Problem Gambling

I was deeply disappointed that The Inquirer chose to make light of last week's terrible incident at Parx Casino ("Slots for tots," Saturday), in which a gambler left a child in a car. Problem gambling must be addressed with thoughtful solutions, not flippancy and sarcasm. The gaming industry has long recognized that some people cannot gamble responsibly. As a result, we have implemented robust responsible-gaming programs at casinos across the country and contributed millions of dollars to fund independent, peer-reviewed research on disordered gambling.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is not known for holding inquisitions, since it has the inherently contradictory goals of regulating an industry while encouraging its success. You don't have to be a gambling expert to know that casinos generally win when a state's bottom line depends on citizens losing. So it was with giddy anticipation that I tuned in to the PGCB's August meeting. Rumor had it the commissioners were livid. When does a trend become an epidemic? When a half-dozen adults abandon their kids and common sense, as they did this summer in the parking lot at Greenwood Gaming's Parx Casino in Bensalem.

One problem gambler is one too many. It's a mantra I adopted during more than quarter-century in the commercial casino gaming-entertainment business, and it was often met with skepticism. Frankly, I can't blame those who questioned my sincerity. After all, I represented the "industry. " Fair enough. As Philadelphians and other Pennsylvanians have just experienced, any time casino gaming is discussed, there are a multitude of dueling "experts. " And nothing is more controversial than problem gambling.

The volatile markets of late had us wondering how prospective stock traders might safely learn the game. We found sites to practice market skills - and some warnings against falling into the world of day trading. Virtual stock. The online trading game from MarketWatch is one of many places online to learn and test yourself on market skills. Players pretend to trade stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq, and the Amex. The site allows users to compete with other players to create virtual fortunes without the risk of losing money - or any hope of actually making it. SEC warnings.

Pennsylvania casinos' adding more table games, while reducing their slot machines, should come as no surprise. Under the state's tax rates, the house gets to keep a bigger share of each dollar lost at the blackjack table, as compared to a buck gobbled up by a one-armed bandit. So, moves in the last year to reduce slot machines at five locations, while table games were added at seven betting parlors, were all about the bottom line. Casino operators hope more table games will draw more gamblers of all stripes, but over the long term that trend may be bad for tax relief provided by gaming.

In poker, the winners don't always have the best hands. They get their edge from having good information about the odds and knowing enough not to chase after a big score when the odds are stacked against them. In proposing to legalize slot machines, lots of Pennsylvania lawmakers are not only playing with bad information, but are also pursuing the classic gambler's folly of chasing against the odds. If their strategy fails, the state's residents and businesses will end up paying the bill.

I WAS disappointed to read A.J. Thomson's op-ed ("Gus the Groundhog: Scratch Him!") that not only suggested that Gus, one of Pennsylvania's beloved groundhogs, must die, but also provided questionable information about the state lottery's marketing practices. The Pennsylvania Lottery does not target any specific demographic in its advertising, and explicitly avoids marketing to minors. All lottery ads - including those featuring Gus - caution that players must be 18 or older, and the lottery specifically avoids placing ads during children's programming.

I have read with great interest the varying opinions on the effect legalized gaming may have on Pennsylvania and its citizenry. As former director of public relations for Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, I can offer some perspective: In addition to the nearly half-billion dollars projected in tax revenues for education and community programs, gaming companies also rank among the best corporate neighbors - donating money, resources, meeting...

Anthony Milillo Jr., 62, of Audubon, a counselor on compulsive gambling at the Belmont Center for Comprehensive Treatment, a wing of Albert Einstein Medical Center, died of heart disease Monday at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Milillo was also executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania and editor of Keystone Corner, a newsletter on the problems of gambling. He lectured frequently on gambling and in 1994, with Rep. Paul Clymer, presented a report on gambling to the Pennsylvania Legislature in Harrisburg.

Sen. Vincent J. Fumo wants to toughen state gambling regulations to protect problem gamblers. In a letter to the state gambling control board yesterday, the Philadelphia Democrat recommended that casinos not cash personal and government checks or check advances for gamblers. He also urged the board to require casino applicants to submit a plan to address compulsive gambling when they apply for a license, and casino operators to post gambling treatment information in advertising and at casinos.

Profits and parenting are on a collision course at Parx Casino. Becoming the quintessential "neighborhood casino" has given Parx the dubious distinction of being the only gambling hall in Pennsylvania where adults have been caught leaving children in vehicles parked outside while they gambled inside. The increasingly tense clash of parental responsibility and casino accountability could be taken up Aug. 18 before the state Gaming Control Board in Harrisburg. Thus far, no fines have been levied on Parx because of recurring incidents of child neglect by its patrons.

For all its success, Parx Casino in Bensalem has a problem it can't seem to shake: negligent adults going in to gamble and leaving children alone in vehicles. The latest incident - the 10th since Feb. 18, 2010 - involved a 29-year-old man, who was arrested and jailed Saturday after security officers discovered his 6-year-old daughter unattended in a locked car in the parking lot. In a separate but similar case, Frances Casey, 39, of Abington, was charged Monday with endangering the welfare of children and will be issued a court summons.

Pennsylvania casinos' adding more table games, while reducing their slot machines, should come as no surprise. Under the state's tax rates, the house gets to keep a bigger share of each dollar lost at the blackjack table, as compared to a buck gobbled up by a one-armed bandit. So, moves in the last year to reduce slot machines at five locations, while table games were added at seven betting parlors, were all about the bottom line. Casino operators hope more table games will draw more gamblers of all stripes, but over the long term that trend may be bad for tax relief provided by gaming.

The website, www.paproblemgambling.com , is blunt: "The more you play, the more you are likely to lose. And the fact is that gamblers lose far more money than they win. " That this reality check is brought to you by the same state government that said casinos would make us richer via property-tax relief is beyond ironic, but I'll get to that in a moment. Strange is as strange does in Pennsylvania, where gambling addicts can receive "free" counseling funded with the same money they blew at the casinos.

Now that Pennsylvania gambling regulators have taken the right step in revoking the license for the long-delayed Foxwoods casino on the Delaware River, it's time for them to consider cutting the city's losses altogether - by scrapping a second casino for Philadelphia. Thousands of low-income Philadelphians scraping by from week to week don't need yet another place to gamble away the rent money. SugarHouse Casino already is up and running on North Delaware Avenue, less than three miles from the Foxwoods site.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is not known for holding inquisitions, since it has the inherently contradictory goals of regulating an industry while encouraging its success. You don't have to be a gambling expert to know that casinos generally win when a state's bottom line depends on citizens losing. So it was with giddy anticipation that I tuned in to the PGCB's August meeting. Rumor had it the commissioners were livid. When does a trend become an epidemic? When a half-dozen adults abandon their kids and common sense, as they did this summer in the parking lot at Greenwood Gaming's Parx Casino in Bensalem.

On Sunday, George Anastasia reported in his article "In A.C., it's Christie vs. history" that the New Jersey governor faced an uphill battle in his quest to remake Atlantic City. What stands in front of him, Anastasia argued, was the past - Atlantic City's past of political corruption. No doubt that the Nation's Playground has been plagued for decades by payoffs and shakedowns, but that isn't the past that is holding it back these days. The problem is gambling. With the possible exception of Las Vegas (its own story)

I was deeply disappointed that The Inquirer chose to make light of last week's terrible incident at Parx Casino ("Slots for tots," Saturday), in which a gambler left a child in a car. Problem gambling must be addressed with thoughtful solutions, not flippancy and sarcasm. The gaming industry has long recognized that some people cannot gamble responsibly. As a result, we have implemented robust responsible-gaming programs at casinos across the country and contributed millions of dollars to fund independent, peer-reviewed research on disordered gambling.

In the second of two commentaries on problem gambling, an Arizona woman whose addiction to slot machines led to prison tells how her Web site gives troubled women a place to share their struggles. "It had me in its grip like a damned Rottweiler, tearing at my very soul. " "It was like I had set my house on fire and it was burning before my eyes. " "I . . . drove home once through red lights, hoping someone would smash into my car. " Quotes from three women with one thing in common: problem gambling.