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Former Addict Speaks up in Gambling Debate

"`I made big money,' he said last week.

"Thomason was also a few other things -- an alcoholic, a compulsive gambler and, eventually, an embezzler.

"…For 42 years, Thomason said, he played the horses and bet on sports events. But at the end he was losing big money -- tens of thousands of dollars.

"In an attempt to cover his debts to bookies, he embezzled from a Louisville car dealership where he was general manager. Thomason said he rationalized his stealing, telling himself he was only borrowing.

"...Now Thomason is a counselor for Gamblers Anonymous and he offers himself up as a human face on the debate over whether Kentucky should legalize additional forms of gambling. Not that he opposes the idea. "

"…`It's a hidden disease,' Thomason said in testimony Friday to one of the General Assembly's interim joint Licensing and Occupations Committee.

"…In a way, two sides of the gambling debate were met in Willie Thomason last week. He lent fuel to proponents as well as to opponents.

"Would a compulsive gambler, he was asked, be more likely to bet -- and bet greater sums of money -- at a racetrack that had electronic slot machines in addition to horses?

"Yes, Thomason said. `A compulsive gambler cannot stop. There's no way.'

"…Could the state have done anything -- even closing racetracks -- to stop his own gambling?

"No, Thomason said…"

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