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
Missippy ping
To me, "Gambling" is no self control. (period) .....!!!!!
I am against all forms of gambling........er...except the occasional craps game.
To me, "Gambling" is no self control. (period) .....!!!!!
Is there an addiction that is not self control?
To me, gambling is entertainment, sport, and a lucrative source of income.
"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."
That is SO true!
They are everywhere!
Women seem to love them.
The folks who have these
machines clean up, right
along with the state.
Personally, that is one vice
in which I have never had any
interest.
Phantom Lord wrote:
To me, gambling is entertainment, sport, and a lucrative source of income.
LOL, Well that's because your a professional then. I'm talking about the one's that loose everything, thinking they can get that win just because they feel lucky. Or the lady in the article, loosing aprox 60K. I would find a more rewarding way to loose my money, and let a professional like you do your thing..
Except for craps, which I play
about every 5 years. ;o)
Bill Benett taught us gambling is perfectly fine an wholesome. That the most important virtue is to do like he says not like he does.
"Care to elaborate?"
LOL!
Nope. ;o)
Go on we need to know...........
You go first...;o)
This is about you, Go On......................tell us
And my rule for gambling is that I will not gamble on games of chance (serious gambling that is. $1 raffles and 50/50 tickets at charity events and the such are a game of chance I will play).
I only gamble on things that I have a direct impact and influence on the outcome. I will gamble heavily on golf and cards.
Sports and other things where I have zero influence on the outcome are not something I gamble on.
Gambling is like prostitution in a lot of ways. Personally, I find that it's risky, foolish, expensive, and a waste of time.
However that doesn't mean I think it should be illegal for those consenting adults who want to participate in it.
Check her profile page. ;)
I challenge you to provide a single instance where Bill Bennett either wrote against or spoke against gambling prior to his exposure as a high stakes gambler.
I go into a casino knowing that I could lose money, so I just say "Well, if I went out to a nice dinner or to the movies, I have to pay for that..." and I'll walk in with X dollars in my pocket and that's it.
If I lose it all, that was my cost for having fun. If I win, that's extra.... I've been pretty lucky though, I've only walked out of a casino with less money once (I've only gambled about 6 or 7 times, though...)
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