Voluntary exclusions from casinos up sharply

Jim Salter

Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005 | 9:43 a.m.

ST. LOUIS -- The list of those voluntarily banning themselves from Missouri's riverboat casinos has jumped 15 percent over the past year to nearly 9,000 people. While the Missouri Gaming Commission attributes the increase to education and outreach efforts, gambling opponents say it's an indication that more people are becoming gambling addicts.

The Gaming Commission, the state agency that oversees all forms of gambling in Missouri, released its fiscal year 2005 annual report Monday. A section of the report on problem gambling noted that 8,900 people are now signed up for the commission's "voluntary exclusion" program, an increase of 1,200 people in the past 12 months.

The report said the commission is receiving 145 applications a month. Under terms of the program, those who suffer from compulsive gambling can add their names to a list of people prohibited from visiting the state's 11 casinos. As part of the program, casinos are prohibited from marketing -- including offers of free meals or hotel stays -- to anyone on the list.

The self-banning program "is not a cure," said Melissa Stephens, problem gambling program administrator for the Gaming Commission. "It's just one tool, one piece of an overall recovery program. With any behavioral concern, you have to have multiple approaches."

Mark Andrews of Casino Watch, a St. Louis-based antigambling group, worried that the numbers indicate more people are succumbing to gambling addictions.

"I don't know of another state that has people joining the self-banning list faster than Missouri," Andrews said. "It appears to me the problem is gaining momentum. It's good that people are doing something to keep themselves out of casinos, but I think it's a symptom of a massive problem we have in Missouri."

Those who ask to be placed on the state's voluntary exclusion list are banned from all Missouri casinos for life, though the Gaming Commission is considering a change that would allow for a limited-time ban. Stephens said the minimum ban would likely be two years. So far, Gaming Commission staff have not proposed the change to the commission.

Stephens said that in addition to those signing up for the voluntary exclusion list, her office receives 20 to 40 calls per week from people who want to be banned from the casinos, but not for life.

"We are finally starting to get research, and it indicates a two-year ban can be very effective for many individuals that self-exclude," Stephens said.

Anyone on the list caught at a casino will be arrested for trespassing. For any gambler who wins $1,200 or more, the casino must check the name to ensure the winner is not on the list.

The program was created in 1996 when a resident came forward and, citing a gambling problem, asked to be banned from the boats, commission officials said. But mental health experts told the commission the program would be more effective if the gambler had to take responsibility for himself, prompting development of the voluntary exclusion program.

A Harvard study found that about 1.6 percent of the adult population has symptoms of pathological gambling. Casino Watch estimated that 60,000 Missourians are pathological gamblers.