Casino self-exclusion programs grow, called a ‘work in progress’

Kevin Ferguson

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2001 | 10:01 a.m.

Shame often overwhelms compulsive gamblers when they come into casino manager Denis Floge's office to reveal their gambling addictions.

Problem gamblers often approach Floge, general manager of the Sky City Casino, an Indian property in New Mexico, to be placed on the casino's self-exclusion list.

The listing means the patron is asking to be banned from entering the casino.

"Once they take that step and sign onto the program, they often say they feel a huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders," Floge said during a gambling industry convention in Las Vegas this month.

Those who join the program get removed from the casino's direct-marketing mailing lists, no longer receive casino credit and can't cash checks at the casino.

These self-exclusion programs are relatively new in the gambling industry, and therefore are a work-in-progress, said Carol O'Hare, executive director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling. She didn't participate in the panel and was interviewed by telephone.

Elements of these programs differ among the states that have them. They are Nevada, New Jersey, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan and Louisiana.

Missouri created its program in 1996. It bans for life self-identified problem gamblers from entering riverboat casinos. Excluded customers who try entering riverboat casinos can be arrested for trespassing.

Nevada's two-year-old program does not go nearly that far.

"A person who puts himself on (an excluded list) can just walk into the casino and ask to be removed from the list," Keith Copher, head of the Nevada Gaming Control Board's enforcement division, said in a telephone interview after the panel discussion.

New Jersey's program, which started in September, allows problem gamblers to sign up for one year, five years or for life.

"That's one of the things that's troubling about the New Jersey (program)," said Arnie Wexler, a recovering problem gambler and the moderator of the convention panel discussion.

Wexler said those who have a problem controlling their betting habits suffer from a progressive disease and will not be cured over a period of time.

O'Hare, who spoke in favor of Missouri's lifetime ban when the state was drafting its program, has since back-tracked from her firm stance.

"We're talking about a voluntary program and we don't want it to appear to be so strict that people are intimidated from signing up," she said.

The panel agreed that these programs are not a cure-all for problem gamblers, noting that the casino patron also must seek help from a clinic like Gamblers Anonymous.

"Our program is very clear to the gambler. We are not promising to keep them out of the casino," said Kevin Mullally, chairman of the Missouri Gaming Commission. "We want the casino to stop marketing to the problem gambler, (eliminate) them from their club member groups, not to cash their checks and not to invite them to their New Year's Eve parties."

Missouri has more than 3,000 people on its exclusion list and the list grows by 112 people per month, Mullally said.

"What has made our voluntary exclusion policy such a success is that we have input from all relevant stakeholders, including the Missouri Department of Mental Health, the Missouri Lottery, the Missouri Council on Problem Gambling Concern, the Missouri Gaming Commission and the Missouri Riverboat Gaming Association," he said.

Since beginning its program last month, New Jersey has had 30 people sign up, said William Sommeling, member of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

Copher said the Nevada Gaming Control Board does not keep track of the number of people who have excluded themselves from Silver State casinos because each gaming operator keeps its own list. Casinos are not required to report these names to the state.

O'Hare said it's unrealistic to expect a program in Nevada like those in Missouri or New Jersey because of the size of the industry in the Silver State.

"Missouri had less than a dozen riverboat casinos when it adopted its self-exclusion program. Nevada has more than 2,700 gaming licenses," she said. "The first thing you want to do when you create a program is make sure you can implement it."

But there are signs that other efforts in Nevada are helping to curb the problem, she said.

Each business that holds a gaming license is required to post throughout its property the help-line for the Council on Problem Gambling. Since that went into effect two years ago, O'Hare said calls for help have doubled.

"When they call, we ask them where they got the number, and they often say from either a brochure or at the gaming location," she said.

She said the council receives about 3,000 calls per year.