More Gamblers saying "Ban Me"

by: Jason Springer

Fri Mar 06, 2009 at 05:48:50 PM EST

According to the latest statistics, the state recently added the 1,000th name to the "self-exclusion list," a program that has doubled in size in just the past three years.

"I know that this program has helped a lot of gamblers and their families who have struggled with this addiction," said Linda M. Kassekert, chair of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

Gamblers have the option of signing up for a one-year ban, five years or a lifetime. Once a person is in the program, Atlantic City's 11 casinos are not allowed to let them on the gaming floor and must remove them from any mailing lists and stop offering them incentives to gamble.

Kearney argued that self-exclusion programs come into play only after someone falls victim to a gambling problem. He said the casino industry and regulators must do more to prevent addiction.

"This is all just sugarcoating," he said. "They aren't addressing the simple fact that no gaming operator or casino employee will tap someone on the shoulder and say, 'Hey, you're gambling too much money.'"

In New Jersey, the first $600,000 in fines imposed on casinos for gaming violations go toward treatment and education programs organized by the New Jersey Council on Compulsive Gambling.