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Oregon lottery retailer lures unlikely
gamblers
Oregon Lottery Retailer Lures
Unlikely Gamblers
Jeff Marotta, manager of a state-sponsored services program for problem gamblers, says a "large number" of video poker players are problem gamblers. Several studies have suggested that from 35 percent to 50 percent of revenue from video gambling devices comes from problem gamblers, Marotta says. When video lottery retailers "talk about 'loyal players,' in large part what they're talking about is people who have an addiction to these games," Marotta says. Dotty's environment lures unlikely gamblers By TODD MURPHY Issue date: Tue, Aug 30, 2005 The Tribune Elizabeth remembers the day, four years ago, when she first walked into Dotty's. The 68-year-old retired government employee had read about the video lottery outlets in a newspaper, then noticed a Dotty's just down the street from her home in Tigard. She figured she would check it out. "I rue that day," Elizabeth says. "That was the beginning of my end." Elizabeth, who asked that her real name not be used, figures that today, four years later, she's lost "thousands" of dollars playing video poker. She's gambled from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. on many days. Some nights, even though she doesn't drive, she's gambled until 2 a.m., then walked home from the lottery outlet with her housemate. "The past two years, I've been out of control," she says. Unlike many compulsive gamblers, Elizabeth realizes she has a problem. She just hasn't found a way to deal with it. She still goes to Dotty's -- about once a week, she says. And gambles away too much money. "Once I walk in, it's over," she says. And she refers, less jokingly than she used to, to where some of Oregon's video lottery proceeds go. "It is no longer funny to say I'm helping to fund Oregon schools," she says. Elizabeth fits a profile, in more ways than one. First, she is part of the demographic that Dotty's lottery outlets have seemed to target: middle-aged and older women who aren't comfortable going to dark, smoky taverns to play video poker. Dotty's outlets always have been open, clean, light-filled places. "Dotty's, particularly, is a very nonintimidating environment for seniors, for women," Elizabeth says. She also fits another profile: a video poker player who is a compulsive gambler. Jeff Marotta, manager of a state-sponsored services program for problem gamblers, says a "large number" of video poker players are problem gamblers. Several studies have suggested that from 35 percent to 50 percent of revenue from video gambling devices comes from problem gamblers, Marotta says. When video lottery retailers "talk about 'loyal players,' in large part what they're talking about is people who have an addiction to these games," Marotta says. Often, the problem gambling begins because people suddenly have easier access to gambling; they can walk to the video lottery retailer down the street instead of having to ride a bus to a casino 90 miles away. Elizabeth points out that in her neighborhood, there are five video lottery retailers -- including two Dotty's establishments -- within a seven-minute walk of one another. Add that accessibility to the fact that retired people have more time on their hands, and the result is people like Elizabeth -- who traveled the world during her career and never came close to having a gambling problem until the last few years. "If anyone had told me four or five years ago that I would be a problem gambler, I would have laughed in their face," she says. Elizabeth says she doesn't blame Dotty's. The business is only providing a legal product, she says. "He's just taking advantage of a market," she says of the Dotty's owner, Richard Craig Estey. "I don't blame Dotty's. I blame Oregon for allowing it to get this out of hand." "The lottery realizes that there's something less than 3 percent (of Oregonians) who may have a gambling problem," says lottery spokesman Chuck Baumann. "It's important that there are programs that are available to those folks ... and 1 percent of lottery profits goes to fund these programs." It's not enough, Elizabeth says. She's been trying to find a way to get treatment, Elizabeth says. But, unlike video lottery retailers, the nearest treatment centers are miles away. And because she doesn't have a car, getting there would be difficult, requiring three buses to get to one and two buses and a MAX train to get to the other. But, Elizabeth says, she plans to get help somehow. "It's not discretionary income anymore," she says of her losses. "My next step is going into debt. And I'm drawing a line before that happens." http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=31507 © 2005 THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE |
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