Gaming panel examines compulsive gambling

Friday, April 24, 1998 | 4:56 a.m.

A panel formed by Bible to study compulsive gambling heard from psychologists and casino executives on ways to address the problem.

"This panel represents a new role for the state Gaming Control Board," Bible said, noting monitoring problem gambling was outside the board's traditional role of regulation.

Dr. Robert Hunter, a psychologist, told the panel the typical profile of a compulsive gambler in Clark County is a 34-year-old woman with two children.

"We need to get people to call for help before it's too late," he said.

Hunter has researched gambling in Nevada for 14 years.

He said that while his research shows compulsive gambling is on the rise, it is difficult to ascertain what percentage of people have a gambling problem.

Hunter and Fred Preston, a UNLV sociology professor, estimate that 5 percent to 6 percent of Clark County residents are compulsive gamblers.

Bill Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno, said compulsive gambling is the industry's achilles heal.

"We can no longer pretend that problem gambling exists only outside of Nevada," he said.

Dr. Shannon Bybee, president of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, said public awareness of the problem has to increase.

Her colleague, Carol O'Hare, executive director of the council, said she is a reformed problem gambler who now teaches casino executives how to spot the problem.

Bible said his goal was to examine compulsive gambling in Nevada, evaluate testimony before the panel and then recommend policy changes to better address the problem.