Reviews for new conduct code mixed

By Liz Benston

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

In what casino bosses called an "evolution" in attitudes about responsible gambling, the American Gaming Association -- the chief lobbying organization for commercial casinos nationwide -- Tuesday unveiled a list of requirements aimed at stemming compulsive gambling that in some cases goes above and beyond requirements imposed by state governments.

The code of conduct, released Tuesday in conjunction with the fourth annual AGA-sponsored National Center for Responsible Gaming conference in Las Vegas, will require casinos to comply with a host of measures including mandatory training in responsible gambling for all new resort employees, information for gamblers on the probabilities of winning or losing at casino games, self-exclusion programs for patrons with gambling problems and requirements that casino advertising contain a responsible gambling message or hotline number.

The code is intended to formalize a baseline of responsible business practices that some companies have employed for years and that could eventually be adopted by non-AGA members such as tribal casinos, racetracks with slots and other venues, said Phil Satre, Chairman of Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and a NCRG board member.

A few gamblers have filed lawsuits against casinos in recent years with claims that casinos knowingly fed their addiction to gambling.

Satre said the requirements -- which must be implemented by members by mid-September 2004 -- are not a response to the threat of lawsuits by addicted gamblers and instead reflect how far the industry has come acknowledging compulsive gambling. In some cases the requirements reflect policies in use long before the rise in gambler lawsuits, he said.

Casino companies that didn't talk about the problem are now addressing the issue up-front with employees, customers and the public, he said.

Responsible gambling programs "evolved at different locations at different times," he said. "For many, this is a huge leap. For a lot of other companies ... it represents current practice, by and large."

In some cases, responsible gambling policies such as self-exclusion programs have become the basis for lawsuits in which gamblers claim casinos failed a pledge to keep them out after requesting to be banned from the premises.

"Litigation is always going to be present," said Satre, a former attorney. The risk of inviting more litigation through such requirements isn't high enough to offset the benefit of corporate responsibility, he said.

Even with the threat of pending lawsuits, casino companies like Harrah's are more concerned with improving the industry's reputation as gambling spreads nationwide, he said.

"That is an image issue we know we have to overcome," he said.

Carol O'Hare, executive director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, said the rules are the next step in a years-long process of incorporating responsible gambling approaches into every aspect of company business.

O'Hare also applauded the AGA for holding members to a higher standard and broadening training requirements that may now only apply to money-handlers, pit bosses and dealers in many casinos.

"Sometimes we can't wait until all the research has been done to do something," she said.

Casino foe Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, has cheered the defeat of initiatives in some states over the past year to legalize slot machines and says publicity about addicted gamblers has hurt the industry.

The AGA's code of conduct is "cosmetic" and isn't proactive enough in preventing gambling addiction, Grey said.

"If I'm a trial lawyer I'm looking at this as a slippery slope that they're on," he said. "They certainly haven't gone far enough to safeguard the public."

The rule also puts casino employees in the difficult position of curbing problem gamblers, he said.

"If they minimize pain they cut into profit and that's the last thing casinos are going to do," he said. "Their best customers are the pathological gamblers -- and I think that's going to come out."

At the conference, casino representatives said they have embraced responsible gambling messages as a way to help create "sustainable" profit from customers who spend within their means.

Problem gamblers also can hurt casino companies by tarnishing the industry's image for potential employees and increasing taxes in states that seek payment for problem gambling programs, MGM MIRAGE spokesman Alan Feldman said.

"We don't have time" to wait until researchers and lawyers have all weighed in on responsible gambling programs, Feldman said. "We are all feeling the need to act now."

John Wilhelm, president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, known in Las Vegas as the Culinary Union, challenged casino bosses to become more aggressive about tackling gambling addiction and proposed that casinos pay higher state taxes so that a portion can be funneled to treatment and research of problem gambling.

"As an industry I don't think we're doing enough to get out front of this issue," Wilhelm said. "We're going to end up getting regulated probably at the federal level and I don't think it will work."

"We're not remotely geared up to handle the attacks that are going to come as gambling spreads across the country," he said. "If we don't regulate ourselves, someone's going to do it for us."

Casinos also risk having their image soured by competitors that don't have responsible gambling programs, he said.

"As gambling spreads across this country, (casinos) risk being dragged down by the lowest common denominator," he said.

In 1998, Nevada regulators adopted responsible gambling rules including the requirement that the state's casinos train employees who come into contact with gamblers on the casino floor. Casinos also are required to post notices and offer pamphlets containing information on gambling addiction as well as toll-free helplines. And casinos must have a process by which gamblers can request that they stop receiving promotional mailings and that other casino privileges be revoked.

The requirements go further than Nevada's in some respects. The code includes a policy of distributing materials to all new employees and posting information in employee break rooms. It also includes a self-exclusion option for compulsive gamblers that is now required by regulators in only a few states.

Also included are requirements for casino advertising that limit how gambling by AGA members is marketed. According to the code, casino ads and marketing pieces must contain a responsible gambling message or a toll-free helpline number "where practical" -- a requirement of New Jersey regulators. Advertising may not feature "current collegiate athletes" or contain "cartoon figures, symbols, celebrity/entertainer endorsements and/ or language" designed to appeal to minors. Ads also may not contain claims that gambling "will guarantee an individual's social, financial or personal success."

State gaming regulations don't place any restrictions on casino advertising, though regulators in some cases have toned down some specific ads and passed rules prohibiting slot machines with themes that appeal specifically to children.

In publishing the odds on games, the AGA is taking a page from Australian casinos, which have pamphlets on odds as part of a host of more-restrictive gambling laws passed in recent years. While table games must already post their odds, the new pamphlets may include information that hasn't been publicized such as the payback range for slot machines, members said.

Nevada's gambling addiction regulations were implemented to establish a baseline for corporate responsibility, state Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said.

"Currently there are some (casinos) that go beyond that level," he said. "Our intention was to make sure they were not going to go below that level."

In adopting the rules, the Control Board intended to eventually perform some formal analysis to determine their effectiveness, he said.

"We are continuously looking at what other states are doing with respect to their problem gambling programs," he said.

Control Board Member Scott Sherer, who participated in the conference Tuesday, said regulators should set limits on some gambling behavior.

The board has so far banned the use of credit cards in slot machines and has resisted requests by payday loan companies to open check cashing stores inside casinos, he said.

"The priority needs to be on research" rather than simply creating more regulations, he said.

"We really need to find out what works."