

Our country’s core democratic principle is equal citizenship. All blood is royal in America. Below read today’s news from Atlantic City and while you do, remember New Jersey state government is a full-fledged partner in these practices:  “He liked playing… Read more

New York Giants (and the NFL) make a giant mistake

The New York Daily News reports the New York Giants football team has agreed to place the Connecticut Lottery’s logo on their practice jerseys as part of a contractual agreement that will also put the Giants logo on a $5… Read more

What exactly are the “values” of a casino company?

The Omaha World-Herald ran a story over the weekend about the new general manager at the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The casino is just over the state border from Omaha. The story said the new GM looks… Read more

Congress needs to turn off the power button for all the machines

An electric power outage temporarily shut down 3700 slot machines at a Pennsylvania racino yesterday. Despite the presence of more than 800,000 electronic gambling machines across the country – 1 for every 395 Americans – and the major role these… Read more

It depends how you define integrity, Minnesota

Six store clerks pled guilty in Minnesota yesterday after trying to cash for themselves what they thought were winning lottery tickets presented by undercover customers. The pleas “send a clear message to retailers to maintain integrity in these games,” says… Read more

It would not have been “difficult” for Horace Mann

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley said yesterday the decision to cut the state’s Lottery advertising budget was a “difficult” one.  Maryland uses lottery revenues to help fund public education. Consider how the father of America’s system of public education, Horace Mann,… Read more

The predatory gambling movement heats up in Arkansas

Check out this news story about the South Carolina Lottery. Here’s an excerpt: “A review of demographic studies commissioned by the South Carolina Education Lottery, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows that although low-income and minority groups may… Read more

Why not really measure public opinion on predatory gambling?

I wrote a brief post on a state blog yesterday which is relevant to every state debating predatory gambling. When the media polls the issue of predatory gambling, the polling question is nearly always oversimplified or mischaracterizes the position of… Read more

I know what Sam Adams would do with a casino ATM

Yesterday a woman was arrested at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, PA for stealing from the ATM accounts of casino visitors. She obviously did not know that casinos monitor the ATM activity of their patrons better than most of the patrons themselves…. Read more

The daily voice of government to most Americans

A central message of President Obama’s inaugural address was there are no shortcuts to success in America: “In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never… Read more

The Tarheel Scheme

Bernie Madoff must be sitting in his North Carolina jail cell saying to himself that he went into the wrong business. Yesterday, the Legislature in his new home state voted in support of allowing state lottery tickets to be sold at check… Read more

Deception lies at the core of the predatory gambling trade

Ohio election officials have found that predatory gambling advocates used the signatures of deceased voters in their signature collection effort to put a referendum legalizing casinos on the November ballot. In this story, The Dayton Daily News reports: The Montgomery County board ruled… Read more

Why not arrest Harrah’s executives for their unpaid debts?

Antoine Walker, a former NBA basketball star who played most of his career with the Boston Celtics and helped lead the University of Kentucky to a NCAA championship in the mid-1990′s, was led out of Harrah’s casino in handcuffs on… Read more

How the Texas Lottery makes more money from fewer players

According to a demographic study performed at the request of the Texas Lottery Commission, the percentage of Texans playing lottery games continues to decrease. After hitting a high water mark of 71% of Texans playing the lottery in 1997, that… Read more

He meant to say that state lotteries are like a “bank heist”

In trying to make the case why lottery employees should receive such extravagant salaries, the embattled state lottery director in Arkansas compared his operations to a bank. Lotteries could be compared to a bank that Bernie Madoff might run or a bank… Read more

Wal-Mart refuses to sell predatory gambling products

Once again, Wal-Mart has rejected efforts by state lotteries to sell lottery products in their stores. Read the story here. Why does Wal-Mart continue to say no? Because predatory gambling hurts the financial condition of working families everywhere. Promoted in… Read more

Why won’t casinos send people a monthly statement tracking their losses?

The predatory gambling trade puts a lot of effort into trying to give the appearance it is concerned about addicted, out-of-control gamblers yet they continue to block new, meaningful proposals to address the issue. That’s because the trade’s business model is based… Read more

Federal Judges Take Aim at Predatory Internet Gambling

Here’s a must read summary of the exchange between three Federal Appeals Court judges and proponents of the predatory internet gambling trade in Federal Court this week. The judges asked the right questions and exposed the badly constructed logic of… Read more

Break the Chains

Below is a recent ad by the Colorado Lottery that shows the government program of predatory gambling in its full glory and is an example of how it has created two classes of people in America: the Investor Class and… Read more