Posted on 04/21/2005 8:13:00 AM PDT by WKB
SALEM, Ore. - Maryann started gambling 10 years ago, playing video poker machines in hotel restaurants in Oregon as she traveled for her job.
"It got so any place I would see a lottery sign and that was a restaurant or other place that was comfortable, I would play," said the woman, who is in her 40s.
She figures she lost $60,000 on video poker before admitting she had a problem and enrolling in a gambling-addiction treatment program.
Maryann, who doesn't want her last name used, is among a growing number of women across the nation who are getting hooked on gambling.
Nationwide, men make up two-thirds of problem gamblers. But that may be changing in states where video gambling is no further away than a corner deli or tavern.
Video gambling machines have particular appeal to women, said Rachel Volberg, a Massachusetts researcher who has studied problem gambling.
"The games are a lot less intimidating for women to play," Volberg said. "You don't have to sit at a card table and have men making jokes about 'the little woman learning how to gamble."'
Oregon is one of nine states that allow games such as video poker and electronic keno in bars, taverns and other retail outlets apart from casinos.
The National Council on Problem Gambling says there's been an uptick in compulsive gambling by women in those states with widespread "convenience" gambling.
"As electronic gaming devices spread throughout the country, we are seeing greater numbers of women with gambling problems," said Keith Whyte, executive director of the Washington-based group.
Part of the reason is that the games often are located in brightly lit, attractive places such as coffee shops, delis and bowling alleys, not just in smoke-filled bars and taverns, Whyte said.
"Women feel comfortable in these places," he said.
Few states with widely available video gambling have conducted studies to track rates of compulsive gambling among women, Volberg said. But officials in several of those states said there's no doubt that a "feminization" of gambling is taking place.
In Louisiana, where there are 10,000 video gambling terminals at 3,000 locations statewide, 57 percent of the calls to that state's gambling addiction hotline are from women.
"The video machines are everywhere," says Reece Middleton of the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling. "It's no wonder we've got women in trouble
"Son, I have ONE word of wisdom for you..stay away from FAST cars and FASTER women..."
LOL! Wise man, your dad.
I do love to "go fast". ;o)
NOW...
it's YOUR turn. ;o)
I challenge you to provide a single instance where Bill Bennett either wrote against or spoke against gambling
That being said, my younger sister and I, and our girl cousins get together every year for a reunion on the Gulf Coast. We always go to one of the casinos, each put in $10 and play a dollar machine to see if we'll win big. We never have. ;o(
I always plan to spend another $30 or so on the quarter or nickel slots to see if I win anything there. I never have, though each of the others has won a couple hundred dollars over the years. I consider it a fun night out, and my annual contribution to the casino gods, but who knows, maybe THIS year is my year to win!
Nothing wrong with "going fast" per se..it's that sadly, most women can't drive a stick shift...with an automatic, they just drop it in "D" and tear off a strip..with a shifter, you have to know how to work the linkage and how to "heel and toe" on the pedals...it's far more satisfying...
Bill Bennett never said anything in his books about gambling. I don't know why folks wanted to dump on him for hypocrisy. I guess they just don't like someone talking about 'virtue' because they consider him 'holier than thou'. I've never gotten that impression of him. He always seemed very down to earth, but knew that we need something good for which to strive in each of our lives.
This article woefully ignores the thousands of "bingo grannies" of whom my Mom WAS a former member.
I can't say for sure that Bingo killed her, but one never knows.
Anybody got the percentage of welfare and SS retirement benefits that get gambled with?
Seems to me our entire society is in a gamble, in many ways, and I suspect we're about to pay up.
My daddy insisted that I learn to drive with a stick.
And, I started driving when I was 12.
You can get away with that in the South. ;o)
"how to "heel and toe" on the pedals"
If you are talking about using one foot to work
two pedals, I never could do that.
My feet are too small. ;o)
"I get dizzy when things go to fast.................."
I wouldn't call that a vice. ;o)
Wait a sec...nah, I don't wanna go there....actually, I do, but I lack the courage..(G)
I'm not accusing him of hypocrisy. I'm pointing out a huge blind spot the man has. Same blind spot the country as a whole has. Someone of his stature could be useful in waking poeple up to the developing tragedy of gambling.
LOL!
Yep ~ ya can't have too just speed ~ even old curmudgeons like to go fast. ;)
Not "too just" ~ I meant "too much" ~ CRS *sigh*
I have been in a casino twice. The first time in Jackson MS where I was sickened watching people pull the handle on slot machines like mind-numbed robots and then again in Minnesota where I saw the same thing. After seeing that and doing a little research, I vowed never to waste my money in a casino. Those who go to casinos are losers by the strict definition of the word. House rules guarantee that. I live in the Joliet area now and know people whose lives and families have been ruined by the casinos there. The numbers are much higher than the state and MSM let on.
Most stock (NASCAR) drivers don't 'heel and toe' even on road courses ~ they brake with their left foot and with the sequential shifting gear boxes you don't need the clutch for changing gears once in motion ~ just like a motorcycle. (or a big diesel rig) ;)
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