Senior Gambling Addiction Rates Soaring in America, Driven by Corporate Greed, Bad Govt. Policy

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/gambling-and-seniors



***SNIP

Grandma, An Addict?

The gambling business is enjoying a heck of a run. In 2012, the “gaming” industry, as the PR folks insist we call it, took in more profits than any year in its history other than 2007, just before the crash. The casino industry alone took in $37 billion from gamblers. Americans are blowing more on gambling than they are spending on professional sports. New technology and loosening regulations make officials confident that the money tide will only keep rising. Especially with an aging population to bet on.

According to the industry’s most recent data, half of all adult visitors to casinos are aged 50 and older. With the rising numbers of seniors who have taken up gambling as a new form of entertainment, more than anyone ever expected have become addicted. From the anonymous schoolteacher who blew her nest egg to public figures like Maureen O'Connor, the first female mayor of San Diego and moral crusader William Bennett, gambling addiction among older Americans knows no social or economic boundaries. One poll found that 70 percent of seniors had gambled in the last year. The gambling addiction hotlines are ringing off the hook, and it’s often Grandma on the line.

Experts predict that the trend of baby boomers retiring, coupled with factors like the rise of casinos explicitly marketing to seniors, multi-state Powerball lotteries, proliferating slot machines, and a massive online betting surge, the crisis is only just getting started.

Fact: a compulsion can suddenly manifest in an older person with no history of gambling. Seniors have special vulnerabilities, like time on their hands, a need to seek relief and distraction from physical and emotional aches, and loneliness. The fastest-growing group of gambling addicts is senior women, many of whom have lost a spouse and may have children living far away. Feeling marginalized by society, they hunger to fill a void. And the gambling marketers have the ticket for that.

[democratisphere]

1. I know several elderly women that are always compelled to visit our local casinos.

They are on fixed incomes and burying themselves in debt. Government and corporate greed rules the land.

[LuvNewcastle]

2. This is a big problem, and as casinos and other forms of gambling proliferate,

it's going to continue to get worse. Casinos are targeting seniors because they're the people with the most money these days. But sooner or later, a lot of them run out and get into trouble.

I'd say that more than half of casino patrons down here are seniors. A lot of old people move here from other places because of the casinos, or it's the combination of the mild climate, casinos and golf, and access to a VA hospital. At certain times of the day, you can walk through the slot areas in any casino and see long lines of grey heads sitting at the machines. The casinos send them coupons for free food at the buffet, and that's the hook that gets them in the door. Most can't just eat and run; they have to stay and play for at least a little while.

I tell people all the time, especially people in their 40's, to save all the money they can because they can't depend on mom and dad to leave them anything. If the casinos don't get their money, the retirement homes will. I have friends who have had to bail their parents out after they went through all their savings, maxed out their credit cards, and were about to lose their homes. If any of you have aged parents and they live in a town with casinos, I suggest you stay involved in their lives and know what they're doing. Try to steer them toward healthy hobbies and other activities. They probably have friends who hang out at the casinos all the time, and it's really easy for them to get caught up in some bad habits.

[Bohunk68]

4. Very good stuff there.

Later today I go to our county senior citizens council meeting as a delegate. I am going to bring this up. Oftimes some of our town clubs organize trips to the casinos. After all, it's their money, right? But, you brought up a good point about those seniors who then have to be rescued. I surely understand how the addiction can happen. If you are a senior with less than $1000/month, the temptation to spend a few here and there on the lottery with the vain hope of winning is just too tempting to many trying to hope for escape from poverty.

[LuvNewcastle]

6. Yes, I would try to avoid taking them to places like that.

Another thing I didn't mention is that some medications have compulsive gambling as a side effect, and seniors tend to be on a lot of meds. Try to steer them toward other ideas. You'll probably get some resistance, but you'll be doing the right thing for them. Good luck.

I worked in casinos for about 10 years, and I had to get out of it. The money was good, but it left me feeling like shit all the time. I really hated the feeling that I was making a living off of other folks' misery. I've been unemployed for awhile now, but I hope to find something in which I can be helpful to others, or at least not be a harm. I've seen everything casinos have to offer and I can't say a positive word about them. If I have a friend who gets a free meal or a free ticket to a show, I might go sometimes, but I refuse to spend a dime in one of those places.

[Helen Borg]

7. Most money and

Shrinking frontal lobes that are required to control and inhibit behavior.

[Laelth]

3. k&r for the truth, however depressing it may be. n/t

-Laelth

[liberal N proud]

5. I was in a truck stop on a recent trip with a bus full of seniors on their way to a casino

This is how the corporations get the retirement from those who retired with a pension.

It bothers me to lose a couple dollars now while I make good money, I can't imagine losing a couple of dollars on a fixed income.

[KurtNYC]

10. part of the way gambling and gambling addictions work is that people

lose more than they can afford and then they go again and again with the goal of simply winning back what they lost.

There is also a theory of gambling addiction that says that addicts WANT to lose their money. No matter what they might say or even tell themselves, they want to lose their money. With some overlap of the first two groups, there are also those who use gambling, especially on machines, as a kind of drug. For this group the goal is to spend as much time as possible "in the zone."

MIT researcher says:

>>The newest video slot machines, for instance, deliver a frequent stream of small wins rather than infrequent large jackpots. Why? Because after immersion in electronic slot machines, many users resemble one gambler Schull studied at length, who “felt irritated when she won, because it took time for the jackpot to go up, so she had to sit there — and her flow was interrupted,” Schull says. “It’s the flow of the experience that people are after. Money to them is a means to sit there longer, not an end. They don’t win a jackpot and leave, they win a jackpot and sit there until it’s gone.”<<

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/understanding-gambling-addiction-0904.html

[Mr Dixon]

8. SAD

The house always wins, remember that my parents are broke but soon as they get a few dollars they gamble it away in hopes of winning big………..SMH.

[FatBuddy]

9. so they worked during the greatest expansion of the middle class

in the mid 20th century, have retirement funds, annuities, paid for houses (not all, but I am sure many do).

they drive their $200,000 RVs to blow wads at a casino?

am I reading this correctly?

[KurtNYC]

11. So what happens when John McCain owes big bucks because of his addiction?

My hunch is: we all lose.

[ctsnowman]

12. It's the only

hope some have to be able to retire.

[The2ndWheel]

13. It's their money

They can do as they like.

[progree]

14. "Driven by Corporate Greed, Bad Govt. Policy" -- let's face reality: Govt greed too

Let's face it, government greed too is involved. I've listened to our state legislators debate as they approve one lottery after another, lately electronic pulltabs to pay for the Vikings stadium, racino, slot machines at the race track, on and on to bring in more revenues because higher taxes on the "job creators" (in their minds the wealthy) is not an option.

I remember during the tobacco settlement about 15 years ago when we all agreed that tobacco was addictive ... well, somebody brought up that gambling was addictive FOR SOME PEOPLE and a state official denied and denied ...

I know some DUers don't like to hear that government can be greedy too. Well, sorry, but reality does not always fit a pretty progressive meme of evil greedy corporations but just "bad government policy".

It is well worth remembering too that, like smoking, lower income people do proportionately more gambling (as percent of income), and on top of that least can afford it.

Everything I've read is that seniors today are going into retirement with much less retirement assets than the previous generation (depleted 401 k's and no pensions). I don't think they need a proliferation of ever more convenient and nearby gambling options.

[exboyfil]

31. I would not categorize government necessarily

as greedy. They are seeking revenue sources to fund essential programs (such as education - many lotteries go for education at least as a start). The citizens could be classified as greedy because they demand the services but are unwilling to pay for them. Getting someone else to pay a voluntary tax appears as a less painful source.

That being said the spread of gambling is a horrible idea. I cannot believe the zombiefied faces playing the slots. As I characterize it to my children, my social security payments in part go to make casino owners rich (and allow the states to avoid the hard process of collecting revenues in a more rationale way). In a town I worked in a major OEM supplier has been replaced by a icasino - going from somethng that generates wealth to a parasite. We cannot survive as a country if we continue to do that.

[progree]

33. Considering the known consequences I would and I do n/t

[greymattermom]

15. casino employees treat folks well

When you're old, folks look at you differently. At the casino, employees are polite and helpful and you feel important again. I'm staying at a casino right now. The room rate during the week is very low, they have indoor parking and it's freezing here, and I won enough to buy dinner. I have a 20 dollar limit, just enough to equal the room rate at a worse hotel down the road.

[jwirr]

16. Just a question. Is it more addicting than going to the bar or playing video games? Since I see a

lot of that and the consequences I doubt it. I am a senior and I do not gamble but I do go to the casino to eat at their excellent buffet. We go to lunch. To get to the restaurant we walk through the gaming area and it very often is empty. The bingo area is not even open during the day until late in the afternoon.

There is little for a senior to do in most communities. We can set at home and let the brains shrink from lack of use like a few of the posters here suggest or we can go where there are people to talk to and have some fun. Most of us budget our money if we plan to gamble - $20 and no more. As far as I know the casino near us does not own buses. And the tribe does not provide transportation apart from the community bus service they provide for everyone to any place they want to go.

For those who are addicted there is help just like there is help for other types of addiction. Sorry for the rant but many of us are still quite able to handle our own affairs. Thank you.

[JNelson6563]

17. This post was about the many who cannot.

My mother gambled away about 1 million dollars. She had to marry some guy just to have a home. Her life could've been so different but she is an addict.

Sadly gambling is getting to be like another very addictive drug, alcohol: Cheap and available everywhere.

But I guess it's not a problem (in fact an insult to all seniors to even think it!1!) since you are in total control of our world.

Oy.

Julie

[Skittles]

27. not sure jwirr deserved that snarkiness

she's just making personal observations

[JNelson6563]

30. Post sounded pretty self-righteous to me.

And I find self-righteousness to be rather annoying, not to mention worthy of scorn in the form of snark.

Julie

[progree]

18. Since its not a problem for me, its not a problem. Besides, there are programs for addicts

so what's the fuss?

There are free credit counseling programs for poor people too, so what's the fuss about people losing money, or for that matter cutting food stamps and ending unemployment insurance benefits?

Just a question, is gambling more addicting than drinking or smoking or going to a bad part of town and shooting up? If not, then what is the fuss?

We can set at home and let the brains shrink from lack of use like a few of the posters here suggest [font size = 1, font color = gray] (I haven't seen any such postings here, but what the heck)[/font]

Some casinos don't have busses, so what exactly is your problem? Is this Busgate or what?

[font size = 1, font color = gray]angry sarcasm thingy[/font]

[CountAllVotes]

19. An elderly woman I know is in this trap

Last edited Thu Jan 9, 2014, 02:31 AM - Edit history (1)

And yes, that is what it is, a trap.

At this point, she is basically broke. She still owns her crummy house in need of much repair but seems to spend all of her money at the casinos best I can tell.

It is an addiction alright and described by some as an addiction that is worse than any drug out there. I'd say I rather believe this to be the case. If you cannot control yourself, you should not go through that door. Period.

& recommend.

[geek tragedy]

20. Gambling, like drug addiction--is a vice--something that is actively bad for the people

who are caught up in it.

Not a sin, a vice.

[Jesus Malverde]

21. Dottys...

Dotty's is a chain of slot machine parlors with about 175 locations in Nevada, Oregon, and Montana, and another 150 locations planned in Illinois. The chain caters to women aged 35 and older, with a clean, well-lit atmosphere meant to invoke "your grandmother's kitchen". Dotty's business model has led to controversy in Oregon and Nevada over whether it violates the spirit of laws allowing slot machines as a secondary source of income for bars and taverns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dotty's

[Egalitarian Thug]

22. Nobody on this thread has brought up what seems to me to be the problem.

Everybody knows how casinos work and the inevitable results of patronizing them too frequently or enthusiastically.

So why are these people, like the drug addicts they are compared to here, doing something that they know is not good for them? We've read some of the reasons, lonely, bored, feeling useless or abandoned, and so on.

We are a profoundly unhappy people. Hardly any of us wouldn't rather be doing something else. "Life isn't fair", "Why do you think they call it work?" Is there anybody that hasn't heard these and similar admonitions their whole lives? Why are you spending your all too short life doing something you'd rather not? How do you think you will feel 40 years from now as you look back and realize that you've lived your life without doing the things you really wanted to and now it's too late? Or maybe that you sacrificed what you were doing in order to "raise a family" only to now have that family look on you as a burden or to feel that way about yourself?

Yes gambling is a problem, but it's mostly a symptom of living in a world not of your own making, where you are forced into spending your only life working to achieve somebody else's dream and in the end they aren't even grateful.

[CFLDem]

23. Boom!

Thats exactly right.

[Egalitarian Thug]

24. Thanks. I assumed this reply would either be ignored or kill the thread. It's too big,

too complicated, and too many people don't want to even think about it.

I think this is the main reason for religion.

[progree]

25. Well, #16 indicated seniors have little else to do -- the casino, bar, or video games is about it

From #16:

Is it more addicting than going to the bar or playing video games?

There is little for a senior to do in most communities. We can set at home and let the brains shrink from lack of use like a few of the posters here suggest or we can go where there are people to talk to and have some fun.

So without casinos and without bars, seniors "in most communities" would end up with unused shrinking brains. I guess.

And drat on those "few of the posters" who suggest that "we can set at home and let the brain shrink from lack of use". Oh, none of the posters actually said that, but we know they were all thinking that!

[Egalitarian Thug]

26. You should read my original reply. n/t

[progree]

34. I did. Seniors feel underappreciated and so they gamble. I got it. n/t

[Egalitarian Thug]

35. No, you totally didn't. If you are very young, you might still learn, if not, good luck. n/t

[progree]

36. LOL. Not young. But I don't whine about not being appreciated

Nor do I anesthetize myself with gambling or anything else because I'm "profoundly unhappy". Or because I didn't live my life doing what I really wanted to, or because the world is not one of my own making.

From post #22:

We are a profoundly unhappy people. Hardly any of us wouldn't rather be doing something else. ... How do you think you will feel 40 years from now as you look back and realize that you've lived your life without doing the things you really wanted to and now it's too late? Or maybe that you sacrificed what you were doing in order to "raise a family" only to now have that family look on you as a burden or to feel that way about yourself?

Yes gambling is a problem, but it's mostly a symptom of living in a world not of your own making, where you are forced into spending your only life working to achieve somebody else's dream and in the end they aren't even grateful.

I don't think most seniors, even most who go to casinos, are that profoundly bitter or depressed.

[Egalitarian Thug]

37. Well, being completely wrong is not limited to the young.

FSM knows that there is no shortage of old fools. Nor is there any shortage of angry, bitter, authoritarians pining for the good old days "when we ruled the world", though they never existed.

Please continue to ignore and discount the suffering of those around you. I'm sure that they have no consideration of your opinions at all and will never hold you personally responsible.

It is, after all, a very Democratic response.

[progree]

38. I didn't mean to discount the suffering of people who ruminate bitterly about not being appreciated

or feel that "we are a profoundly unhappy people" ... "not living in a world of our own making" (paraphrasing the latter a bit)

and especially those whose ruminations about not being appreciated etc. leads them to "doing something that they know is not good for them" like getting into a serious gambling problem.

All of that, especially when it leads to self-destructive activity, is symptomatic of a real mental health issue. And I don't say that in a snarky or superior way, frankly I've been there, and had to get a lot of help to learn to live life on life's terms. Rational Emotive Therapy and other cognitive approaches and all that.

There are a number of mental health and health forums under the "Heath" section under "Topics" on the leftside menu. To name a few:
# Addiction and Recovery http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1144
# Chronic Health Conditions http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1147
# Mental Health Information http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1260
# Mental Health Support http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1151

If my tone in #36 was dismissive, it was in response to #35.

[Egalitarian Thug]

39. It is not insignificant that you have evaded the personal and resorted to posting totally irrelevant

Last edited Wed Jan 8, 2014, 04:45 AM - Edit history (1)

links (none of which work BTW*) to a group dedicated to the proposition that addiction is nothing more than a term synonymous with habit.

Don't worry, it's not your fault. Have a good life.

*Edit: My mistake, I though you had intended to link to specific objects that you thought might be useful. I should have guessed that you were simply pasting general groups in an attempt to generate the impression of concern.

[progree]

40. Sorry, lots of questions

39. It is not insignificant that you have evaded the personal

Huh?

and resorted to posting totally irrelevant links

How so?

(none of which work BTW)

All 4 links work on my computer

to a group dedicated to the proposition that addiction is nothing more than a term synonymous with habit.

Explanation please. That sure doesn't sound like the Addiction and Recovery Group.

Don't worry, it's not your fault. Have a good life.

Likewise.

[Major Nikon]

45. The DSM-4 recognized pathological gambling as a impulse control disorder

The DSM-5 moved it to a new category along with other substance abuse, but classified such conditions on a sliding scale of severity.

So effectively it is a bad habit in most problem instances and to a lesser extent a true addiction.

But here's the thing, let's say it is a full blown addiction and many people are suffering. How many are there relative to the people who are doing it? Like alcohol and drugs, huge numbers do it, relatively few have serious problems. Old people have been giving all their money away to churches forever. Who has concern for that? Nobody but atheists for the most part.

[Skittles]

29. excellent response

you nail it

[Major Nikon]

42. The white man stole from the Native Americans

...and now the Native Americans are stealing it back.

Seems fair.

[Egalitarian Thug]

43. Sort of, but they're not stealing it back from the right people.

In fact, they're not really getting that much at all. Native American, or any other American casino enterprises for that matter, are rarely even mentioned in the major player's discussions.

None of these operations, including Atlantic City, are even in the same league as Las Vegas, let alone competitive. In turn, Las Vegas is being left in the dust by Macao. Addleson, Wynn, MGM, and Harrah's are all over there pouring millions into their operations and raking in record-breaking profits.

[Major Nikon]

44. Perhaps, but Native American casinos are a booming industry right now

The small town of Durant, OK where my tribe is based looks nothing like it did 10 years ago. There are no less than 3 casinos and hotels, restaurants and everything that goes with it all in one small area. The tribe built a concert/multipurpose arena only to tear it down not long after in order to build an even bigger one. The growth over a short period is incredible and other tribes are doing the same thing. They have free buses that run every day that bring people in from all over the DFW metroplex and probably other places as well. Las Vegas isn't going to see much more growth, so people like the ones you mentioned who are branching out are going to see the most growth along with the Native American casinos.

[Egalitarian Thug]

46. That's good and I'm happy for you as long as you're happy with it.

We've strayed pretty far off topic, but I don't think this thread's going to get much more play.

I'll tell you a big secret that none of the Native casinos I've been in have figured out yet (and this comes from AZ, SoCal, IL, & OR). it's not about the gambling. OK, sometimes it is about the gambling to a degree, but really it is about the show.

Gambling in various forms has been loosed into the wild here in the states for over 20 years, almost 40 years in Atlantic City, and none of them, even combined, brings in as much money as Las Vegas. Like I said, they're not even in the parking lot where they can see the park where this league plays.

Most people don't come here to gamble.

They come for the experience. They come for a 24/7 party with hookers and blow and a show.

They come to pretend that the guys in Thunder Down Under really are flirting with them.

They come here to be seen in the hottest night clubs with the most famous DJ's (apparently bands are currently uncool) in the world. They come to the only place on earth where they can see a 70 year old Barry Manilow belting it out through the layers of surgery and the youngest hottest performers before anyone has ever heard of them, on the same night.

They come to stand under the same sign that Frank, Dino, Sammy, Joey, and Peter stood under, drunk, in that picture so that they can have their own picture. They come to walk around the streets at 4AM carrying a margarita the size of a Honda with the temperature in the 80s. They come here to be what they can't be and to do what they can't do back in wherever. And none of the operations that imagine themselves to be competition can offer anything but slots with an atrocious payout lined up in a carpeted warehouse.

40 years on and Atlantic City is still a tiny, dingy group of famous names in the middle of a giant shit hole. They're in the heart of the greatest concentration of people and wealth in the nation and not one of them makes half of what their Vegas counterpart does (except for Trump, but that's because the illegitimate orangutan was stupid enough to fuck with Wynn and so now his hotel sits mostly vacant with no casino, no shows, and a restaurant that has been repeatedly shut down by the health department).

[Douglas Carpenter]

28. cheap hotel rooms, luscious buffets and dazzling shows in a fun playful atmosphere

usually under one roof - if one wishes. If someone actually refrained from gambling - casino resorts would probably offer about the most bang for the buck of any quick vacation package that one does not have to travel too far for these days. This can be very attractive to seniors - of course all these great entertainment bargains are not being done out of the goodness of some corporation's heart.

[exboyfil]

32. I think that is being scaled back

Too many free riders (I did myself a couple of times). I don't gamble but have gone to some concerts at the casinos (cost much less than public venues at the time). Not any more. Food also is priced about the same as surrounding restaurants (which I prefer to give my money to).

[Major Nikon]

41. No more of a problem than organized religion IMO, and arguably less

The reality is that there are more casinos today than there ever have been. Why? Because religious interest have been suppressing them since as long as there has been organized gambling. Why? Because they are in completion for the same dollars. Older people are also more likely to give money to churches. At least with casinos there is actually a possibility of a return on one's investment. Nobody seemed to have a problem with churches fleecing old people and they have been doing it for centuries. Remember how Jesus told his followers to give all their shit away? Guess how he made his money. He wasn't the first one to come up with the idea.

[Egalitarian Thug]

47. Good point. n/t