Gaming opponents recount stories of gambling addictions

Tara Godvin

Monday, Oct. 25, 2004 | 9:19 a.m.

OMAHA, Neb. -- Brook Seacrest's interest in gambling began with a trip to Las Vegas with friends two years ago. But what started as a fun pastime quickly turned into an addiction.

"It was the excitement, the lights and the action," the 23-year-old said.

A student at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Seacrest discovered that a cache of casinos were only an hour's drive away and began making trips to Council Bluffs, Iowa -- losing two to three days at a time gambling at the tables.

Television shows featuring card games have fueled the popularity of poker among college students, Seacrest said.

Now recovering from his addiction, Seacrest said he worries that casinos in Nebraska -- particularly in Lincoln -- could lure more students down the road.

After gambling for seven years, Carol Gates, 50, of Council Bluffs, stopped a year ago.

As her addiction took hold, Gates took to stealing from family and friends and even tried to commit suicide when things got out of control.

She had racked up $50,000 in credit card debt playing slot machines.

Gates questioned whether the benefits of casinos in the state -- such as increased tax revenue -- would be worth the social costs.

"I had a normal life before I gambled," Gates said. "That all turned around when I walked into a casino."

Seacrest and Gates were among four people touched by gambling addictions who spoke at a news conference in Omaha held by the anti-gambling group Gambling with the Good Life.

The group is campaigning against two separate gambling proposals that will go before Nebraska voters on Nov. 2.

Gambling supporter and Kimball Mayor Greg Robinson said his group disagrees with the notion that expanded gambling would spread gambling addictions throughout the state.

He is helping spearhead the campaign to pass a series of four expanded gambling initiatives backed by a coalition known as Keep the Money in Nebraska. The measures would authorize two casinos in Omaha and 4,900 video poker and slot machines across the state.

Robinson said gambling addiction is already in Nebraska because of gamblers playing at casinos in neighboring states or playing the games already legal in Nebraska.

If gambling is expanded in the state, authorities on the state and local level could opt to use the extra revenue to better treat addiction, he said.

Using figures from Iowa, Keep the Money in Nebraska has estimated that its proposals would bring in a total of $100 million in new tax revenue a year.

"We already have the problems, but what we don't have is the tax resources ... to deal with those individuals," said Omaha state Sen. Pam Brown.

A constitutional amendment backed by the Legislature, known as Amendment 3, will also be on the ballot. It asks voters to legalize two casinos anywhere in the state.

Brown said Nebraska's current program for treating troubled gamblers is underfunded.

Amendment 3 would provide much needed help by funding the program, she said.