Beating the odds: Two women offer insight into problem gambling
By Faye Trafford, Grace Magazine, March 2011
Have you had ever one of those dreams where you had a special power? Maybe it was flying. Maybe it was the ability to use your mind to move objects or unlock doors. To heal someone or to stop time. Remember how realistic the dream was? How your mind raced ahead to how you would apply this gift; how you marveled at the difference it could make in your life and those of your loved ones? Compulsive gamblers say that in the grip of addiction, the mind is as delusional as this dream world. In the dream, you believe you can fly, so you keep trying to leave the ground. In life, you believe you will win, so you keep trying to win. Even though you keep losing. Even when the sky caves in.
MGM Grand slots to get new promotional software
by Brian Hallenbeck, The Day, February 2011
All 1,100 slot machines at MGM Grand at Foxwoods will be equipped with software that enables them to print out promotional materials specifically tailored to the player playing the machine at any given time, Foxwoods Resort Casino announced Monday.
The high-tech system, developed by TransAct Technologies of Hamden, consists of a device that attaches to TransAct printers previously installed in some 3,000 slots at Foxwoods. It links to software that tracks players' gaming preferences and buying habits - information collected on the magnetic strips of player's club cards.
'Lethal triad' in compulsive gambling can lead to suicide, study shows
By Jessica Murphy, St. Catharines Standard, January 2011
Pathological gamblers exhibit a "lethal triad" of substance abuse, depression and anxiety, along with personality disorders, that increases their risk of committing suicide, a new study indicates. "Imagine: these people have problems with gambling, they might have stolen or borrowed money, they are taking drugs or drinking too much and they're depressed," said Richard Boyer, a researcher with the University of Montreal and the Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital. "It's not going well for them. Everything is falling apart."
Lawmakers Take Gamble On Idea Of Big Lottery Game For Big State Deficit
by Brian Hallenbeck, The Day, March 2009
For state Sen. Andrea Stillman, it was, she said, "an interesting day of juxtapositions." First, the Waterford Democrat hosted a press conference marking National Problem Gambling Awareness Week. Then she presided at a public hearing on a bill calling for the state lottery to introduce a new, high-payout game to help stock the state's barren coffers. Nobody came. At least to the hearing. "That sends a message in itself," Stillman said. "I thought we'd hear from somebody."
Gambling Expected to Increase as Super Bowl Nears: Effects on Workplace February 03, 2011
Gambling helplines are preparing for a spike in calls and an increased need for treatment following Super Bowl XLV. In addition to causing problems at home, gambling can also have a negative impact in the workplace.
Eastern students address problem gambling
By Caitlin Emma, The Daily Campus, April 29, 2010
When five social work students from Eastern Connecticut State University began an awareness campaign this spring about problem gambling, they soon learned that most students - themselves included - knew little about it. "I used to think, 'If you have a problem gambling, then that's your problem,'" said Amon Gitau, a junior and member of the college's Problem Gambling Awareness Task Group. "But I've learned so much."
UConn slow to respond to growing gambling culture
By Jeremy Katz, The Daily Campus, April 28, 2010
An 18-year-old UConn student drives to Mohegan Sun, one of the two large casinos within an hour of the campus. He carries a Sun "Club Card" and fake ID, which he knows will get him onto the gaming floor. A 19-year-old UConn sophomore frequently enters online poker tournaments and wins big. He has made almost $175,000 gambling online in recent years, but has also had a single "downswing" of about $40,000. Several UConn students gather for a weekly poker game in the study lounge of a residence hall. The game is just one of many scattered about the campus, with buy-ins ranging from $5 to $200. These students, all of whom are male, offer a glimpse into what Barry Schreier, UConn's director of Counseling and Mental Health Services called "widespread" gambling at UConn that includes online poker and sports betting, and is magnified by the school's proximity to Connecticut's two casinos. Despite this growing gambling culture, UConn has been slow to respond with policies or student outreach.
Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling Opposes Rell's Keno Proposal
by William Sokolic, Norwich Bulletin, May 29, 2009
Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s proposal to permit electronic keno games has resulted in an urgent call to step back and think twice, according to a release Friday from the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling.
“The proposal is born of desperate thinking and is likely to create more problems than it solves,” the council says.
A Lifetime of Losing New Haven Register, Sunday, November 2, 2008
By Jim Shelton, Register Staff
Time was, a missed layup at Yale's Payne Whitney Gymnasium could send Leonard Grossman into a full-court rage.
It might have been understandable if Grossman was a player. But he wasn't. He was just a guy in the stands, trapped in a 50-year gambling addiction that started when he was a teenager and didn't stop until after he became a grandfather.
Group to Push for Gambling Courts in Conn.
By Stephen Singer , Associated Press Writer
November 8, 2007
An advocacy group in Connecticut, home to two of the world's largest casinos, is pushing for new courts that would provide treatment rather than jail time for chronic gamblers charged with stealing to support their habits.
Who Are The Gamblers? Hartford Courant Editorial, July 30, 2007
The General Assembly has finally listened, but with only one ear. After years of delays, it has approved money for a study of gambling's effect on the state - but not enough money to yield useful data in the home of the two largest casinos in the world.
