Gambling News by House of Odds

Slot-machine casinos are opening in Pennsylvania even though the state does
not have a gambling-addiction program in place to handle an expected rise in
compulsive gamblers seeking treatment. Although the slots parlors are
required to advertise the existence of such services, the state has not set
up a compulsive gambling hotline or a procedure to subsidize treatment
services for gambling addiction. Both are months away, said Gene Boyle, who
directs the state Health Department's Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Programs.
In the meantime, the state will lean on existing providers, such as the
Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania, based in Philadelphia. "I
believe the infrastructure that's already in place, that's already working
for people who have had addiction over the years, will carry through until
we formalize the public system," Boyle said. Pennsylvania's 2004 law that
legalized up to 14 slots casinos earmarked at least $1.5 million a year for
treatment of compulsive-gambling problems. Last week, Gov. Rendell
authorized the money from a state fund that is fed by slot-machine gambling
revenues and slots licensing fees. The department can use that money to
reimburse public or private treatment agencies for gambling-addiction
services. The state is looking at hiring a company that will manage the
authorization of and reimbursement for gambling-addiction services, as
opposed to managing the process itself, Boyle said. In the next several
months, the Health Department hopes to set up an official toll-free hotline,
as required by the slots law, to answer questions about gambling addiction
and provide treatment referrals.
Yesterday, a second resort in southwestern Pennsylvania pulled its
application for a slot-machine-gambling license, the third slots applicant
to drop its plans in the last two months.

The withdrawal of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort leaves no applicants for the
two slots licenses state gambling regulators are authorized to award to
established resorts. It also means the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
will be able to issue 11 of the state's 14 total slots licenses when it
meets to vote on the applicants Dec. 20.

Nemacolin said it withdrew its application for a Wild West-themed slots
casino because gaming board officials said the resort's patrons would have
to spend $25 on nongaming purchases each visit before playing the slot
machines.