Teaching from experience: Problem gambling experts hold training seminars in Las Vegas

David Strow

Monday, July 9, 2001 | 10:46 a.m.

Arnie Wexler doesn't have to read from textbooks or legal documents to discuss problem gambling. He's lived through it.

The New Jersey counselor came to Las Vegas last month to train the employees at downtown's Lady Luck hotel-casino for a state-mandated annual problem gambling training session. But instead of focusing on legal issues, Wexler and wife Sheila Wexler took the employees into the experience of a problem gambler.

He described how, for 17 years, the addiction to gambling drove him to a range of illegal activities, including theft, embezzlement and even stock market manipulation. An addiction so severe he spent three days of his honeymoon in a hotel lobby, counting jellybeans in a jar in an attempt to win a vacation. A problem so crushing that he spent a day at the racetrack while his wife was in labor -- then immediately placed a bet based on his child's birth weight.

With the expansion of gambling across the United States, "there are probably more compulsive gamblers today than at any other time in the history of this country," Wexler said.

Wexler said his difficulties with gambling began in 1951, at the age of 14. Visiting a New York racetrack illegally, Wexler won $54.

"That convinced me I would become a millionaire gambling," Wexler said.

Over the ensuing years, Wexler said, the problem worsened. Wexler said he would gamble on anything, including the stock market, "the world's largest roulette wheel." Ironically, however, Wexler said he never wagered inside a legal casino.

It was a problem that affected not only Wexler, but his family. Debt wiped out the family's income, despite the fact Wexler managed a plant for one of the nation's largest dress manufacturers. Sheila Wexler recalled lying in front of the door some days in an attempt to keep her husband from going out to gamble -- and contemplating suicide when the problem didn't seem to go away, despite her belief that she could somehow stop her husband's compulsion by being a better wife.

"In the end, there wasn't enough food to feed my children," Sheila Wexler said. "When I thought they needed new shoes, we had to wait until their next birthday because I didn't have the money."

At one point, Arnie Wexler said he was called into the office of his boss, who showed him a thick notebook. The book contained a report from a private detective who had trailed him, and discovered he was gambling far beyond his income.

"We know you're stealing from us, and when we catch you, we'll put you in jail," his boss said. Within four hours, Wexler said he was working with another employee to try to embezzle funds again.

Wexler said he finally realized the extent of his illness when his wife took ill and was taken to the hospital.

"I thought, 'If she dies, that would solve my problem, because then I wouldn't have to tell her (about his gambling debts),' " Wexler said.

Soon after, in 1968, Wexler reached the end of his financial rope. He sought out help, was able to stop gambling, and has spent the last several decades traversing the country helping treat problem gamblers.

But as shocking as his story is, Wexler said he's hardly alone. Casino employees, he noted, are two to three times more likely to fall prey to gambling addiction, since a gambling addict likes to be close to the action.

He recounted the stories of some addicted casino employees:

* The baccarat dealer who worked in a casino's high-roller area, suspended for 30 days after showing up at work after a two-day gambling binge without having gone home to change clothes or bathe

* The limousine driver who sought help after going nearly $1 million in debt

* The Nevada casino executive who withdrew his license application to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, because he was afraid the board would discover the extent of his addiction

* A casino worker who robbed gas stations to get gambling money

* A casino credit manager who gave markers to anyone regardless of their credit rating in exchange for a 15 percent kickback

*An Atlantic City casino employee who kidnapped his own daughter, then demanded ransom. When the FBI caught him, Wexler said, the employee said he'd done it to provide for his family

"I wouldn't be shocked if there was at least one compulsive gambler in this room right now," Wexler said. "If we can reach out and get that person some help, we've done some good today."

But even if an employee doesn't have a problem, or doesn't know anyone with a problem, "this is the kind of thing that could bring down the entire industry," Wexler said.

A vivid example of this threat, Wexler said, came about six years ago in Tunica, Miss. In that case, it was alleged a problem gambler was repeatedly solicited by the Splash Casino, even after bouncing multiple checks at the casino and asking that he be placed on the self-exclusion list. In some cases, the casino solicited him in letters demanding payment of old gambling debts.

The gambler later committed suicide, and his widow demanded $50 million in damages against the property. But the lawsuit became moot when the Splash Casino declared bankruptcy and closed in 1995 before a trial could begin.

"That's why it's important for you to listen," Wexler said. "If this would have gone forward, this is the kind of thing that could lead to a class-action lawsuit and effect the entire industry."

The American Bar Association's gambling law expert, however, believes a class-action lawsuit would be difficult to pursue.

"He's potentially right, although a class-action would be difficult, because you have to have actual knowledge (of the gambling addiction)," said Nelson Rose, law professor at Whittier College in California. "I don't think a court is going to hold a 'should-have-known' standard. They're going to stick with, 'You actually knew.' "

Those individual properties that still solicit and admit customers who are known gambling addicts, however, are very vulnerable to such lawsuits, Rose said.

"Unfortunately for the casinos, the damages can be really big, because when you're dealing with compulsive gamblers, there's a high potential for suicide, embezzlement and destruction of the family," Rose said. "I can tell you that even Nevada juries have not been friendly to casinos ... they've given some real big verdicts against casinos."

If a casino employee believes a customer has a problem, should they take the initiative in trying to stop that customer from gambling? No, the Wexlers said; they should only act if the customer comes to them for help by providing them with materials on resources for treating problem gamblers.

"(Casino employees) would probably already be experts at identifying (problem gamblers) if that's your job, but it's not your job," Sheila Wexler said. "(Banning a problem gambler) wouldn't stop anybody. They would just go to another property."