Senior Citizens

How the gambling industry preys on senior citizens

According to this article from Salon, seniors are the fastest growing population of gamblers. They are gambling away their income, their savings, and their chance for a secure future. When they lose, they can’t make it up or start over.  It’s a no-win game, driven by a greedy industry united in unholy alliance with policy makers and politicians who turn a blind eye to the social and economic costs of gambling.

When dementia affects the frontal lobe of the brain, a person may lose inhibitions, and this sometimes translates into a gambling compulsion. A person with this type of dementia might seem perfectly fine on the surface and even perform normally on standard neuropsychological tasks, so the situation goes undetected

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LesHow the gambling industry preys on senior citizens
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Asian-American seniors riding casino buses not to gamble, but to make ends meet

WABC Eyewitness News in New York City found that many Asian-American on casino buses aren’t going to gamble, they’re there out of necessity. It’s about making a few bucks just to get by, and it’s happening seven days a week, as long as the buses are running.

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Les BernalAsian-American seniors riding casino buses not to gamble, but to make ends meet
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Tough Luck for Seniors in Casino Land

Casinos spend tens millions on marketing incentives for the over-55 crowd, from buffets and wheelchairs to having a supply of adult diapers on hand and even an in-house pharmacy.  As casino gambling continues to spread, we face a future of more addicted, broke, lifeless seniors. Amy Ziettlow examines whether the casino environment for these seniors is a mindful connection or mindless escape.

2013 Seniors and Casinos by Amy Ziettlow

 

LesTough Luck for Seniors in Casino Land
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Regional casinos breed higher rates of family neglect

One of the many negative effects of the predatory marketing and addictive offerings used regional casinos is it leads ordinary citizens to commit gross acts of family neglect. Children left unattended in casino parking lots while an adult is inside gambling is a common example. This story from The Baltimore Sun reports on another form of family neglect: senior citizens being neglected by those charged with their care because of commercialized gambling.

2014 Children and elderly pay price for gamblers’ neglect

LesRegional casinos breed higher rates of family neglect
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Casinos use free enticements to lure seniors

This article from Psychology Today shows how casinos use offers for free services- such as a free room or meal- to trick seniors into playing. In some cases, when the gambler is addicted enough and has enough money, these free meals and rooms become free limo and jet rides from home to the casino. Such is the case with former San Diego mayor Maureen O’Connor who, throughout a decade of gambling, won and lost more than $1 billion, with a net loss of over $13 million. O’Connor, now 67 years old, says she had a brain tumor that may have been impairing her judgement at the time. This vulnerability was compounded when casinos began sending private jets to San Diego to bring her to play. Though the private jet case is an extreme, this principle of giving free stuff to seniors to lure them in is commonplace for casinos, as the article below explains.

2014 Casinos’ predatory practices are a test case for financial elder abuse

LesCasinos use free enticements to lure seniors
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Impacts of casino gambling on seniors

This article from Deseret News details how seniors are affected by going to casinos. Seniors are often one of the most vulnerable groups to problem gambling, with some studies finding that up to 70% of seniors have gone to a casino in the past 12 months, with one in eleven having bet “more than he or she could comfortably afford to lose.” Once these seniors get sucked into a casino, many find themselves unable to leave until they have drained the savings on which they depend.

2014 Gray gambling- How gambling impacts seniors

LesImpacts of casino gambling on seniors
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More and more seniors struggle with gambling addiction

Seniors are among the fastest-growing groups of problem gamblers in America. Being unable to make up their losses after retirement, senior citizens often plunge themselves farther and farther into debt, gambling away their retirement savings for which they worked their whole lives. This report from AlterNet details the effects of problem gambling on seniors.

2014 Senior Gambling Addiction Rates Are Soaring in America

LesMore and more seniors struggle with gambling addiction
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Gambling winnings, even when offset by losses, cost seniors more than you would think

This article, from The Wall Street Journal‘s “Market Watch”, shows how gambling winnings can cost seniors dearly when tax day comes. Even if they are balanced out by losses of the same amount,  certain tax rates can skyrocket, leaving seniors to pay extra. Using a real example, the author shows just how much gambling can cost.

2013 Gambling tax hits SSA payouts — even when you lose

LesGambling winnings, even when offset by losses, cost seniors more than you would think
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University research outlines the dangers of slot machines

The Carleton University Gambling Laboratory, a think-tank deciphering what makes gamblers keep coming back, says slot machines are nearly four times more addictive than regular card tables. Head researcher, Prof. Michael Wohl, said that’s because players can sit for long periods of time in a relatively low-stress situation and can cash in their winnings without leaving their seats. It’s also due to grave misconceptions about how slot machines work.

“A lot of people think that every time you spin a slot machine you’re getting closer and closer to a win,” Dr. Wohl explains. But that’s simply not the case, he says. He describes them as a mixed bag of marbles. Within it, there’s one “jackpot” marble combined with hundreds of losses. When you play a machine, one of those losses falls out of the bag. But what many people don’t understand is before your very next spin, that dud marble goes right back into the bag. The odds of winning or losing are always exactly the same.”

According to the Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse, 80% of problem gamblers in Ontario cite slot machines as their problem. The largest percentage are seniors and low-income earners.

University research outlines the dangers of slot machines 

LesUniversity research outlines the dangers of slot machines
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