Saturday, May 03, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Gaming foe characterized as high roller

William Bennett Director of company against growth of casino gambling

William Bennett, the architect and leading advocate of Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign, just says yes when it comes to gambling.

Bennett was outed Friday in a Washington, D.C., magazine as a gambler who has wagered -- and lost -- millions in Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos over the past decade.

Some of Bennett's losses were described as "substantial" in reports on MSNBC's Web site Friday, which also reported many of Bennett's friends were surprised by the extent of his gambling.

According to internal casino documents obtained by the Washington Monthly, Bennett's total losses over the past decade were more than $8 million.

Bennett was reported to have lost more than $500,000 on April 5 and 6 at The Bellagio, the MGM Mirage flagship in Las Vegas, and another $340,000 at Caesars Atlantic City on July 12, according to casino sources quoted by the magazine.

Bennett could not be reached by the The Review-Journal Friday to comment on the reports.

Bennett also confirmed to Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter that he sometimes wagers hundreds of thousands of dollars in a night of gambling, but denied that he has lost millions, saying that casino records do not adequately account for winnings. "Over 10 years, I'd say I've come out pretty close to even," he said, according to the Washington Post.

Bennett reportedly is a "preferred customer" in at least four casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, with a revolving line of credit of $200,000, and his games of choice are video poker and slot machines, some at $500 a pull, Washington Monthly reported.

Bennett is a director of Empower America, together with former vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp, former U.N. Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick, former U.S. Rep. Vin Weber of Minnesota and former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen.

Empower America opposes the proliferation of casino gambling, and its co-chair, Kemp, recently lambasted lawmakers who "pollute our society with a slot machine on every corner."

The group also recently published an "Index of Leading Cultural Indicators" that reported 5.5 million American adults as "problem" or "pathological" gamblers.

Bennett was "drug czar" under President George H.W. Bush and secretary of education under President Reagan as well as being instrumental in the "Just Say No" campaign against the use of drugs and other addictive substances.

"I knew he won a big ($200,000) jackpot a few years ago," Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, said Friday after the story about Bennett was reported. "I wanted to call him and shake him down for charity.

"What Mr. Bennett will be helpful for -- and we have addicted gamblers who are judges, police, teachers and doctors -- is that this guy is in denial. He doesn't recognize that he's a pathological gambler and the longer that goes on, the longer he'll be an illustration of the problem," Grey said.

One casino source who has witnessed Bennett at "the high-limit slots in the wee hours" told The Washington Monthly, "There's a term in the trade for his type of gambler. We call them losers."

Industry critics and addiction clinicians who asked not to be named agreed with the casino source's characterization of Bennett.

"No one who plays these games is a winner. They're right. He's a loser. And he's going to draw attention to the problem," Grey said.

Gaming industry officials were unwilling to comment on Bennett.

"It's our policy not to comment on any activity involving our guests," said Robert Stewart, spokesman for Park Place Entertainment Corp., owner of Caesars Atlantic City where Bennett is reported to have gambled heavily.

Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM Mirage, which operates other casinos where Bennett reportedly gambles, declined to comment on Bennett specifically.

"What any customers choose to gamble is their business, their entertainment dollars to do with as they see fit," he said.

What they gamble and what they lose is no one's business but their family's "when there are adverse consequences in their lives," Feldman said.

The story "really appears to be typical childish inside-the-Beltway playing 'gotcha.' The American public is not going to see this as a moral issue," he said.

As to the origin of the story, The Washington Monthly Editor Paul Glastris said there were rumors circulating in Washington, particularly in very conservative circles, about Bennett's "severe gambling habits. We picked up on that, did some reporting and broke the story."

Glastris said the sources had been carefully checked and he is "very, very confident in their reliability."

However, he said he could not reveal anything about the information that might reveal the sources and methods of his reporters.

When reminded of studies that link heavy gambling to divorce, bankruptcy, domestic abuse and other family problems he has widely decried, Bennett told The Washington Monthly he compared gambling to alcohol. "I view it as drinking," Bennett says. "If you can't handle it, don't do it."