Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Gaming company starts ban

Casinos to bar problem gamblers

Park Place Entertainment Corp. on Tuesday started a landmark program that includes the involuntary exclusion of certain problem gamblers from all of the company's U.S. casinos.

The program will require training casino employees to identify customers showing certain behavior patterns, including those at risk of committing suicide, endangering others or facing severe financial losses, including the loss of their home.

Such customers could be barred from the company's casinos for life, with limited opportunities for appeal or exception, subject to regulatory requirements.

Also, players who have told the company or agencies in the seven states that allow for self-exclusion that they want to stop gambling will be banned from Park Place casinos.

Park Place spokesman Robert Stewart said that even when such individuals complete treatment programs, they generally will not be allowed in Park Place casinos.

"There are plenty of other places for them to gamble," he said.

The ban extends to all Park Place casinos in the United States, all of whose computers are linked by high-speed data lines.

By providing for involuntary exclusion, the Park Place program goes further than any other gaming industry exclusion programs, said Durand Jacobs, a clinical professor of psychological and behavioral sciences at Loma Linda University Medical School in California.

"The only other (involuntary) exclusion is when someone is acting up and is trespassed, but this goes considerably beyond that," said Jacobs, who is former vice president of the National Council on Compulsive Gambling.

Linking a company's computers to ensure gamblers who have been banned at one casino do not go to another company casino has been recommended, he said, but it has not been done before.

"It's commendable that they've gone beyond self-exclusion, which is full of holes, and that they're going national. They have no legal duty, and most corporate groups don't assume that (responsibility)," Jacobs said.

Park Place's Stewart said the company started the new program because it "wanted to do more to help the small percentage of customers who decided they no longer wanted to gamble."

"We also decided there are some very limited situations we needed to address in which a customer's comments to an employee might suggest they should no longer be our customer," he said.

The new policy includes creating committees at each of the casinos to decide which customers should be barred, based on reports of behavior associated with problem gambling.

American Gaming Association Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf, whose industry group released a gaming code of conduct Tuesday, and some industry experts commended Park Place for being aggressive in addressing problem gambling. But the new policy was not without its critics.

The Rev. Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, called the policy a "big step" forward but warned that putting the identification responsibility on employees will create conflicts for individuals.

"It's a step forward from what we've had. Now a (casino) company is accepting responsibility," he said.

"But they haven't solved the problem. They aren't using their data systems, and they're putting it all on the backs of workers who also have pressures to make sure cash comes in," Grey said.

"When they're really serious, they'll use their own data banks to determine who's gambling too much. That's a great tool, and when they use it, they'll really be stepping up to the plate. Until then, it's doomed to (falling short of solving the problem)," he said.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas professor and casino industry expert Bill Thompson said the proof will be in the implementation, but he called the new policy "very positive."

"They're going to have to be very careful of how they keep records and protect customers' privacy," he said.

But "the industry as a whole needs to do this, especially in a place like Las Vegas, where (gamblers) can go across the street to another casino," Thompson said.

By including involuntary exclusion, Park Place is crossing a threshold, making a major policy change, he said.

Casino companies have defended themselves in problem gambling litigation by arguing that they have no way of knowing who is a problem gambler and that they are not their brothers' keepers.

"Now, they're crossing the line. Park Place is saying they are their brothers' keeper, and I think they should," he said.

"This is going to expose them to some difficult issues, but it's better than having a customer commit suicide," Thompson said.

Jacobs said such issues make the policy "very, very chancy."

"If they do it wrong, they're going to open themselves up for a big suit," he said.