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Problem Gambling Among Las Vegas Seniors

A lack of other activities is the reason Helen and Richard Koch of Sun City Summerlin frequent Arizona Charlie's at least four times a week. The two moved to Las Vegas about a year ago from Florida to be near their children and grandchildren.

"Outside of our family, we don't really know anybody here (in Las Vegas)," Helen Koch said while her husband played the slots. "People are friendly here. They talk to you, help you out."

Nearby, 70-year-old Bill Byrne and his wife, 57-year-old Darlene, indulged their Friday tradition of playing video poker. Bill Byrne said he used to play golf, until a bad shoulder forced him to give it up. Now, he said, a weekly casino visit can be a relaxing activity -- though he said he and his wife are careful to ensure that the trips don't become too costly.

"If you see it as a pastime, rather than a way to make a profit, you'll have more fun," Byrne said. "Once we found Arizona Charlie's, we found a place that at least gives us a chance at breaking even. It's a way of passing time, hopefully pleasantly."

And what makes it fun? Byrne pointed to his wife's machine.

"We were losing badly until she hit four aces," Byrne said. "That makes it fun again."

Though the Byrnes said they were careful to budget their gambling funds, they said they do know people with problems.

"One couple we know has blown a lot of money," Byrne said. "Sometimes they go every day. If they have money in their pocket, they'll go three, four, five times a week.

"They'll always tell you when they hit it big, never when they lose."

Carol O'Hare, executive director of the Nevada Council for Problem Gambling, has heard more extreme cases. During a recent visit to Sun City Summerlin, O'Hare said, a group of seniors told her about a couple in their neighborhood who lost their home as the result of a gambling addiction.

Helping seniors

O'Hare believes one of the most important steps in controlling problem gambling is education -- and believes nowhere is that more true than among seniors. Seniors, she said, can be far more vulnerable to the negative ramifications of problem gambling, since most live on fixed incomes.

"What we need to do is to find a way to speak to seniors in their world, to tell them, 'here are the warning signs,"' O'Hare said. "We need to help them understand that there are factors in their lives ... that could create a great degree of devastation for them."

But O'Hare doesn't believe casinos are solely to blame for problem gambling among seniors.

"If the only outlet they have for recreation is gambling, then we should encourage them to build another network of options," O'Hare said. "Seniors need good support and the same opportunities for quality of life that everyone else enjoys. Are we providing all of the opportunities for seniors that we could?

"We need to make sure that they have an environment that meets those needs so they don't rely solely on what is, for some people, a very high risk activity."

Ron Lurie, general manager of Arizona Charlie's, said Arizona Charlie's takes measures to ensure that seniors are aware that there are places to get help, through signs posted at cages, change booths and ATM machines.

"We all recognize the fact that it's not only seniors, but that other people have the same kind of problem," Lurie said. "Anyone that wants help, we're there to make sure they get it."

However, Bo Bernhard, director of operations at Problem Gambling Consultants, said one problem does remain -- convincing seniors that problem gambling is a treatable medical condition, not just a human weakness. Bernhard said his center has treated seniors with problems, but not in proportion to their numbers in the city.

"Seniors may be more reluctant to admit they have a problem," Bernhard said. "They've been around the block, and they feel they know how to handle their money, but find that now they've not only lost their nest egg, but are in debt. So they go to their children for bail-outs, reversing the role they've held for their entire lives.

"Seniors are hesitant to embrace a concept of addiction developed a generation after them, and they're resistant to some degree to accept that this is a legitimate affliction. Seniors do very well in treatment, but they're underrepresented."

Josephine DeLuca, a regular bingo player at Arizona Charlie's, has seen the damage gambling problems can cause. Before Social Security checks were sent through direct deposit, DeLuca said, many seniors would show up in casinos with their Social Security checks in hand.

"They would just cash those at a casino and just blow it," DeLuca said. "People think twice when writing their own check before they cash it."

But, ultimately, DeLuca said there isn't much that can be done to wipe out problem gambling among seniors -- or among local residents as a whole. While some seniors may have problems, DeLuca quickly notes that she sees more young people withdrawing cash at casino ATMs than seniors.

"If you have a problem, you have a problem," DeLuca said. "I don't feel there's anything you can do about it, unless you want to close them all (the casinos) down."

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