Proposal would let gamblers ban themselves from casinos
in New Jersey
Compulsive gamblers who can't resist the lure
of clinking slot machines and spinning roulette wheels may
soon get a new tool to help themselves.
The state of New Jersey, which maintains a
list of mobsters, cheats and others who are banned from
entering casinos, is proposing a "self-exclusion" program that
would allow problem gamblers to ban themselves.
Under it, gamblers could register with the
state and provide a photograph of themselves to casinos, which
would then be required to deny them access to games, credit,
complimentary items, check-cashing privileges, players club
perks, direct-mail promotions and other benefits.
The initiative, announced Monday by the state
Division of Gaming Enforcement, mirrors similar efforts in
Connecticut, Missouri, Michigan and Louisiana.
It still must be approved by the state Casino
Control Commission to take effect.
One casino gambling critic called the proposal
window dressing, aimed at masking the fact that casinos depend
on gambling addicts for their profits.
"I won't slam any recognition by casinos that
there's a problem, but if this is the best they can do for a
diseased person, telling them 'It's going to rely on you to
treat yourself,' then the problem will persist," said the Rev.
Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against
Gambling Expansion. "Don't forget, their profitability comes
from people who are pathological gamblers."
An estimated 16 million Americans have
experienced gambling problems at some point in their lives,
according to the National Research Council.
The director of the New Jersey Division of
Gaming Enforcement, J.P. Suarez, said anyone on the list
discovered in a casino would be escorted off by security
guards, Suarez said.
They would not face criminal sanctions,
however, and the ban would not be permanent. A person could
have his name removed from the list by formally requesting it
and waiting 30 days, Suarez said.
Casinos, meanwhile, could face cash penalties
for violating the ban, Suarez said.
The Division of Gaming Enforcement is in
discussions with the state attorney general's office about the
possibility of forcing casinos and excluded gamblers to
forfeit money won or lost by a person while on the self
exclusion list, Suarez said.
No regulation has been proposed for that yet,
he said.
Edward Looney, executive director of the
Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, applauded the
self-exclusion proposal Tuesday. He said many recovering
gamblers reported relapses after receiving promotional
literature or invitations from casinos in the mail.
"There are not going to be thousands and
thousands of people signing up for this. These programs have
been in place elsewhere and the numbers haven't been large.
But the ones who are serious about getting rid of the
temptations, they will go along with it," Looney
said.
Grey, an anti-casino crusader who travels the
country organizing opposition to ballot referendums on casino
gambling, said the proposal is "a day late and a dollar
short."
"How long have you had casinos there? Twenty
years? Now, 20 years down the road, they've discovered
self-exclusion? When they start moving the ATMs and credit
offices off the casino floors, I'll take them seriously," Grey
said.
