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ATLANTIC CITY - They would arrive in the mail every month, just like credit card statements.

But instead of listing any purchases, they would give casino customers in Pennsylvania a breakdown of their wins and losses.

The idea of monthly gambling statements has been debated by Pennsylvania lawmakers for three years, but it now appears the former compulsive gambler who has been advocating them is holding a losing hand.

"Getting it passed right now would almost be a miracle, I believe," Bill Kearney said glumly. "Now I may have to look at other states, maybe New Jersey, maybe Michigan, that have gambling."

Facing intense opposition from the gaming industry, Kearney-inspired legislation to approve the gambling statements failed by just two votes in the Pennsylvania House earlier this month. The Pennsylvania Senate has not included the statements as part of a package of bills it is considering to reform the state's casino industry and make table games legal, Kearney said.

Kearney's dwindling hopes depend on lawmakers tacking on an amendment to legalize the statements when a final bill emerges - possibly as early as this week - for legislative approval of table games.

Kearney claims the gaming industry fears the statements because they would create a paper trail allowing gamblers and their families to sue casinos for gambling losses.

"The gaming operators know this could spread," he said. "No one has won a lawsuit in this country for gambling losses. If this goes down, the floodgates will open. That's what they fear as much as losing their revenue - the gaming operators will be held responsible for their customers."

Robert Soper, president of Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, one of Pennsylvania's nine slot parlors, maintained it would be too expensive for casinos to mail out statements to hundreds of thousands of customers. Moreover, he said, gamblers simply don't want the statements.

"I think there are some serious privacy issues with them. Customers don't want them and mistakes could be made," Soper said.

Soper noted that customers already have the freedom to ask the casinos for their gambling records.

"If a player wants their statement, they can ask for it and we'll provide it," he said. "But to force it on casino operators makes no sense. It creates privacy issues and an undue cost and burden."

If approved, the statements would be mailed to customers who are part of the casinos' loyalty programs. Kearney said they would allow gamblers to track their spending habits each month, before possibly getting in over their heads.

"If you think back to the first thing you do when you get your credit card statements, you say, 'How could I have spent that much?'" Kearney said. "So what's the first thing you do? You cut back, you curb your spending. If people see monthly gambling statements in black and white, they will curb their spending."

Kearney, 58, of Philadelphia, is a former compulsive gambler who racked up more than $2 million in losses playing blackjack at the Atlantic City casinos in the 1980s. His spectacular self-implosion cost him his wealth, his drapery manufacturing business and his marriage.

Kearney blames only himself for his downfall, but wonders whether he might have avoided financial ruin if casinos had sent him monthly gambling statements. He says he wants to help other gamblers from falling into the same trap.

One Pennsylvania lawmaker, Rep. Dante Santoni, a Berks County Democrat who chairs the House Gaming Oversight Committee, characterized the gambling statements as "the big arm of government" intruding on the business decisions of casino operators. He opposes the statements.

Kearney's legislative ally, Rep. Paul Clymer, a Republican from Bucks County, called the proposal "family-oriented legislation." Two weeks ago, Clymer failed in attempts to amend Pennsylvania's gaming bill to get the statements legalized.

"My amendment simply places the interests of our families over the earnings of the slot machines," Clymer said in a floor debate moments before the House voted 100-98 against the statements.

With his chances in Pennsylvania looking gloomier, Kearney said he may next take his crusade for gambling statements to New Jersey or another casino state. Up to this point, the Atlantic City casinos have termed it "a Pennsylvania issue."

New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other casino states have programs to help customers avoid the pitfalls of gambling. Soper said casinos also have their own programs to mitigate compulsive gambling.

"No gaming operator that I'm aware of wants a compulsive gambler in their casinos," he said.

In New Jersey, gamblers may voluntarily place themselves on a "self-exclusion list" that bans them from entering Atlantic City's casinos. In addition, the casinos must include a toll-free number - 1-800-GAMBLER - in their advertising to direct people to a 24-hour hot line run by the New Jersey Council on Compulsive Gambling.

Contact Donald Wittkowski:

609-272-7258

DWittkowski@pressofac.com

7 comments:

• patriciaanne (1) posts 10:18 pm

  What are you talking about that people don't want statements? I would welcome statements from a casino with open arms. Do you think that I want to keep guessing how much I spend at a casino every month? Absolutely not! I am very saddened to hear that the House voted against this bill (although not by a large margin, which appears somewhat hopeful). Of course gaming operators want compulsive gamblers frequenting their casinos; that's where the majority of their revenue comes from. Whoever would argue againt this knows absolutely NOTHING about the casino industry. I also must commend Bill Kearney for being an advocate for compulsive gamblers and their families. Thank you, Bill for your great effort.

• ChrisBielke (1) posts 3:22 pm

  Bill Kearney is doing a very ADMIRABLE service to this country. He has my full support and I know that as he continues to PUSH for what is right, that he will open up the eyes of millions of citizens... It 'takes one to know one,' in this case. Kearney has 'been there, done that.' He is an absolute AUTHORITY on the issue of compulsive gambling and politicans are unwise to not listen to his advice... The real problem is that the people in power, who have the authority to pass such a bill, DO NOT CARE. They do not UNDERSTAND. Kearney CARES. Kearney UNDERSTANDS. Kearney knows the reprocussions that gaming institutions will ultimately have on our society, if allowed to continually RAPE american citizens, by keeping the slight edge...all in the name of 'good fun.' Fight the good fight, Chris Bielke ExGamblersEdge.com

• Nikynewark (136) posts 10:29 am

  Why not? The much bigger picture and what the casinos fear most is they would have to return stolen money used for gambling and that's MILLION$$$. You can't pick up a newspaper and not read a story about a court clerk, town clerk or some other official with a gambling habit fueled with PUBLIC funds. Recently an appraiser (who, by the way, worked for the company that did the last Atlantic City revaluation) was convicted of gambling away, in AC, about $450,000 that belonged to a social club where he served as treasurer. Yeah, if you can't trust the licensed appraiser, who can you trust? But if it's not the players money, how can it ever be the casinos gain?

• Destiny (1) posts 10:23 am

  Is it any wonder that the casinos and the pathological gamblers that they enable--and indeed encourage--do not want others like family members get their hands on a monthly statement? The so-called "gaming" industry would have to close their doors tomorrow if the compulsive gamblers who account for from 40 to 50 percent of their revenues did not "visit" them. They actually get some people to "buy" the idea that they discourage the compulsive gamblers. I ask you, "If you were a casino operator or the State Lottery Commission, or the store owner who sells the Lottery tickets at a 6 percent commission, do you want the occasional visitor who drops a few dollars and goes home, the person who buys one or two Lottery tickets a year, or do you want the compulsive gambler who will destroy his or her own family in order to feed his or her addiction? Wake up, people, before our entire country is destroyed by gambling--any "winnings" are indeed ill-gotten gain; and we now have more gambling addicts than alcoholics and/or drug addicts. Our States have become the biggest "pushers" of an addictive product, and we stand idly by! The people "who do not want" these statements do not have our best interests in mind!

• moverightalong (195) posts 10:12 am

  What a laugh, has everyone just lost it in regards to all things that are said and done today. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Such ashame that man kind including the fairer sex do not even have a clue today. I have always stated that human beings are either envious or jealous. Just something to ponder (as a matter of fact!!!!)

• Jethro Heiko (1) posts 10:07 am

  So requiring a business to provide receipts of what we purchase is "big brother." Give me a break, this is just more of the same from an entitled industry that has been playing by its own rules for decades as politicians avoid having any standards based on principles and values-like consistency for example. Do corporations really know what is best for us?

• anotherjoe (104) posts 7:29 am

  THIS IS A JOKE... RIGHT? trust me big brother, trust me, people do not want thease statements at all.

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