Gambling Addiction & Recovery Support Group
Compulsive gambling is an urge or addiction to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. A preferred term among many professionals is problem gambling, as few people described by the term experience true compulsions in the clinical sense of the word. Problem gambling often is defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others rather...
Tonight at my GA meeting I brought up self banning. We do not have that in our state but everyone was interested. I am wondering if any of you guys have any info from your state's self banning,, like is it voluntary for the casinos? Will they really arrest you? Who foots the bill for the program? I think some people from my group are interested in trying to get it going in my state. Thanks
We have an extensive history of self-exclusion here in NJ and, as a matter of fact, the law was just amended to delete the mandatory sign off that one had a "problem," with gambling to entice more people to exclude.
Jay
Now, being the Google nut that I am, I decided to do some preliminary searches on self-exclusion in Washington. I have found nothing general...just limited information from individual casinos. In searching, I came across links like the one Jay posted, from other states. Nothing in Washington. Not saying that it doesn't exist...but, if it does, it's really hard to find.
Thankfully, I have not been in a casino in Washington since January 14, 2011, so my info here might very well be dated. I will tell you that when I first entered GA and began to speak to other compulsive gamblers, I was SHOCKED to hear that there even was any sort of self-exclusion program here. I hadn't seen any indication of it in all of my time at the casinos....even though I probably would have ignored it at the time...
I am by no means an expert on this issue, but just from "being around" for years, my inclination is to say that many of the issues here stem from the fact that the non-cardroom casinos here are on tribal lands. We have a history here, with the tribal casinos, of the state being incredibly accommodating. Taxes paid to the state? Perish the thought. (End editorial...) My point in bringing this up is that I don't know what the situation is in Montana...are they tribal casinos, or are they run by the state? It will probably make a HUGE difference as to how this is approached.
We have a great group here....the Evergreen Council on Problem Gambling. http://www.evergreencpg.org They do some great things with education, and in working with the gaming community. Is there any similar group in MT? They would be a good resource for you.
In conclusion, I can't tell that there's any sort of "state-wide" law here regarding self-exclusion. And, from what I can tell, Washington casinos were actually fairly late in coming to the *game* even with the individual casinos doing the self-exclusion.