“I Have a Feeling…I Can’t Quite Pinpoint the Research”

This April 2011 article from the Philadelphia Citypaper reports on Sands Bethlehem (PA) Casino president Robert DeSalvio testifying before the Pennsylvania Legislature that sending monthly statements to gamblers about their losses will violate privacy and may encourage citizens to gamble more because it will remind them about their loss, potentially creating the urge to chase. When asked what the basis of his claim was, he responded: “I have a feeling…I can’t quite pinpoint the research.”

Casinos spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year to build the very best information databases on their gamblers, allowing them to send all kinds of predatory marketing materials – often in real time – with the specific intent of getting the gambler to chase. DeSalvio’s testimony was willfully dishonest.

Philadelphia Citypaper – Care to Revise Your Statement

Ckirby“I Have a Feeling…I Can’t Quite Pinpoint the Research”