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5/6/2008: Las Vegas feels US economic down turn
In Down on it’s luck Newsweek writer Steve Friess examines the fallout of the downturn of the US economy on Las Vegas, usually believed to have been recession proof.
On the third weekend of every April, Emily Ann Frankston and her family—spread out over five states—meet up in Las Vegas for their annual family vacation. This year was different. The only ones to show up were Frankston, her husband and her brother-in-law, and they stayed just two nights instead of the traditional three. “My two sisters back east said airfares were too high, my mother-in-law lost her job in January, and some of the others said they were busy, but we think they didn’t want to spend the money,” says Frankston, 37, who drove in from the Phoenix area. “We’ve done this for the past nine years. Even after 9/11 we all came. But this year’s it’s just us. This recession is really hurting everyone.”
It’s even hurting the city of Las Vegas, the economy of which was once thought to be impervious to the economic swings suffered by the rest of the country. Not anymore. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), Las Vegas has seen gambling revenues fall only once since 1970: in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks they dropped 1 percent in 2002 from 2001. So far this year they’ve fallen 4 percent, the number of conventions held has dropped 10.4 percent, and average daily room rates were off 3.8 percent in the first two months of 2008, according to the most recent data available. Visitor volume was up 1.2 percent through February, but market analysts say that’s because of the extra day provided by this being a leap year; March’s figures will likely put the year-to-date numbers in negative territory. The stock price of MGM Mirage, owner of Bellagio, Mirage and eight other Strip resorts, has halved, from $100.50 in October to about $49 on Friday. In recent weeks the company eliminated 440 middle management jobs to save $75 million annually. “We made a structural change in our company to become more efficient and provide the same level of service, but we did have to advance that effort because we were also seeing a softening in the marketplace,” says MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman.
Diversification, fewer conventions, vacationers, the morgage mess and credit crunch have contributed. The city has increased it’s advertising and is targeting markets such as Europe.
3/20/2008: Gambling and morality
The moral opposition to gambling might be gasping its last breaths.
As more and more states turn to casinos and gambling to fill shrinking budget coffers, the voices of the religious opposition are struggling to convince people that it is morally wrong.
It’s an uphill fight: A recent study by Ellison Research showed that 70 percent of Americans do not consider gambling to be a sin.
“It’s not acceptable in today’s society to present arguments based solely on religion or morals,” said I. Nelson Rose, who teaches gambling law at the Whittier Law School in California.
Thirty years ago, gamblers had to try their luck with scratch-off tickets or at casinos in Atlantic City or Las Vegas. Today, only two states — Utah and Hawaii — do not have some form of legalized gambling, according to the American Gaming Association. The other 48 have anteed up for tribal casinos, commercial casinos, racetracks, jai alai or lotteries.
Forty-three states have lotteries, mostly marketed as voluntary taxes for education, and 12 states now have commercial casinos.
Gambling contributes around 5 percent to state budgets — double what it was five years ago, said the Rev. Richard McGowan, a Boston College professor and author of The Gambling Debate, published in January.
In some states, it contributes much more, McGowan said — 11 percent in Louisiana and 18 percent in South Dakota. Experts say the gambling industry is growing and shows no signs of stopping any time soon.
“The church’s opposition to gambling has not been widely effective,” said the Rev. Tom Grey, spokesman for the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, “because (the church is) not relevant in an irreverent age.”
Grey, who fought gambling for years from the pulpit as a United Methodist pastor, said the moral argument that gambling is a sin is too easily swept aside as impeding the personal freedom of others.
As a result, Grey’s anti-gambling coalition avoids explicit mentions of religion, and presents more economically grounded arguments that center around addiction, bankruptcy and crime, Grey said.
“There’s a cost when people lose — they chase the loss,” Grey said. “It’s the government’s dirty little secret. The house always wins.”
1/1/2008: US military bases and slot machines
While slot machines and video poker machines are not permitted on US military bases in the US, they bring in revenue of 120 million at 137 locations world-wide. About 94 million dollars comes from machines owned by the various military branches.
Department of Defense research indicates 5 to 9 percent of players have gambling problems, with 2 percent falling into the pathological category.
New legislation would ban slot machines and video gaming devices from all U.S. military installations, effectively shutting down overseas military gambling.
Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., calls the measure a way to protect troops from a dangerous and addictive pastime. State lottery ticket sales and charitable events would be exempt from the ban, but the rows of slot machines at many overseas bases would be removed.
“It’s offensive. The military is taking $150 million from soldiers’ wallets … and then denying them treatment for an illness they helped create,” he said. “Our young officers are being invited to gamble on bases, and it brings about financial and psychological problems.”
But Defense officials disputed that, saying the services do offer help for gambling addicts and the games represent another recreational opportunity for overseas troops and their families.
“Slot machines are not viewed as a stand-alone recreational program, but as another opportunity in the context of the recreational activities where they are collocated,” said Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Les’ Melnyk. “The gaming machine program provides a controlled alternative to unmonitored host-nation gambling venues.”
No date has been set for hearings for the legislation.
12/27/2007: California Voters confused by gambling propositions
With less than six weeks to go before California’s Feb. 5 presidential primary, voters still are largely unaware of five key ballot initiatives that could have broad impact on the state’s political and economic future, according to a new Field Poll.
…The February ballot will also include four measures aimed at overturning agreements between the state and four Indian tribes that would allow expansion of their casinos.
A large number of voters surveyed, 28 percent, said they had no opinion of the gambling propositions. Those voters who did express an opinion were divided - 39 percent said they support retaining the agreements while 33 percent said they do not.
…The Indian gambling measures - Propositions 94, 95, 96 and 97 - were put on the ballot by a coalition of tribes, unions and gambling interests that are unhappy with the terms won by four tribes that would let them install 17,000 more slot machines in the coming years.
Supporters said the agreements - or gambling compacts - will generate as much as $500 million a year for the state, money that is badly needed to pay for general expenses such as public education, prisons and health care.
Opponents, which include race track operators and a hotel workers union, argue that when voters legalized Indian gambling in 1998 they did not envision the expansion of huge new casinos.
12/27/2007: Pennsylvania Paper Casinos
The sight and distinct sound of dozens of coins flowing from a slot machine perfectly symbolizes casino gambling. But, today most casinos have moved from a bucket of coins to paper vouchers to be cashed in upon exiting the casino. For one reason or another, gamblers sometimes leave these vouchers behind. Often, the money is ”lost.”
However, Pennsylvania last week adopted a new policy that will track the unclaimed vouchers and assist in returning them to their rightful owners. The new policy means the vouchers will be added to the state Treasury Department’s list of unclaimed property. The department has long made available lists of unclaimed bank accounts, CDs and the like in hopes of owners recognizing and claiming them. And, while slots parlors have only been running for a little over a year here, this is, basically, just another way for the state to help ensure that people’s money is where it belongs.
Casinos that use this system also track patrons’ accounts, including losses and the overall amount of time an individual spends gambling. A former compulsive gambler turned advocate, Bill Kearney, and a few state legislators are pressing the Legislature to require the casinos to send statements of this information to gamblers’ homes monthly. This measure could be of incredible value to those who frequent the casinos, and their families, sound alarms about gambling problems before they worsen. So far, a bill to require this introduced by Rep. Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, has gone nowhere.
The Morning Call…more
12/27/2007: Massachusetts
Religious leaders take sides in different debates such as same sex marriage, in Massachusetts they are on the same side when it comes to gambling and gambling expansion. Associated Press:
Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal to bring three casinos to Massachusetts has united religious groups who were once entrenched foes. It was just six months ago that one of the toughest gay marriage battles — over a ballot question that would have banned the marriages — ended when lawmakers killed the question.
“You would like nothing better than to hold grudges. But in government you can’t do that,” said Kris Mineau of the Massachusetts Family Institute, a leading anti-gay marriage lobbying group whose mission statement says it’s committed to affirming Judeo-Christian values.
“They’ve extended the right hand of fellowship to me, and likewise, and we’re moving on,” Mineau said.
Mineau already has worked closely with pastors who disagreed with him on gay marriage, speaking at two Massachusetts Council of Churches forums this month to educate clergy on how to fight expanded gambling.
The council’s recent newsletter also brought together two leaders who disagreed on gay marriage in a jointly written column against casino gambling.
The Rev. Aida Fernandez leads the Metro Boston Hope District of the United Methodist Church and believes allowing gay marriage is a “matter of justice and compassion.” And Bishop Gilbert Thompson, senior pastor at Jubilee Christian Church in Boston, opposes gay marriage and has said, “to say there is such a thing as a gay Christian is saying there’s an honest thief.”
They found common ground in fighting to keep casinos out of state. Fernandez said their differences on gay marriage are irrelevant.
…Patrick’s proposal would bring one casino each to the western, southeastern, and Boston regions of the state. He says the casinos would generate 20,000 jobs and $400 million in annual revenue.
But clergy say the price is too high. Their stand isn’t based on moral objections to gambling, which aren’t shared by all faiths, including a Catholic church that reaps significant profits from bingo games.
…The shared opposition to casino gambling has something in common with the sharp differences over gay marriage because it’s all rooted in what clergy think is best for families, said Rev. William Bradbury, pastor of Grace Episcopal Church in New Bedford.
“There’s a common thread there,” said Bradbury, who supports gay marriage. “We just both look at the gay marriage issue from different perspectives.”
Bradbury was among several Episcopalian clergy from southeastern Massachusetts — where a casino is proposed in Middleborough — who sponsored an anti-casino resolution that passed the Convention of the Diocese of Massachusetts last month. The convention, made up of lay people and clergy, declared its “opposition to any further expansion of gambling in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
The Episcopal Diocese is part of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, an ecumenical group which has taken a lead in organizing the anti-casinos push.
…The Catholic Church, by far the state’s largest church, has so far said little in opposition to Patrick’s plan, which House speaker Sal DiMasi said lawmakers won’t formally consider until sometime next year. Edward Saunders of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference said to expect the church to step up efforts once that date gets closer.
“Timing is all part of this,” he said.
Johnson said religious groups and secular casino opponents will be far outspent by casino advocates. But he said a united religious community can be a formidable force in the coming debate.
Fox News Boston
Massachusetts Council of Churches - gambling update and resources
11/13/2007: Young gamblers New York State
One in five of the state’s students in grades 7-12 engaged in problem gambling over the previous year or were at risk for those behaviors, a trend called “alarming” by the head of a state agency that deals with addiction.
The breakdown included 10 percent who had engaged in problem gambling and another 10 percent who were at risk, according to a 2006 survey of 5,800 students by the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.
The survey found that students’ most prevalent risk behaviors were stealing, risking relationships and chasing — betting more to try to win back money.
Kids are enticed by the gambling they see on TV and what is available on the internet. Society’s attitudes toward games for money in the community and the availability of lottery tickets, bingo and poker games for money fuel their curiousity. Most gambling addicts acknowledge they were introduced to it by their parents.
Close to three-fourths of New York’s seventh to 12th graders gambled at least once in the previous year, OASAS survey authors Gregory Rainone and Robert Gallati reported. Males were four times more likely than females to have engaged in problem gambling.
The most frequent gambling activity was playing cards for money, with 8 percent of respondents saying they had done so at least 20 days in the past year, and 39 percent saying they had played at least once in the past year.
The lottery induced the most students to gamble, with 43 percent of those surveyed saying they had played some form of it in the past year.
10/29/2007: US Military Veterans - Upswing in Problem Gambling
Pathological gambling (PG) is more prevalent among military veterans than in the US general population and may be associated with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), results of a new study suggest.
The findings were presented here at the American Psychiatric Association 59th Institute on Psychiatric Services.
…Pathologic Gamblers
All subjects were seen between June and September 2006. They completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) and a demographic questionnaire. All responses were anonymous. Data for 120 subjects were analyzed. Sex was 100% male, 75% were 56 to 60 years old, 92% were combat veterans, 80% were Vietnam vets, 71% were married or in committed relationships, and 75% had a VA diagnosis of PTSD.
The authors found that 85% of the participants had gambled sometime in the past year, and 20% of the total were classified as “probable pathologic gamblers” based on SOGS. Another 4.2% were classified as “problem gamblers.”
…The researchers conclude that the rate of current PG as assessed by the SOGS was much higher for these veterans than for the general US population. While PTSD or combat exposure could not be specifically linked to PG, the findings suggest the importance of further investigating possible connections in clinical populations of veterans, they write. Study participation was not perceived as distressing by most participants, but it was moderately distressing to those with gambling problems.
“Pathological gambling in a clinical sample of US combat veterans is very high compared with its prevalence in the general population,” Dr. Hierholzer told Medscape Psychiatry. “One next step would be to look at the broader veteran population.”
Tara Strine, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, Georgia, said, “This study is interesting because it shows that a high percentage — 20% — of these folks [veterans] are classified as having problematic gambling.
9/24/2007: Women hide gambling addiction more easily than men
In the last two years, Northern Nevada has seen the largest spike ever of women seeking help for gambling addiction.
Two-thirds of those who currently attend meetings at the Northern Nevada chapters of Gamblers Anonymous in Reno and Carson City are women.
The latest marketing techniques in gaming all reflect the needs and wants of one demographic - women.
“Gambling used to be the men enter smoke-filled rooms and sit around a card table and lose their money. The women were there to watch and look pretty,” said Denise F. Quirk, clinical director and CEO of the Reno Problem Gambling Center. “Now, look who they’re catering to.”
Las Vegas used to be a gambling capital for men. Women wanted in, and the gambling industry began to market to them. Spas instead of sports bars and high end shopping sprang up. The article proves the point by showing a top Google search for gambling and women.
It’s a site geared for the woman gambler, promoting gambling as escape.
Paula Chung, a reformed gambler and the first certified gambling counselor intern in Nevada, said women can often hide gambling addiction more easily than men.
“It’s usually late-onset,” she said. “Maybe they were raised in a family where the father was a gambler. But it can be tied to empty nest syndrome. Maybe they’re angry, tired, stressed - they get caught up in the gambling. You go into the casino and everyone knows your name. Or, you can hide in the corner and be anonymous - nobody will see you. You can play the machine and escape.
“Women are terribly co-dependent. We try to fix everything instead of trying to fix ourselves. When the kids are in school, we’re in the casino. Then we rush home and pretend everything’s OK and go on with the task of helping everyone else.”
How good are women at hiding a gambling addiction?
One recent local example comes to mind for Chung.
“I just shared a story with my group of the woman in Minden who embezzled $44,000 from the DMV. That’s what we do,” she said. “It’s the average Joe. The person at the PTA meeting who you’d never expect in a million years. Often, the husbands don’t even know until the police show up.”
Local casino marketers were hesitant to comment on whether they market directly to women, using incentives like free dinners or trips to the salon with points accumulated on a rewards card to entice the female gambler.
One, speaking on a condition of anonymity, simply said, “Our rewards system is for everyone.”
“I do believe they’re catering to women,” Chung said. “Have you gone to a casino and the woman has the card hooked to the elastic thingy? I call that the slot machine IV. And that’s the really big thing, they think, ‘I’ve got a free dinner for my family.’ Well, honey, it ain’t free.”
Problem-gambling counselors said women, though hiding their problem better, often seek help faster than men - and that gives them hope.
“Women have a greater propensity to ask for voluntary treatment, which may be why we’ve seen their numbers surge,” Quirk said. “The majority of women I see from Carson and Reno are middle to upper-middle class. The ones who are homeless are the ones who were there once and gambling took them down … which shows we can’t get the help out there fast enough.”
Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard
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Administrator9/14/2007: Gambling: Who’s really at risk
A report for New York State on the adverse affects of gambling entitled: Gambling: Who’s really at risk
The connection between Gambling and Crime
Richard M. Aborn, principal author
John V. Bennett, researcher (.pdf)
Examples:
Gulfport and Biloxi Mississippi
Atlantic City New Jersey
Colorad0
South Dakota
Nevada
Illinois
Connecticut
Wisconsin
Does tourism contribute to crime:
The rise of crime in neighbouring counties
Gambling Crime has been linked to corruption
The issue of pathological gambling and it’s implications
Specifically, this report examines the impact on crime experienced by other communities during the first decade or so after they have permitted gambling. It does not, at this stage, make projections about what Sullivan County should anticipate. It does, however, examine what has occurred in other communities within the first years after introducing gambling and offers that as guidance as to what Sullivan County - and its neighboring communities - can anticipate.
The connection between casino gambling and crime is an important public policy issue not just for a community considering allowing casinos to operate locally, but for adjoining communities as well. As this
report discusses, while a few studies have opined that there is too little or too inconclusive data to reach specific conclusions as to the impact of gambling on crime in a community, many respected scholars, researchers and law enforcement officials have determined that the
introduction of casino gambling into a community has a significant impact on crime and not just locally, but in the surrounding region as well.
