{"id":21906,"date":"2017-12-05T10:50:44","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T18:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=21906"},"modified":"2017-12-05T10:50:44","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T18:50:44","slug":"whose-responsibility-is-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/whose-responsibility-is-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Whose Responsibility Is It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the November 16 Gambling with an Edge<\/em><\/strong> podcast, Richard and I welcomed David Clary, author of the book Gangsters to Governors: The New Bosses of Gambling in America<\/em><\/strong>. That podcast speaks for itself and I\u2019m not covering here what we talked about on the podcast.<\/p>\n

The last chapter of the book, called \u201cDouble or Nothing,\u201d discussed something we didn\u2019t talk about — problem gambling. It\u2019s a real thing. While exact numbers are elusive, millions of Americans suffer from it.<\/p>\n

In many jurisdictions, casinos and government agencies chip in to provide some help to these gamblers. There are a number of \u201cself-exclusion\u201d programs in various states that sometimes are more-or-less effective in keeping some of these people out of casinos. A strong case could be made that more needs to be done.<\/p>\n

With some players for whom gambling is not a problem, it\u2019s easy to conclude that having a problem is simply a self-control issue. Like, if you have a gambling problem, just stay out of casinos. Like, alcoholics should just stop drinking. And obese people should just show restraint at the dinner table. And tobacco addicts should just plain stop smoking. It\u2019s like, \u201cI don\u2019t have a problem with this and you shouldn\u2019t either!\u201d<\/p>\n

I personally don\u2019t believe anything of the sort described in the preceding paragraph. I believe these are real problems with real pain and costs associated with them. What it\u2019s caused by, I don\u2019t know. Bottom line, though, is that I\u2019m not at all certain what to do about it.<\/p>\n

I regularly write things like, \u201cIf the pay schedule combined with the slot club and promotions isn\u2019t good enough, don\u2019t play.\u201d I know that\u2019s a key part of success at video poker. Players who don\u2019t follow that advice basically have no chance of being a long-term winner. I think this is considerably different from, \u201cIf you have a problem with gambling, just stay out of casinos,\u201d but it\u2019s easy to envision disagreement on how different the two phrases are.<\/p>\n

My writings assume that people CAN refrain from playing. But I also assume that very few problem gamblers read my scribblings. I have no idea how valid this assumption is, but surely some problem gamblers occasionally read my works.<\/p>\n

Every reputable and conscientious how-to-gamble-effectively writer faces this dilemma. How do you provide information to players who can benefit from it without simultaneously giving problem gamblers false hope? If I knew the answer to that, I\u2019d do it. But I just don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

I am NOT planning on stopping my writing. Whatever your opinion on the matter is, I believe I help more people than I harm. I do not believe that the problem would be cured or even lessened if I stopped writing.<\/p>\n

I do donate to Gambler\u2019s Anonymous. Is that the best place to give? I don\u2019t know. How much I give is none of your business. I\u2019m not giving out of guilt. I do not feel guilty for being a video poker teacher. But it bothers me that in at least a few cases, my writings have ended up being harmful rather than helpful.<\/p>\n

Most people who read my columns are players in the video poker community. While I\u2019m more famous in that community than most of my readers are, the \u201chow-to-deal-with-this-issue\u201d problem is not mine alone.<\/p>\n

You may turn a blind eye to this problem or you can try to do something about it. You\u2019re going to have to decide for yourself. The only thing that is certain to me is that the problem isn\u2019t going to magically disappear just by ignoring it.<\/p>\n

I know this column is a bit of a downer, but sometimes the real world is like that. Sometimes it\u2019s important to shine a spotlight on problems and, for me, this is the day to do it for this particular problem.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the November 16 Gambling with an Edge podcast, Richard and I welcomed David Clary, author of the book Gangsters to Governors: The New Bosses of Gambling in America. That podcast speaks for itself and I\u2019m not covering here what we talked about on the podcast. The last chapter of the book, called \u201cDouble or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[428,147],"yoast_head":"\nWhose Responsibility Is It?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Problem gambling. It\u2019s a real thing. While exact numbers are elusive, millions of Americans suffer from it. 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