OLD – The Truth about Gambling in the Jewish Community

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WHAT GAMBLING LOOKED LIKE IN 1968 / TODAY

I stopped gambling on April 10, 1968. At that time gambling in America looked very different than it does today. Legal casinos were only in Las Vegas. There was no such thing as Internet gambling. There were no cell phones. There were no credit cards or ATM machines. There weren’t any check cashing privileges at racetracks. Off track betting, Simulcasting , or telephone betting did not exist. There were no phones at the racetrack. Only three states had a lottery. Riverboats were a tourist attraction along the Mississippi River (not gambling facilities). There were no toll free 800 numbers to call to buy information on what games to bet on. Gamblers Anonymous and Gam-Anon family groups, only had meetings in a few states. The Superbowl was only in its’ second year and there was no Monday night football.

Compulsive gambling is a progressive disease, much like an addiction to alcohol or drugs. In many cases, the gambling addiction is hidden until the gambler becomes unable to function without gambling, and he or she begins to exclude all other activities from their lives. Inability to stop gambling often results in financial devastation, broken homes, employment problems, criminal acts and suicide attempts.

Since 1980 the American Psychiatric Association has included a diagnosis for Pathological (Compulsive) Gambling in their manual. It is considered a disorder that responds to treatment.

Compulsive gambling has some similarities to other addictions (i.e. chemical addiction or alcoholism). The gambler uses gambling to “get high” or to numb themselves, by escaping into a dream world of gambling. However, compulsive gamblers do not ingest anything and therefore, do not have any visual signs such as track marks, dilated pupils. This adds to the denial of this illness, since the person still appears “normal”.

The gambler is eventually able to remove themselves from reality to the point of being totally obsessed with gambling. Eventually, they will do anything to get the money with which to stay in “action”. They will spend all their time and energy developing schemes in order to get the money to continue gambling. Lying becomes a way of life for the gambler. They will try to convince others and themselves that their lies are actually truths.

For the spouse or family member of the gambler,ESPEPIALLY THE SPOUSE OF THE FEMALE GAMBLER, the effects of compulsive gambling can be devastating. Financially, emotionally and mentally, they will be drained of all their energy and resources. The worst thing any family member can ever do is to bail out the compulsive gambler from their financial pressures. Money is the “drug” that the gambler uses.

Our society views gambling as “fun and games”. For many people, that is the case.

Gambling is glamorized in the movies, on TV and in the media. One prime example is the fact that when you open your local newspaper you can get the odds and point spreads on almost every sporting event that will take place, nationwide, even though you can’t place a legal bet in America, except in Las Vegas. Some newspapers are even running “poker” columns and treating the game of poker as a “sport”. Another example is the sports talk shows and nightly news shows that tell you who to pick and what point spreads to take.

The lottery has become a national event on a daily basis. Sometimes it’s the lead story on the nightly news. I’ve seen advertising when a Governor of a state, holds up a lottery ticket and suggests that citizens are helping worthy causes if they buy a lottery ticket. If that same Governor had held up a bottle of alcohol and suggested that sales taxes would help the state, people would be outraged. When I was the Executive Director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of NJ, we hired Gallop to do a survey. Two of the questions were: “have you ever played illegal numbers?” (31 % said they did.) and “do you play legal lottery?’( 81% said they did).

Poker is sweeping the nation and the world. It is the hottest thing on college campuses. It is easier to play poker then it is to buy cigarettes or a can of beer on campuses all over the country. In the 37 years that I have been helping compulsive gamblers, I have never seen anything explode like poker has. One third of all the callers to our help line (888 LAST BET) are either parents of young gamblers or young people who have the problem. I have spoken to college students who play poker day and night. They even play during class. It has become such an enormous craze that poker paraphernalia is one of the biggest selling items in stores, today.

You can’t surf the TV without seeing some kind of poker tournament being televised, and you can’t be on your computer without seeing a pop up about poker or receiving an email inviting you to come to a poker site to play. They often invite you to play for free, and after awhile you will get invited to switch over to live poker games for money.

Some of the people (both youngsters and adults) are becoming addicted to poker. Not everyone who plays, will develop a compulsive gambling problem, but there are those who will get caught up in the craze and then cross that invisible line which will lead to destruction. Since Compulsive Gambling is an impulse disorder, the fact that someone can “play” at any time, day or night and anywhere (home, college dorm or office) increases the chances of the person becoming addicted.

According to a Harvard study a few years ago, 4.67% of young people have a gambling problem. Experts tell us that the earlier a person starts to gamble, the greater the risk of them becoming a compulsive gambler. In another survey, 96% of adult male recovering gamblers’ stated that they started gambling before the age of 14. With this poker explosion, we envision that the average age of people seeking help for a gambling problem will be much younger in the next few years. It seems to me that there must be education and prevention programs for young people (from grade school through college) similar to those programs for drugs and alcohol.

I think it’s important to note that it is not just young people that have this problem.

The gambling experience (both legal and illegal) is much more available in our society, today. This disease cuts across all cultural, social and economic aspects of society. I believe that there are more active compulsive gamblers, today, then in any other time in our history.

I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT YEARS AGO WHEN SOMEONE GOT TO A GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS MEETING IF THERE WERE 1 OR 2 WOMEN AT THE MEETING THAT WAS RARE. TODAY IF YOU GO TO A GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS MEETING IN SOME CASE YOU WILL SEE MORE WOMEN THEN MEN.TWENTY YEARS AGO 5% OF CALLS TO HOTLINES WERE FROM WOMEN TODAY SOME HOTLINES REPORT OVER 55% OF THE CALLS ARE FROM WOMEN GAMBLERS.

SO MANY CASES OF WOMEN ARE SHOWING UP IN COURTS TODAY BECAUSE THEY EMBEZZLED $ TO SUPPORT THERE GAMBLING ADDICTIONS.

ABOUT ½ THE CALLS WE GET ON OUR

888 LAST BET HELPLINE ARE FROM WOMEN NSEEKING HELP

The shame and guilt hits the female gambler harder than with the male,” he said. “When I talk with male gamblers, sometimes it takes two or three times before they go for help. Sometimes it takes two or three years before a female seeks help.

You can get up in the middle of the night and gamble on the Internet in your birthday suit And you don’t even have to put gasoline in your car to travel anyplace.

Last summer, I did a segment for NBC’s “Today” show about gambling. A 57-year-old woman videotaped it and watched it at least once a week. She finally called A YEAR LATER for help.

There is help for the compulsive gambler and their families in the form of Gamblers Anonymous and Gam-Anon, internationally. Gamblers Anonymous is a 12- step, self help program for the compulsive gambler. Gam-Anon is for those affected by a gambling problem.

Some people may have a need for professional treatment services, as well. Unfortunately, there are not that many facilities available. In addition, when the gambler “bottoms out”, he/ or she usually has no funds to pay for these services. Most insurance companies do not cover compulsive gambling treatment. A few states have funded programs, but more is needed.

People need to understand that although compulsive gambling is a devastating addiction, you can recover and live a productive and wonderful life. I know from my own experience that this is possible. I, like many others, lived every day in the grips of hopelessness because I couldn’t stop gambling. I used to go to bed at night hoping and praying that I would not wake up so that I wouldn’t have to face the next day. Today, I can’t wait to wake up in the morning and enjoy another day without gambling.

ARNIE WEXLER CCCG

Arnie and his wife Sheila run a consulting firm to help educate the public on the problem of compulsive gambling. They can be reached at www.aswexler.com .

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MORE ON POKER — BY ARNIE WEXLER

In the 42 years that we have been helping compulsive gamblers, we have never seen anything explode like poker has. Poker is sweeping the nation and the world. It is the hottest thing on college campuses. It is easier to play poker then it is to buy cigarettes or a can of beer on campuses all over the country. We have spoken to college students who play poker day and night. They even play during class. According to a Harvard study a few years ago, 4.67% of young people have a gambling problem. Experts tell us that the earlier a person starts to gamble, the greater the risk of them becoming a compulsive gambler. In another survey, 96% of adult male recovering gamblers’ stated that they started gambling before the age of 14. With this poker explosion, the average age of people seeking help for a gambling problems is now much younger then even just a few years ago .

You can’t surf the TV without seeing some kind of poker tournament being televised, and you can’t be on your computer without seeing a pop up about poker or receiving an email inviting you to come to a poker site to play.

Some of the people (both youngsters and adults) are becoming addicted to poker. Not everyone who plays, will develop a compulsive gambling problem, but there are those who will get caught up in the craze and then cross that invisible line which will lead to destruction.

It is very easy for someone to get “hooked” on poker. It is readily available (24 hours a day). In some cases (via the internet) you never have to leave your home or office. You don’t even need to get dressed. The game of poker is quick and socially acceptable.

It is the kind of gambling experience that fits very well with someone who has an impulse disorder like compulsive gambling. It holds a special danger for those who are already at risk, or compulsive gamblers in recovery. We have seen recovering gamblers relapse into their addiction as the result of being tempted by the poker craze.

Almost every day, we get emails ( aswexler@aol.com) or hot line calls (888- LAST BET) from people asking for help about their poker addiction. Some of the requests come from parents of youngsters (as young as 14). Others vary from teens to seniors, men and women as well.

The American Psychiatric Association describes Pathological Gambling as an impulse disorder. The criteria they use to diagnose this disorder is as follows:

Persistent and recurrent maladaptive gambling behavior as indicated by at least five of the following:

1. is preoccupied with gambling (e.g., preoccupied with reliving past gambling experiences, handicapping or planning the next venture, or thinking of ways to get money with which to gamble)

2. needs to gamble with increasing amounts of money in order to achieve the desired excitement

3. has repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop gambling

4. is restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop gambling

5. gambles as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphoric mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression.

6. after losing money gambling, often returns another day in order to get even (“chasing” one’s losses)

7. lies to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with gambling

8. has committed illegal acts, such as forgery, fraud, theft, or embezzlement, in order to finance gambling

9. has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, or educational or career opportunity because of gambling

10.relies on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by gambling

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IS POKER A GAME OF SKILL OR CHANCE FOR MOST PEOPLE ??

FROM AN ARTICLE

26 May 2006

by Ed Vogel

Las Vegas Review Journal Professional poker player and television commentator Howard Lederer said the charm of poker is that “people at home believe they can be part of it. Anyone can win. Occasionally you get a guy who has a lucky run.” Lederer maintained it would hard to become a compulsive poker player “based on the skill element. It is a skill-based game.” “You may have the skills,” Wexler told Lederer. “The kids all over America  think they all can be professional poker players,” added Wexler, who called for television to start empathizing the potential problems of poker playing. I run a National helpline for gamblers 888 LAST BET and 1/3 of all the calls are coming from young people from age 12 – 30 or the parents of these young people.

DO COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS EVER MAKE MONEY GAMBLING ?

Compulsive gamblers sometimes show a profit from a single session but in the end they cannot keep it. They will lose it all and more because of their addiction.

A win is never big enough so they keep playing and dream that this time they will get the “Big Win” they crave. When it does ( sometimes it does ) it is still not enough so they keep gambling and lose more.

Just like “normal people” who win and buy something with the money, the compulsive gambler will only see a win as a sign that they are now on a winning streak so they risk more. They cannot stop the chase to win more and more. The human drama continues when they lose and chase the losses with even more money. The cycle continues.

Compulsive gambling is a progressive disease, much like an addiction to alcohol or drugs. In many cases, the gambling addiction is hidden until the gambler becomes unable to function without gambling. He or she begins to exclude all other activities from their lives. Their ability to stop gambling often results in financial devastation, broken homes, employment problems, criminal acts and suicide attempts.

The gambler will eventually remove themselves from reality to the point of being totally obsessed with gambling. They will do anything to get money with which to stay in “action”. They will spend all their time and energy developing schemes in order to get more cash to continue gambling. Lying becomes a way of life for the gambler. They will try to convince family, friends and even themselves that their lies are actually truths and they will believe there own lies.

Compulsive gamblers will hit a real bottom and it is then that some will try to do something to recover but most gamblers only want to stop but can’t. They are simply unable to beat the addiction. Most even at that point will keep gambling. Some will end up in jail, some will attempt suicide, others will die from their addiction as they will not take care of their health. Perhaps the stress will kill them.

A small group of addicted gamblers will finally seek and find real help but the real trick is to get in to real recovery. Not just  abstinence. By the time the gambler comes for help they have broken brains. They are mentally ill. To get real recovery, the gambler needs to work on themselves one day at a time.

Compulsive gamblers who want to recover and get a stress free life must find a “sponsor” someone who will do their thinking for them. A “sponsor” should be someone who has been in recovery for some time and has a real knowledge of how compulsive gamblers feel. After some time in recovery their brain will start to function normally and they will see their problem for what it is: a health and wealth issue. They will become productive on their job and become a good father or husband.   Recovery is a process and does not happen without a lot of work. The gambler must choose to make a moral and financial inventory. People can and do recover.

ARNIE WEXLER CCGC

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH  GAMBLING  CALL ME 888 LAST BET www.aswexler.com

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DOES THE MEDIA PROMOTE GAMBLING ??

You would not expect to open your local newspaper and get a price list of illegal drugs for sale; But that’s just about what you can get today when you open your local newspaper to the sports pages all over the country. True, you don’t see drug prices but you do see lines and point spreads on sporting events. Illegal drugs can’t be bought, legally in any state. You can’t place a legal bet in America, except in Las Vegas. I know it’s in because it sells newspapers.

There are ads in newspapers for 800 and 900 numbers that sell information to gamblers. Some of these ads read : “Get the game of the month free”, “We pick 75% winners”, “Last week we went 11 for 12”, and “ Get our lock of the week”.

I still can’t believe that newspapers carry ads from these so called handicappers, who are really scandicappers. It’s also interesting to note how often the information is incorrect.

I remember going to speak at Northwestern University a few years ago. That day I read in USA Today that Danny Sheridan wrote: “Northwestern was a million to one to win the Big 10”. Well, they did win the Big 10 and went to the Rose bowl. I also remember when the Dallas Morning News had a gorilla in the Dallas Zoo make football picks for them. The gorillas’ picks were doing better than the sports writers.

If you read the Sports Illustrated Story, written by Tim Layden in April of 1995 about gambling on the college campus, you now know what every youth on a college campus knows; gambling is running rampid on every college campus. Odds and point spreads have become a normal topic of conversation amongst these students. Gambling is as available as a can of beer or a pack of cigarettes and the student bookmakers get the lines they use straight out of their local newspapers.

In 1982 I was involved with trying to help a compulsive gambler who was an ex college star athlete. He owed $350,000 in gambling debts. It all started five years before when he played a football ticket for $5. No doubt the person providing the football ticket got the lines from their local newspaper.

Picture the following scenario: A young man uses the lines and odds from his local newspaper and uses it to set up a bookmaking operation in the local town pub. A law officer comes in and arrests the bookmaker and players. The next day the headline in the paper says: “ John Doe Arrested For Bookmaking and Hank Smith Arrested For Illegally Betting”. Hypocrisy you say? The very newspaper that carried the lines, now is carrying this headline.

It seems to me that the message we are sending the youth of America is: Education is not necessary. You will be able to make your life fortune by pulling a slot machine , buying a lottery ticket or winning a bet on a game.

The NCAA understands this issue as they have discussed taking away press credentials at the Final Four, from newspapers that carry the lines.

Sports betting is a big problem for compulsive gamblers. I used to run a national hotline and 47% of the callers were sports bettors. Because compulsive gambling is an Impulse Control Disorder (as stated by the American Psychiatric Association), reading the lines in the newspaper can often trigger a gambling binge. Some recovering compulsive gamblers can’t buy a newspaper because of the anxiety it causes. I don’t see much difference between casinos serving free drinks to an alcoholic or newspapers putting lines out for compulsive gamblers to read.

Years ago only some newspapers carried the line. Now you can rarely pick up a newspaper that doesn’t. You also never heard electronic media discussing odds. Today it is common to hear such a discussion. Recently someone told me that they heard a commentator on a national TV football game say: “They covered the spread.”

• Years ago I was on a TV show with Howard Cossell (ABC Sports Beat). The topic was: Does the media encourage the public to gamble? Bobby Knight, Indiana basketball coach, said: “A newspaper who published point spreads should also publish names and addresses of services that render to prostitutes. They practically have the same legality in every one of our states, and I can’t see why one is any better than the other.” On the same show former baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn said: “Anything that encourages gambling on team sports bothers me. We all look hypocritical but than why are we putting up the odds unless we are trying to encourage it.” David Stern, NBA commissioner said: “We don’t want the weeks’ grocery money to be bet on the outcome of a particular sporting event.”

I would like to pose a few questions:

• Do point spreads in newspapers cause a proliferation of gambling?

• Do people see point spreads in the newspaper and think it is legal to place a bet?

• Does the media entice people to gamble?

• Does the media have any responsibility for the increase in numbers of compulsive gamblers in America?

• Does the media give the appearance that it promotes and condones gambling?

I think the responsible thing to do would be for newspapers to carry a public service message (Need Help For A Gambling Problem? Call: 1-888 LAST BET).

written by:

Arnie Wexler

Arnie and Sheila Wexler Associates

213 3RD Avenue

Bradley Beach, NJ 07720

561 200 0165

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Goldman Sachs clients were gambling but they had a sure thing

Boynton Beach, FL

Goldman Sachs was having their clients gambling with their money when they took no risk and only had a win win situation for them selfs.

Is the stock market the biggest roulette wheel in America?

Was Goldman Sachs pushing individual products into numerous borrowing tools to effect huge fee income and passing risk to 3rd parties with no one being concerned with the inevitable day of reckoning.With Poor or neglectful oversight by industry and government.

U.S. Sen. Claire “Bear” McCaskill said “You are the bookie. You are the house. You have less oversight and less regulation … than a pit boss in Las Vegas,” she said. Later, she added, “You think you’re so smart. Any street gambler would never place a bet with a bookie or with the house with the record that is revealed in the documents that this committee has gathered”

Boy was she right.

What was the difference buying this product from Goldman Sachs or buying a junk bond ? At least you knew when you bought a junk bond it was a junk bond !.

You might have had a better chance to make money if you bought a lottery ticket

The systemic problem of gambling effected Wall Street, Banking, Government and Public betting on the come. By placing bets in the mortgage area, credit card business, hedge funds, products that will recover if mistakes or poor judgment without a “what-if” analysis brings disaster.

Lets look at the things that have gone on in the last few years —–

Allowing greed driven euphoria to encourage individuals to bet on the come that a 100 -125% loan to value on their primary residence will be mitigated by nonstop increases in real estate value.

Encouraging increases in credit card debt to have today and pay for in tomorrow dollars at the interest rate as high as 20% or more. Credit agencies lack of analysis and true valuations of assets and liabilities moved to back burner so fat fees could be earned. Governments usual inept involvement forgetting the debacle of the early 1980’s with the savings and loans associations.

Corporate salaries and bonuses not realistic with performance and accountability .

All we hear today are comments about various companies “bets”, including Wall Street, Main Street, all with negative results.Lets also look at day traders who are betting on the next buy or sale of a stock to make themselves rich; but in the end, they are just like poker players, betting on the next turn of the card. Customers are allowed to buy stocks with money that they don’t necessarily have, by buying on “margin”.

When are we going to realize that the underlying problem of the current economic crisis is greed? Greed that fueled the gambling to achieve the dream of businesses and individuals accumulating wealth without the thought of accountability and responsibility?

I run a help line for compulsive gamblers

888 LAST BET)

And in the last year, many of the calls are from gamblers who have been gambling in the financial markets. Some of them are stock brokers / executives, working in the financial field.

Arnie Wexler
Arnie & Sheila Wexler Associates
Boynton Beach, FL
954-501-5270

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Gambling and the NBA

David Stern Told S.I. Legalized gambling on the NBA ”May be a huge opportunity.”
In may of 1996 Horace Balmer the NBA’s vice president for security had two speakers flown to Norfolk Va.  whose messages were even very disturbing. Michael Franzese, a former mob boss who fixed professional and college games for organized crime, and Arnie Wexler, who for 23 years was a compulsive gambler. Franzere said  “I talked to the NBA rookies earlier this season . . . and it’s amazing how many confided to me that they have gambling habits. I’m not going to mention their names, but if I did, you would know them”  “I personally got involved in compromising games with players, and it all came through their gambling habits.”  ( THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT -May 11, 1996 )

. Ten years ago, as a compulsive-gamblers counselor, I was asked to fly to N.Y.C to the National Basketball Association office in Manhattan and met with league officials, players and union officials, concerned about players’ gambling. I was told, “We have a problem, and we’re trying to find out how bad the problem is” Officials asked me to keep my calendar open for the spring of the following year and said to me that they wanted me to address every team and player in the league. 

They then flew my wife in and we had a second meeting they asked us develop questions that were going to be given to the players to answer “We need to know how big the gambling problem is in the N.B.A,” 
When I hadn’t heard from the N.B.A, I called and asked, “When do we start?” The talked were cancelled, and the response I got was this: “They said that the higher-ups didn’t want the media to find out”
Some years ago, I was on a TV show with Howard Cossell (ABC Sports Beat). The topic was: Does the media encourage the public to gamble?  David Stern, NBA commissioner said: “We don’t want the week’s grocery money to be bet on the outcome of a particular sporting event”
Yet on  Dec. 11, 2009
Commissioner David Stern told SI.com that legalized gambling on the NBA “May be a huge opportunity.”

I wonder how many addicted gamblers placed the first bet they ever made on a N.B.A.game
The National Gambling Study Commission said that there are “5 million compulsive gamblers and 15 million at risk in the U.S” Forty eight percent of the people who gamble bet on sports. 

Get the real scoop: Talk to Arnie Wexler who is one of the nation’s leading experts on the subject of compulsive gambling and a recovering compulsive  gambler himself, who placed his last bet on April 10, 1968. He has been involved in helping compulsive gamblers for the last 40 years. Through the years, Wexler has spoken to more compulsive gamblers than anyone else in America, and I have been fighting the injustice of how sports, society and the judicial system deal with compulsive gamblers.
Athletes may be more vulnerable than the general population when you look at the soft signs of compulsive gambling: high Levels of energy; unreasonable expectations of winning; very competitive personalities; distorted optimism; and bright with high IQs
It is time for college and professional sports to outline and execute a real program to help players who might have a gambling problem or gambling addiction problem. Yet college and professional sports still do not want to deal with this. They do not want the media and public to think there is a problem.

And over the years, I have spoken to many college and professional athletes who had a gambling problem. One NCAA study a few years ago reported: “There is a disturbing trend of gambling among athletes in college” You can’t think that these people will get into the pros and then just stop gambling.

Compulsive gambling is an addiction just like alcoholism and chemical dependency, and all three diseases are recognized by the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic and statistical manual. Nevertheless, we treat compulsive gambling differently than the other  addictions. Society and professional sports treat people with chemical dependency and alcoholism as sick persons, send them to treatment and get them back to work. Sports looks at compulsive gamblers as bad people and gets barred them from playing in professional sports.

There are people in various sport’s halls of fame who are convicted drug addicts and alcoholics, yet compulsive gamblers are unable to get into these halls of fame. In fact, as far as professional sports goes, an alcoholic and chemical dependent person can get multiple chances, whereas a gambler cannot.  I have been fighting the injustice of how sports, society and the judicial system deal with compulsive gamblers for many years.

If colleges and professional leagues wanted to help the players, they would run real programs that seriously address the issue of gambling and compulsive gambling. Education and early detection can make a difference between life and death for some people who have or will end up with a gambling addiction.

One sports insider said to me: “Teams need to have a real program for players, coaches and referees, and they need to let somebody else run it. When you do it in-house, it’s like the fox running the chicken coop. You must be kidding yourself if you think any player, coach or referee is going to call the league and say, ‘I’ve got a gambling problem, and I need help.’ “

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A different kind of March Madness for problem gamblers

By Richard N. Velotta (contact), In Business reporter  LAS VEGAS SUN

Fri, Mar 26, 2010 (3 a.m.)

For many sports fans, the best time of the year began last week and is continuing this weekend and next.
March Madness.

It’s the time of year for miracle three-pointers at the buzzer and college basketball teams from schools few people have ever heard of to have the chance to take down the powerhouses.

Because the NCAA tournament is an event stretched out over three weekends, there’s a greater effect than a single-day event such as the Super Bowl at Nevada’s sports books.

Nevada is the only state where legal wagering occurs. On opening weekend, when 64 teams in the tournament were playing, Las Vegas’ sports books were jammed with hoops fans making wagers.

Although March is a special time for Las Vegas, it unleashes a different kind of Madness for Arnie Wexler, who regularly lectures on the dangers of compulsive gambling, especially during the NCAA tournament and especially by college students.

“Because it’s stretched out over a long period, it’s the biggest gambling event of the year,” said Wexler, who says he placed his last bet April 10, 1968, and has been involved in helping compulsive gamblers for the past 40 years.

During March Madness, Wexler doubles his awareness efforts, claiming the big basketball tournament sucks in unsuspecting students who enjoy the thrill of winning a wager, then find themselves gambling money they once dedicated to educational expenses.

Wexler says the addictive gambling behavior has worsened with the growth of the Internet.

“We can’t stop it, and it’s getting worse,” he said. “Addiction is an impulse and with the Internet, you can jump on your computer in the middle of the night and lose thousands of dollars in no time.”

The NCAA and professional sports leagues have hypocritical stances on gambling, Wexler said.

He said he has tried to persuade the NCAA to act on growing evidence that gambling on college campuses is out of control. The organization pays him lip service and sends him on his way, he says. Its effort to combat gambling is to show student athletes a tired 20-minute film warning them not to associate with professional gamblers who may try to influence them to throw games, Wexler said.

The NCAA also provides a “gambling hotline” that rings into its office so that students can report illegal activity.
“What kid in his right mind is going to call the NCAA office?” Wexler said. “An athlete who did that would be barred from playing. What the NCAA needs is a real program that teaches about addiction.”

Professional leagues have their own problems, he said. Most have no problem talking about favorites and underdogs in their releases and broadcasts, and all operate their own “fantasy leagues” using statistics generated from games for fans to compete with one another for prizes.

Wexler had a few choice blasts for newspapers that publish gambling lines and point spreads.

“Why don’t they at least publish a phone number for people to call if they have gambling problem if they’re going to publish those lines?” he said. “I can’t even get the newspapers to do that. At least on cigarette packages, there are warnings that smoking is harmful to your health.”

Wexler wonders how much productivity has been lost in the American workplace this month with employees moving their attention from work to March Madness tournament brackets. He knows attention to academics is being diverted on college campuses across the country.

He said about one-third of the calls he received in the past three years on his gambling addiction hotline — 888-LAST BET — came from people from the age of 12 to 25. At the Comprehensive Addiction Rehabilitation Education center, C.A.R.E. Florida, near Wexler’s Boynton Beach, Fla., home, seven people are in treatment for gambling addictions. Five of them started gambling when they were in college.

“It’s completely out of control and it’s on college campuses everywhere,” he said.

The atmosphere at UNLV is a little different from other college campuses, since sports wagering is legal in Nevada for people 21 and older. But it’s just as pervasive.

Sage Sammons, sports editor of UNLV’ student newspaper The Rebel Yell, says the three questions that always come up in his circles are who’s playing, at what time and what’s the line.

Because sports wagering is legal, the gambling culture is more about social interaction than trying to beat the books.
“My friends usually bet anywhere from $10 to $150,” Sammons said. “The biggest bet one of my friends made was $100 on one game, and we were all looking at him like he was crazy.”

Sammons said he has seen some addictive gambling behavior in friends of friends.
“Some friends know a guy who gambled $1,000 at the opening of Aria,” he said. “A friend of a friend blew through $2,000 in one night, most of it on blackjack. Most of us can’t do that — that’s a semester’s worth of tuition.”

But he and his friends have seen some students move back in with their parents because they couldn’t handle the financial pressures, including gambling losses.

Although sports wagering is legal in Nevada, Sammons admits he has seen some instances where underage gamblers have convinced older fraternity brothers to place a bet for them.

“It’s like a rite of passage,” he said. “When I turned 21, one of the first things I did was get a beer at the sports book bar and place a bet.”

As sports editor, he has plenty of contact with student athletes and he said he has never seen or heard of any UNLV athletes betting on sports.

“There’s too much at stake for them,” he said. “They’d have their scholarships revoked, and they would be in trouble for a long time. I would be 100 percent shocked if there are any athletes at UNLV that gamble.”

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JAIL, INSANITY, DEATH OR RECOVERY

It was a rainy  Friday afternoon in 1983. The late Dr. Robert L. Custer , whom was the “father” of treatment for compulsive gambling, asked me to drive him to Long Island, N. Y , to visit one of his patients. This patient had entered an in-patient treatment center for compulsive gambling. As we drove along the bumpy Long Island Expressway, I  had no idea  whom we were going to visit. It didn’t matter to me, as I would have done anything for Dr. Custer, since  by now we had become personal friends.  As a compulsive gambler , in recovery for about 15 years, I had learned the only way I could keep my recovery was to reach out to another  suffering compulsive gambler. Even though it was a long time ago, I  could still remember  the pain that gambling caused me and my family and friends. I always loved the time I spent with Dr. Custer , but this particular time was really special, since most of the discussion focused on recovery  from compulsive gambling.

We arrived at the treatment center and went to see Dr. Bob’s patient. We talked for about an hour. He was a young man, about 21 years old and very handsome. He had the body of an athlete, seemed very intelligent and appeared to have quite a lot of potential. Yet, there was no doubt that he was a compulsive gambler and already had many losses including his career being in jeopardy. He was very likable and we hit it off immediately. For the next couple of weeks many of the conversations I had with Dr. Custer were about this patient. About three months later, in Bethesda Maryland, in the home of Dr. Custer,we met again. In the following year we met and spoke on the phone frequently. It seemed to me that we were becoming good friends. Even though he relapsed a few times over the next few years, we still kept in touch, often. During that time he still had the ability to perform  in his career but his employers were afraid that the gambling addiction might interfere. Unlike alcoholics and drug addict, who get second chances, it is more difficult for compulsive gamblers to get second chances . In the meantime, the young man got married and got a job in another field. He had his own radio show, and as most compulsive gamblers , he was able to succeed at this new endeavor. However, recovery continued to elude him. His pain was getting greater and greater. He wanted to stop, but couldn’t. The need to gamble was stronger than his power to stop by himself.  No compulsive gambler can stop on his or her own. He needed the help of other recovering people, but he was still struggling with this concept. The addiction had him by the throat and was destroying him little by little .

The death of Dr. Custer (in the mid 80’s) was a terrible loss to me and I know it had to be a tremendous loss for this patient. A few years later,  his wife gave birth to their first daughter. Now they had become a family. Over the next few years we were still having contact over the phone.  Often he would talk about his wife and his daughter  and how much he loved them

Last year, before the Super Bowl, I was a guest on his radio show. The discussion was about compulsive gambling.  Even though he  hadn’t stopped gambling  himself, he was still eager to carry the message about the devastation of compulsive  gambling to his audience. Shortly thereafter he took a “geographical cure” and moved to Las Vegas,  the Mecca of gambling in America. For most gamblers this town is Heaven, but for compulsive gamblers it’s Hell. Again he was a host of a successful radio show.

With all the phone calls over the years, we had not seen each other for about five years. Last week was the first time I saw him, again. I was on one side of a glass partition, he was on the other. The visit took place in the North Las Vegas Correctional Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. As with all compulsive gamblers they will pursue their gambling into the gates of prison, insanity or death. As we talked over the prison phone, my life, prior to recovery, flashed before my eyes. Thank God I had stopped when I did or I could have been on the other side of the partition. At this time I am fortunate enough to have had recovery for  twenty-six years, one day at a time. My friend  told me that he had eight nine days without a bet. He said that now he believes he can stop and he wants to. That’s how recovery can begin. You admit you are a compulsive gambler and you have the desire to stop.

The next day I saw him in Court for sentencing on the charge of bank fraud. I had the privilege to be asked by him and his attorney to explain the issue of compulsive gambling to the court. Not in my wildest dreams could I have believed  that in my recovery I, or anyone else would ever be asked to speak in a Federal court about compulsive gambling.

With a room full of reporters, a family member, friends and some recovering compulsive gamblers, the Judge sentenced him to twenty-four months in jail. When I heard the sentence I got a pain in my stomach, my hands started to sweat and I could feel his pain. When the defendant stood in front of the Judge, his only request was to serve his sentence  in a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, so he could be closer to his wife and his two children.

Although we have come a long way in the area of compulsive gambling awareness, there is still virtually no help in the Federal correctional system. It seems to me that it would be very difficult for a compulsive gambler to find recovery or stay in recovery in this type of setting. I believe the federal correctional system should provide some of the following services: counseling services, Gamblers Anonymous meetings within the facility,and education and  reading materials on compulsive gambling and it’s recovery. I believe strongly, that  incarceration time should be reduced in lieu of alternatives like halfway houses or in-patient treatment facilities. In addition I think that sentencing should include making full restitution(within a realistic budget), community service, continued attendance at Gamblers  Anonymous and on-going counseling services

It is ironic that he was sentenced two days before the Super Bowl because if not for the fact that he is a compulsive gambler  ART SCHLICHTER  might have been the starting Quarterback in the game.

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Sports of The Times; ‘How Many of You Have Made an Illegal Bet?’

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