Casino

For most people, a trip to the casino is a fun diversion, just like going to the theater or a nice restaurant.

But for a small group, gambling is catastrophic.

They become hooked on the roll of the dice, the ring of a slot machine or the dealer’s call of “blackjack.”

For them, gambling can mean emptying retirement accounts, theft and the breakup of family.

No one knows whether a casino here would create more gambling addicts. But several experts say it is likely.

A 1999 congressional study found that people living within 50 miles of a casino are twice as likely to have a gambling problem.

Rhode Islanders already have plenty of gambling options. So, would one more make a difference? Lincoln Park and Newport Grand have a total of 4,672 slot machines, 1,201 vendors statewide sell lottery tickets, and 616 stores and bars have Keno. And the world’s two largest casinos are just a few miles across the Connecticut border.

For every ATM that dispenses cash in Rhode Island, there are seven slot machines ready to take it back.

Connecticut had relatively little legal gambling when Foxwoods Resort Casino installed its first slot machine in 1993. Three years later, Mohegan Sun opened nearby.

“When the casinos came, everything changed,” said Christopher Armentano, who runs Connecticut’s problem gambling treatment program.

Rhode Island already has gambling, but a casino would offer more free meals, free liquor and intense marketing.

“Casinos are more attractive,” he said.

For instance, Armentano said, having a casino host who knows patrons’ names increases the likelihood that someone will gamble more.

Armentano contradicts a popular argument by casinos that compulsive gamblers are going to find a place to gamble no matter what. He says the greater availability of gambling increases the likelihood that people will develop a problem. In the years since the casinos opened, Armentano said, his program has grown from treating 60 or 70 gamblers a year to about 500 now, although part of the reason is increased financing.

“Problem gamblers — for the most part — aren’t born,” he said. “They’re made.”

About 60 percent of his patients gambled at the casinos.

Additonally, the number of women seeking treatment significantly increased after the casinos opened, he said.

Some of his female patients turned to gambling after experiencing life transitions, such as children going off to college, or an unhappy marriage.

“They find sitting in front of a slot machine makes everything go away,” he said. “Gambling numbs all feelings, takes away the pain. It’s a total escape.”

The State of Connecticut published a report in 1997 on the effects of gambling on its citizens. It found that 80 percent of problem gamblers cashed in stocks or bonds to support their habit and that 72 percent had stolen some money — although most hadn’t been arrested. A third quit or lost their jobs.

The report also praised Harrah’s Entertainment, the company working with the Narragansett Indian Tribe to bring a casino to Rhode Island, for taking “an active stance regarding problems with gambling” and said others “have followed their lead.”

The casino industry acknowledges that some people have a gambling addiction. Harrah’s says it has been a leader, taking several steps to mitigate the problem.

In 1995, Harrah’s stopped cashing welfare and unemployment checks.

“If you are relying of these types of checks to subsist, obviously you do not have money to gamble,” said Jennifer Shatley, who oversees Harrah’s Code of Commitment.

Two years ago, Harrah’s stopped cashing paychecks.

“We’re in the entertainment business and we don’t take people’s money any more than when you go to Disneyland,” said Jan L. Jones, Harrah’s senior vice president for communications and government relations. “When you go to Disneyland with your family, when you leave you have less money. You also have had an experience that is something you enjoyed.”

Jones said gamblers come to a casino to have fun and that 98 percent gamble responsibly and are on a budget.

“You cannot induce them to exceed that budget,” Jones said. “And those are the customers that are important to our business. Inducing people with problems to gamble is not only morally wrong, it wouldn’t do anything for our business.”

Harrah’s executives say it is a myth that gambling addicts are good customers.

“Do you want to sit with an obvious alcoholic?” Jones said. “They’re depressed. They’re unhappy.”

Harrah’s offers several options to people who want to restrict their own gambling. These include cutting off access to check chasing, casino credit and receiving promotions. Customers can also put themselves on a list prohibiting them entry to any Harrah’s casino for one year, five years or for life.

Of the 44 million customers in Harrah’s database, Jones said that fewer than 40,000 have voluntarily asked for restrictions.

All Harrah’s employees receive an hour of training on addiction as part of a weeklong orientation. Those who interact with customers go through an additional hour where they learn to look out for statements from customers such as, “I don’t know why I keep coming back here.”

Each casino also has 20 to 30 employees who undergo an additional 2½ hours of training, including how to approach a suspected problem gambler.

“The goal of the conversation is not try to determine if the person has a problem or diagnose anything,” Shatley said. “The goal … is to tell them we’re concerned about the statement they made … and to let them know that resources are available.”

Lincoln Park, Rhode Island’s largest gambling facility, has a similar set of policies.

Some Rhode Islanders are already addicted to gambling.

Robert Breen, director of the Rhode Island Gambling Treatment Program, treats about 150 of them a year. The majority are addicted to video-slot machines and video poker, mostly at Lincoln Park, but some at the Connecticut casinos.

Breen said there are probably between 7,000 and 21,000 people in Rhode Island with a problem. More aren’t treated because there is not enough money to educate the public about the symptoms of gambling problems.

Lawmakers have yet to say whether they would provide more money for treatment if a casino is approved. There is no legislation detailing how the casino would operate or what tax rate it would pay.

Some gamblers try to solve the problem on their own.

“When people are having these kinds of problems, they try to keep it secret from everybody, even the people they are closest to,” Breen said.

“There’s a tremendous amount of shame because they don’t view themselves as having … a medical addiction but more of a lack of willpower. There is a stigma attached to this.”

So, would a West Warwick casino create more addicts?

“Most people that we see here are addicted to the slots because it’s what we have here,” Breen said.

“Maybe we’d see more people addicted to poker and dice and blackjack if that was more readily available. … And that is what I would expect to see if such a casino was open for business here. It’s common sense.”