When riverboat gambling came to Iowa in 1991, limits were placed on the amount of money people could lose and gambling could only take place when boats were cruising along the river. By 1994, these betting ceilings had been removed, cruising requirements were relaxed, and land-based slot machine locations were legalized. Why is this important? Because it highlights that the predatory gambling industry constantly pushes past initial limits to expand its reach into citizens’ wallets.
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Horse Racing Remains a Dying Pastime
There has been many reports in recent years regarding the decline in the horse racing industry. In August 2011, the Associated Press released another story stating that there was “a generally unfavorable public view of racing, a long and frustrating learning curve for new bettors and increased competition from casinos and other forms of gambling as central to the sport’s decline.”
The Ugly World of Casino Debt Collection
Casinos often give out loans (or “markers” as they are known) to players in need of cash. To keep them coming back, casinos generally charge an interest rate of 0% and give players several months to repay loans that can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. But when players can’t pay the loans back, casinos send a demand letter and can refer the case to the local District Attorney’s office bad check unit which prosecutes such crimes. Sometimes casinos file a civil suit as well. In addition, casinos (like other debt collection agencies) do not have to abide by regulations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Dopamine: Not About Pleasure But Its Anticipation
In this web video, Stanford Neurology Professor Robert Sapolsky discusses how dopamine affects human behavior: the anticipation of a particular reward is more important than actually getting the reward. He singles out Las Vegas as a place where human beings are manipulated to believe they can win money, even though they have a slim chance of doing so. It is a great explanation about dopamine and how, why, and when our levels rise. Casinos and lotteries design their experience to blatantly exploit these traits.
Predatory Gambling Interests Fund Their Own Science
This June 2008 piece from Salon.com delves into how the predatory gambling industry uses some of its huge profits to fund scientific studies. The industry took a lesson from the tobacco industry and decided it was not going to claim that gambling addiction did not exist. Instead, it set up its own research arm to publish favorable research. The American Gaming Association, the predatory gambling industry’s top lobbying group, created the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) in 1996 and casinos make it a point to keep it flush with money. Recently,
the NCRG announced $7.6 million in new funding commitments for the next five years, including $2 million from Harrah’s, $2 million from MGM Mirage and $1 million from International Game Technology, the largest slot machine manufacturer in the world. Its board of directors includes executives from MGM Mirage, Harrah’s and the casino company Boyd Gaming Corp., as well as Judy Patterson, executive director of the American Gaming Association.”
The NCRG’s research has a common theme: that addicts of every kind, whether they are dealing with gambling or illegal drugs, have a similar brain chemistry and the casinos are not at fault for their problem. There is little research into the addictive nature of slots and other electronic gambling machines and why people who play video machines seem to get addicted faster.
Pennsylvania Casino Profiting from Underage Gamblers
Pennsylvania’s Rivers Casino was fined $150,000 in July 2011, partly due to incidents related to underage gambling occurring on the premises. Amazingly, the lawyer representing Rivers urged the state’s Gaming Control Board to “consider stronger penalties for the teenagers who try to illegally enter casinos, rather than only boosting fines for the gaming establishments.”
Illinois Casino Says “Members” Are 20% of Clientele, But Make Up 80% of Revenue
The predatory gambling industry does not always readily admit that the vast majority of their profits come from a small portion of their customers. However, in this article from the Chicago Tribune below, a casino marketing officer does just that. The reporter writes that “managers are…pushing casino membership, with special previews this weekend for VIPs and Des Plaines residents who were the first to join the club.” Typically, marketing officer Suzanne Trout said, members make up 20 percent of casino clientele but generate 80 percent of the revenue.” They know who the out-of-control gamblers are in their facilities.
Thrift or Debt: Which Direction is Right for Texas?
The Texas Thrift Coalition is a nonpartisan, volunteer group of leaders and organizations whose goal is to promote thrift and encourage savings as a path to family prosperity in Texas. In 2011, the group published Thrift or Debt: Which Direction is Right for Texas? which found: Texas families face a savings crisis; anti-thrift institutions are trapping Texas families in debt; Texans see a danger in the rise of the anti-thrifts; Texans oppose the expansion of state-sponsored gambling; and Texans want to save more. The coalition issued the following recommendations:
To Oppose Debt
- close payday lenders’ “lucrative loophole”
- protect military families from payday lenders
- vote “no” on casino gambling
To Support Thrift
- to create a Texas “Savings Ticket”
- promote alternatives to payday lenders
- bring back national thrift week
Thrift or Debt – An Appeal to the Texas Legislature From the Texas Thrift Coalition
Survey Reveals Only 6% of Problem and Pathological Gambers Seek Help
In this Ontario population survey, researchers discovered that only 6% of problem and pathological gamblers sought treatment for gambling addiction (including attending self-help meetings or accessing self-help resources.) They also acknowledge that more research needs to be done on “the barriers to seeking treatment, both objective and perceived, encountered by gamblers at different levels of problem severity, as well as the triggers that motivate them to take the step of actually seeking help.” Interestingly, the researchers also found that while the use of lifetime gambling treatment services was higher than in other North American gambling surveys, for Ontarians with a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol abuse or dependence, the rate of treatment seeking was much lower. They speculate that this may be partially due to the fact that “gamblers may be struggling with more, different, or in some cases, more daunting obstacles to seeking treatment compared with people with alcohol problems.”
Treatment Seeking Among Ontario Problem Gamblers: Results of a Population Survey
The Tobacco and Predatory Gambling Industries Partner Up (in Secret) to Make Huge Profits
In August 2011, the Reno News and Review publishing the article below detailing how two local Chambers of Commerce in Nevada served as front groups for an influential study that was secretly paid for by the tobacco industry. Since its publication in 1996, the study has been cited repeatedly by the predatory gambling industry in its argument to oppose smoking bans in casinos. It partnered with the tobacco industry to ensure that both would continue to make huge profits of the misfortunes of their customers. This information came to light with the recent publication of the book Casino Women by Susan Chandler and Jill B. Jones.
Smoke and Mirrors – Big Tobacco and Big Casino Sold Nevadans a Bill of Goods