in gamblers are parallel to drug use. You have difficulty stopping. You need to gamble more, just as you would require more drugs, in order to get the required mood. “It impacts friendships and it can ruin families.” Indeed, a 2007 USA Todaystory says murders have occurred over March
Madness gambling debts. As knowledge of gambling disorders evolves—equat- ing it with other addictions, finding professional treatment, etc.—college gam- bling becomes ever more studied.
GETTING A HANDLE ON IT The NCRG is the nation’s only organization devoted to funding research to an- alyze pathological and youth gambling disorders, and to determine treatment methods. “We need to provide more information for parents and administrators to
see what kids are getting themselves into and help them find resources to deal with it,” says Alan Feldman, the new chairman of the NCRG and the senior vice president of public affairs for MGM Resorts International. Feldman also has three students in college. “Information can be utilized in many ways,” he says. “School officials, for
instance, can notify the parents of the student about his gambling. Or, if a par- ent is aware that his son or daughter is hung over, the parent can also ask, ‘Are you also gambling? Do you need any money?’ And ‘Why are you gambling? What’s wrong?’ “It raised a red flag to me when a 2003 study determined that really, for the
first time, there was a clear correlation between students’ binge drinking and students gambling.” Gaming operators know that the research labels lotteries, card games and
small-stakes gambling, not sports betting, as the biggest sources of abuse on campus. Online gambling is rising, however.
Onlinepoker.net estimates that 400,000 students play poker online every week. The online play brings another variable into focus. Compulsive gambling
may have a neurological origin, rather than representing a personality disorder. “Some people have a real ambivalence going on,” Reilly says. “It is not so
much denial, but part of them remembering how good it felt to get high or win money. They may have the kind of wiring in their brain that makes it difficult for them to feel good unless they win money. If they are losing money, it can lead to all kinds of problems. Schools can integrate the information into their overall policies. “Some schools have councils that focus on all risky behavior,” Reilly says. “Gambling is just another risky behavior, along with binge drinking, drug use
‘
PROBLEM GAMBLING CHECKLIST
The NCRG, Gamblers Anonymous, health professionals and gaming executives offer their assessment on when it’s time to realize the presence of problem gambling. These questions pertain to those viewpoints. It’s time to obtain professional help if you answer yes to at least five of the following questions:
• Did you ever lose work or school time from gam- bling?
• Did gambling make your home life unhappy? • Did you ever gamble to win money to pay debts?
• Did losing make you want to return quickly to get it back?
• Do you often gamble until your last dollar is spent? • Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling? • Do you gamble to escape problems?
• Have you ever contemplated suicide in the after- math of gambling?
• Have you ever suffered a loss of self-control in the middle of gambling, e.g., throwing drinks or slam- ming a glass off the table?
• Have you ever taken a cash advance in order to chase your losses? (Many carry an interest rate of more than 30 percent.)
• Do you drink more than you normally would while playing?
• Has more than one person ever told you that you cannot control your gambling?
• Have you ever missed a rent or mortgage payment because of gambling?
• Have you ever committed an illegal act to finance gambling?
• Have you experienced high blood pressure for an extended time after playing?
b 70 percent of them said they were either winning or About
www.ggbmagazine.com • March 2012
reaking even. How is that possible? (The casino industry would perish under such a reality.) Are they lying? No. They are misremembering.
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