Problem gamblers abound

Southern Nevada home to largest assistance program

Consider the gaming machines at your local grocery store or gas station, usually displayed prominently by the entrance. If these machines never cause you a second thought, or a night of gambling on the Strip is something that you look at as entertainment but rarely partake in, you may consider yourself lucky.

For pathological gamblers, a couple of dollars in the grocery store slot machine or a night on the Strip can be devastating, and its effects have caused support groups like Gamblers Anonymous to crop up around the world, even in cities and states that have no legal gambling.

Not surprisingly, Southern Nevada is home to the biggest of GA's programs.

GA was started in Southern California in 1957 by two men who met by chance and had a similar history of problem gambling. Over the course of a few months, the two men met regularly to talk about their problems. They began to adopt the spiritual principles of programs designed to help people with other compulsive addictions. As time passed, neither of the men returned to their addictions, and on Sept. 13, 1957, they held the first official meeting of Gamblers Anonymous in Los Angeles.

Gamblers Anonymous meetings, which usually are open to anyone and everyone, are the basis of the entire program. The common bond between people with the same disease is what makes the program so successful, according to Ken, a recovering compulsive gambler.

"Usually a gambler feels that they are all alone. To have the feeling of being with others who have the same problem and feel the same way provides great support," he said.

The GA program is based upon the same 12-step program used for drug and alcohol addiction. Of the 12 steps, only two mention gambling, and like other 12-step programs, GA was designed to teach participants how to live their lives without giving in to compulsive addictions.

"The steps teach you how to live your life with kindness, honesty, generosity and humility," Ken said. "What the group tries to get across is that if you live with those four principles, your life can be really excellent. You always have to remember why you walked in. When people first join GA, all they talk about is gambling and all the money they lost. After they've been in GA for years, they don't talk about gambling or the money they lost, they talk about how their life is."

On average, about 20 to 30 people attend most meetings and attendees are welcome to bring guests, friends or family members. There are also step meetings -- closed meetings that are just for GA members -- in which a single step of the program is focused on, and meditation meetings and speaker meetings, where a selected speaker talks or shares stories.

As for the group's success rate with compulsive gambling, Ken says it all depends on whether the person really wants it.

"If all of the suggestions and guidelines of the group are followed, it will work 100 percent of the time," he said.

Though the Las Vegas programs are the biggest in the country -- Ken estimates there are 2,000 to 3,000 members in the valley -- in his opinion, that's not nearly enough compared to the number of compulsive gamblers that probably live here.

Ken believes the reason so few compulsive gamblers are GA members is that they are unaware of the resources available to them.

"We don't go out and hold up signs saying `Come to GA, it will help your life.' People have to want to come," he said.

Carole O'Hare, executive director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gaming, said there simply are not enough resources for compulsive gamblers to find help. Gamblers can call the hot line numbers posted in some casinos or find help through groups like Gamblers Anonymous, but that's about it, she said.

"Most problem gamblers usually don't have the ability to pay for treatment, and insurance doesn't readily cover it," O'Hare said. "There aren't any state clinics available, and the issue is that pathological gambling is a diagnosable disorder and has been recognized as such since 1980.

"This is a problem that needs to be fixed. We should not be eliminating any one group of people from having care when they have a diagnosable disorder. We need to get funds allocated through mental health treatment programs, as there are for drug and alcohol treatment."

O'Hare pointed out that one of the biggest challenges involved with helping compulsive gamblers is that the resources currently available to Southern Nevadans are voluntarily funded by private citizens, and some casino companies that realize problem gambling is not good for their business or the community. However, the state of Nevada does not contribute.

"Nevada has had legal gambling longer than any other state, but we're last on the list for having adequate resources to help those with a problem," she said. "Providing treatment for problem gamblers is not totally the state's responsibility, but if the state can help but won't, one leg of the stool is missing."

According to O'Hare, the sheer availability of gambling opportunities has a strong effect on the community. In a study of states with legalized gambling, Nevada was found to have a 6 percent prevalence rate of problem gamblers and those at significant risk for the disorder. That number is nearly twice as high as other gambling states with otherwise similar numbers.

The majority of problem gamblers identified video poker as their primary form of gambling, followed by slot machines and then all other forms of gambling.

"Slots and video poker are very available, and culturally accepted as entertainment in Las Vegas. It becomes normal to have gambling everywhere," O'Hare said.

The NCPG has also found that the stigma associated with problem gambling is very high, and sometimes prevents problem gamblers from seeking help.

"What we're trying to do is raise awareness of this problem in the community. There are many healthy, functional, productive recovering problem gamblers in this community that contribute in very positive ways when they have the resources to recover," she said. "We haven't fully accepted as a community that these are people that can get well, and that they are very important to our community."

The waiting list for treatment at the Problem Gambling Center, considered the city's main treatment center, never wanes.

"There is no lack of people that could use treatment if it was available," she said.

Ken agrees that increased opportunities can make it easier for compulsive gamblers to try their luck, but he also sees something of an upside to the situation.

"There are so many opportunities to gamble here, it's easy to slip down the slope. Gambling is always in your face here. It's more tempting," he said. "But on the other side of that, in a way I'm glad to be a compulsive gambler here because there are so many more GA meetings and members here."

Jennifer Shatley is the director of Code of Commitment at Harrah's, one of the first gaming companies to recognize the problem and start a program to help pathological gamblers.

Harrah's started its Responsible Gaming Group in the 1980s when Phil Satre was the company's chief executive officer . Growing up, Satre had a family friend who was a pathological gambler and he saw firsthand the negative affects of gambling on his friend's family. When Satre joined Harrah's, he put together a task force to help those with compulsive gambling problems.

"One of the Responsible Gaming Group's main objectives is to raise awareness that pathological gambling is a serious problem that affects many people," Shatley said.

Harrah's was also one of the first gaming giants to start its own exclusion policy. Through the policy, problem gamblers can ask to not be allowed to gamble at Harrah's properties. Anyone who adds their name to that list will be escorted out of the property if they are found gambling, and in some cases can be arrested for trespassing.

Though these may seem like extreme measures for both problem gamblers and casinos, it's a sign both are willing to take responsibility for their roles in a larger problem.

"They are businesses, but they are receptive to the problem of compulsive gambling," Ken said of casinos. "They don't want to ruin people's lives."

Harrah's publishes a help line number on every piece of direct marketing, including posters and other advertisements, as well as on the casino's players cards. The company also has a TV campaign in which Gary Loveman, president and CEO, delivers a message that there are a lot of times when people shouldn't be gambling, including when they've been drinking, are depressed, or if they are underage.

Harrah's also abides by its Code of Commitment, separate from those followed nationally. National codes state that advertising or marketing of casinos cannot be aimed at an audience unless it is expected to be 50 percent or more over the age of 21. Harrah's own standards increase that percentage to 70.

But all the best efforts and intentions by both casinos and GA programs can't help compulsive gamblers who don't realize they have a problem or are not ready for help.

When Ken was young, he would play games compulsively, not thinking he could be developing a problem. He moved to Las Vegas in 1996 and would sometimes gamble with friends. At first, he was OK. Then he started going to casinos alone, staying longer and gambling with money he needed for other things.

In 1998, he started to realize he had a problem, and by 2000 he was borrowing money from his parents and lying about where he was spending his money. That year his father took him to a GA meeting, but because Ken didn't want to be there, he wasn't receptive and didn't return.

In 2001, Ken's problems started to get very bad. He was gambling every day, and changing his life to meet his habits.

"I was spiraling out of control," he said. "I would dream about gambling. I dreamed about winning and cards turning in my head. It consumed my thoughts. I was on the verge of doing illegal stuff to keep gambling. I was also thinking about suicide. I just didn't realize there was help."

On Nov. 20 of 2002, his mother's birthday, Ken realized he didn't even have the money to send her the birthday present he had bought. Three days later, he started going to GA again, and kept going every day.

"When I started GA, people told me, `Go to a meeting, and then go to the meeting the next day, and don't gamble in between those meetings. Call someone from the program if you want to gamble,' " he said.

Though Ken made a good living, he was always struggling with money because of his gambling habits. By the time he joined GA for good, his financial standing was in peril and his position at work was precarious.

After more than a year and a half in recovery, Ken is quick to point out that getting back on solid financial ground is not terribly hard once a compulsive gambler makes a commitment to GA and stops gambling for good.

"The money is the first thing to come back. Since I quit gambling I've been able to buy a house, buy new cars, and more importantly earn a promotion at work and get engaged to my girlfriend," Ken said. "As part of the 12-step program you learn to live life after gambling, and it's possible to succeed and have a good life as a recovering gambler."

Gamblers Anonymous of Southern Nevada is a division of the worldwide Gamblers Anonymous program, and hosts as many as 13 GA meetings each day. Groups meet in a variety of areas and at a variety of times each day in Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and Beatty. For information, visit www.gamblersanonymous.org, or call (800) 522-4700 for help.


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