Gamblor’s World

can be accessed at Gambling Watch Global. (http://gamblingwatchglobal.com)

Dr Karel Nespor in the Czech Republic has been doing work with problem gamblers using exercise and yoga.

This article in particular
Nespor, K., Prokes, B.: Physical Exercise and Yoga in Prevention and Treatment of Addictive Diseases. The Czech version of this paper was published in Cas. Lek. ces. 2005 (144):53-55.

An English version with other articles full text is at http://www.drnespor .eu/addicte. html

at http://www.education.mcgill. ca/gambling/

at www.femalegamblers.org

at http://www.fyodordostoevsky.com/etexts/the_gambler.txt

from: http://www.responsiblegambling.org/staffsearch/latest_news_articles_details.cfm?intID=10362

Author:
Source: Tecumseh Countywide News
Published Date: Jun 21, 2007

Description:
Gateway to Prevention and Recovery of Shawnee, Okla. has added treatment for compulsive and addicted gamblers to its programs. “Although legalized gambling has increased the number of addicted gamblers, we are not against the casinos. We have their (casinos) support in helping the addicted gambler,” Cindy Satterfield, Gateway’s compulsive gambling program coordinator said. The program is funded through money from casinos and the state lottery set aside by the Oklahoma Legislature and distributed through the state Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services.

from http://www.responsiblegambling.org/staffsearch/latest_news_articles_details.cfm?intID=10369

Author: Peterson, Eric
Source: Chicago Daily Herald
Published: Jun 27, 07

Full Document:
ILLINOIS — A Schaumburg man whose mother suffered a relapse of her gambling addiction asked the Illinois Gaming Board Tuesday for greater monitoring at casinos to make the state’s self-exclusion program for addicts truly work.
Todd Ruder had testified in front of the board before about his mother’s success in beating her addiction.

But after earning her one-year pin from Gambler’s Anonymous in May, the 67-year-old woman went to the Hollywood Casino in Aurora again on Father’s Day.

“She is so disgusted with herself, like I’ve never seen before,” Ruder said.

This time, all his mother lost was a couple hundred dollars from her income tax refund. But in the past couple years, she’s drained about $160,000, most of it at Joliet’s Empress Casino, he said.

He’s asking the state to require the same ID check for all casino patrons that it already uses for people who appear to be under 30.

Only then, he believes, will the self-exclusion program be effective in helping addicts of all ages help themselves.

Self-exclusion works by threatening those who sign up for it with forfeiture of all money won if they’re caught gambling. Trespassing charges can also be filed against those who violate the self-exclusion program.

It’s supposed to remove all motivation to gamble, but an addict’s mind doesn’t operate so logically, said Ruder, who is a teacher at Maine West High School in Des Plaines.

Illinois Gaming Board member Eugene Winkler was responsive and sympathetic to the request, saying that it’s seniors who need more help with compulsive gambling.

For many addicts, the problem first shows up between the ages of 45 and 65, Winkler said.

But as other members of the board agreed, its recommendations aren’t often followed in Springfield.

Anita Bedell, executive director of the Springfield-based Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction, agreed that more pressure needs to be put on lawmakers to recognize the true nature of compulsive gaming.

“Legislators always want to expand gambling, but they never address the impact it has on families,” Bedell said.

Ruder said his mother’s road to addiction in the past couple of years was unexpected and largely invisible to the rest of the family until it was too late.

He believes her attempt to retire from nursing, coupled with her anxiety over watching her own parents decline in a nursing home in their 90s, fueled the addiction.

Before that, his mother, whom he asked not to be identified, never even bought lottery tickets or gambled while in a Las Vegas casino, Ruder said.

He and his family thought it funny when she first expressed an interest in joining them at the riverboats.

Then she was less than forthright with them about her reasons for wanting to sell her house and move in with her daughter in Hinsdale.

What she was really doing, Ruder said, was assembling all the cash she was going to throw into the casinos.

Now she’s had to get a job again and give up retirement, working at night and relinquishing all access to her money and financial decisions to the daughter she lives with, Ruder said.

self-help for internet gamers at http://www.olganonboard.org/

from http://www.responsiblegambling.org/staffsearch/latest_news_articles_details.cfm?intID=10329

Author: Breen, Tom
Source: Huntington Herald Dispatch
Published: Jun 18, 07

Full Document:
CHARLESTON — When the state Lottery decided it wanted more say in how its money is spent, it probably didn’t anticipate setting off tremors throughout the country.
But on July 1, when the widely emulated Problem Gamblers Help Network goes from being administered by the state Department of Health and Human Resources to being overseen by the state Lottery, the eyes of problem gambling programs in dozens of states will be fixed on West Virginia.

The change has prompted concerns about the integrity of the help network, and at the Lottery’s request, state auditors have launched a review of the Lottery’s past involvement with the program.

But the new arrangement may have little impact on how the help network operates. A look at gambling programs around the country suggests it’s difficult to make generalizations about a type of state aid that is still, in many places, in its infancy.

“Every single state does their gaming a little bit differently,” said Tim Christensen, treatment administrator with Arizona’s Office of Problem Gambling. “What works well in one state may not work at all in another.”

Christensen is the president of the Association of Problem Gambling Service Administrators, which last year surveyed the 35 states with publicly funded compulsive gamblers help programs to try and make broad conclusions about the field.

Instead, the survey found a wide range of differences, from states that spend millions of dollars on comprehensive programs including everything from education to treatment, to states that do little more than print helpline phone numbers on the backs of scratch cards.

Based on a review of materials from that group and from the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, though, it’s possible to see some common features in the field.

At least 28 of the states with publicly funded programs rely on their respective health departments or comparative social service agencies to oversee or administer those programs. Most of the others contract directly with state affiliates of the National Council on Problem Gambling to operate their network.

The programs in general are small. On average, they employ fewer than two full-time workers, and the amount of money invested by states varies widely. States such as Delaware and Iowa rely on funding formulas setting aside a percentage of money earned from gambling for such programs, while others set specific sums.

State lotteries are the largest single revenue source for most of these programs, with states such as West Virginia, Connecticut and Minnesota requiring more than $1 million from their lotteries.

Although there are at least 35 states with publicly funded programs, every state except Utah and Hawaii has some form of legalized gambling.

For the seven years of its history, West Virginia’s program has operated under the health department model. The state Lottery provides the funding, but the health department hires a provider to run it, and is responsible for oversight.

The program — one of the largest in per capita spending — has become a national model. Its outgoing director, Mia Moran-Cooper, has served multiple stints as chairwoman of the National Problem Gambling Awareness Week.

But the Lottery says it needs more financial accountability. Director John Musgrave said that before a dime is spent on programs, 20 percent of the roughly $1.5 million budget goes to the health department and to the provider — First Choice Health Systems of Charleston — in administrative fees. In addition, Lottery officials have questions about some of the expenses incurred by employees of the help network.

Moran-Cooper, though, tells a different story. Last week, she told legislators at an informational meeting that the Lottery has tried to interfere with the help network since its beginning. Moran-Cooper said Lottery officials have vetoed specific advertisements, warned help network employees not to talk to the press and demanded the names of Lottery employees who sought treatment for gambling addictions — a request prohibited by law.

She warned lawmakers that the new arrangement could compromise the help network’s integrity. Moran-Cooper planned to resign from First Choice at the end of June, but found herself seemingly fired after her remarks to lawmakers.

First Choice, which is the only bidder on the contract to run the help network, has called her allegations misleading, and said the new arrangement will not alter the program.

National programs that have looked to West Virginia as a model, though, are uncertain. Many of Moran-Coooper’s counterparts in other states have privately expressed concern about removing the state health department from the equation.

Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, wouldn’t comment specifically on West Virginia, but says the national council prefers to see health or social service agencies involved with treatment programs.

“As a policy matter, we do not think it’s a good idea for a gaming group to be directly involved in treatment,” he said. “It’s very tough to both maximize profits and minimize harm.”

A bill currently before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce would go some distance toward making states’ programs more uniform. It would make $71 million in grants available to state and local governments for public awareness, research and treatment.

problem gambling info. in Chinese at www.problem-gambling. org (need to install Chinese language program to read characters)

The following blog also have relevant info for family: http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/edkwanwk/