By MATTHEW SOCKOL
Staff Writer
Gambling is often more than a game.
The Wellspring Center for Prevention and the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey (CCGNJ) sponsored a conference on gambling addiction on March 15. Entitled “Out of the Dark — Addressing the Hidden Addiction of Gambling Among Older Adults,” the conference provided insight on the dangers of gambling and how it attracts seniors.
Ezra Helfand, executive director of Wellspring, said, “To me, there is a problem, a hidden problem [among senior adults].”
“It is so important we have this conference,” said Neva Pryor, executive director of the CCGNJ, noting that March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month.
Pryor, who said she would be turning 62, discussed how seniors try to fill a void that appears as they get older. To prevent loneliness and be around other seniors, they turn to gambling.
“Becoming a senior means things have changed,” she said. “You don’t have that little boy or girl running around anymore.”
When seniors no longer know who they are, an addiction may start, she said.
Pryor emphasized that the CCGNJ was not opposed to gambling itself, a point that was made throughout the conference. Gambling, she explained, had to be responsible.
She also established that a recovery process should not bring an individual back to a point where he or she once was, but should make that individual better than before.
To provide personal perspectives on gambling, two speakers were members of Gamblers Anonymous (GA) who were identified as compulsive gamblers.
The first speaker worked as a mailman and a messenger at Rutgers. He joined GA in 2008 and last placed a bet on March 22, 2012.
The speaker revealed that his father gambled at racetracks, and he believed gambling addiction is hereditary. For 58 years, he considered himself to be a normal gambler, but when he retired from the postal service in 2000, he began to frequently visit Atlantic City.
“A compulsive gambler is a person who has an inability to stop,” the speaker said.
After his wife told him he was spending too much time in Atlantic City, he stopped telling her when he was going there. He became a closet gambler, keeping his gambling secret from family and friends.
“I became a much better liar than a gambler,” he said.
The speaker was caught when his E-ZPass revealed he was traveling to Atlantic City, but he continued to gamble. Upon being caught a second time in 2008 when his wife found a cash receipt from a casino, the speaker joined GA. He also came out of retirement to pay off his gambling debts.
When his wife was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2010, the speaker began to gamble again. For three years, he traveled to casinos on Thursday nights under the guise that he was attending GA meetings.
“I thought the only way out was to win a big jackpot,” he said.
He was eventually caught at a casino by members of his family. Fortunately, his family gave him another chance and he returned to GA.
To the speaker, the lowest point during this period was when he couldn’t pick up his granddaughter in Piscataway because he was secretly in Atlantic City.
“I failed as a grandfather,” he said.
He also revealed that he is unable to speak to his siblings because they are also compulsive gamblers, and like many gamblers, they are not seeking any help.
“These GA meetings should be overflowing,” the speaker said. “They’re not.”
The second speaker, referred to as “Tom C.,” is a part-time elder care worker and a licensed gerontologist. He joined GA in 2010 and last gambled on Feb. 10, 2012.
As with the previous speaker, Tom’s father was a gambler. Involved in illegal racketeering, he provided Tom with gifts whenever he won.
Tom said he became a gambler at an early age and would bet on baseball cards. He went on to play poker in high school and got involved in horse racing, where he would select the horses that looked at him.
“I won a lot of money,” Tom said. “And I lost a lot.”
In the 1970s, Tom’s brother informed him he won $5,000 in Atlantic City, which led to Tom becoming immersed in the city.
“I loved Atlantic City,” he said “I was in need of a character change. I was just into this whole scene.”
He soon found himself becoming involved deeper with gambling.
“The more money I made, the more I spent,” Tom said.
Tom noted that people may join sobriety groups when they reach their lowest point. By 2010, Tom’s gerontology business had been closed for 13 years, and his wife was fired for using her company’s credit card for her own personal use, which rendered her unable to collect unemployment benefits. He promptly made the decision to join GA.
While on a cruise in 2012, Tom suffered a meltdown when he discovered the casino room was next to the dining hall, but he resumed treatment afterward.
According to Tom, it is worse to win at gambling.
“Winning is worse than losing because the compulsive gambler believes his losing days are over,” he said.
Tom concluded his speech by reading a poem by Richmond Walker from his meditation book, “Twenty-Four Hours a Day.” Often read during sobriety meetings, the poem emphasized the importance of focusing on the present when dealing with problems.
“It is only when you and I add the battles of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that we break down,” he said. “Let us therefore live but one day at a time.”
Assemblywoman Nancy Pinkin provided legislative insight on gambling. According to Pinkin, a hospital executive was losing his home because of his gambling addiction and his investments in penny stocks. She made note of an MSNBC poll, which stated that 70 percent of seniors gambled in 2013. To Pinkin, who has observed gamblers, there is no way to win in gambling.
Despite the problems it causes, Pinkin acknowledged that gambling does provide financial benefits to the state.
“One of the conflicts we have in state government is all the money that goes towards gambling,” she said. “Is the state going to do something about gambling when it provides a huge amount of money?”
In addition, Pinkin touched upon advocacy.
“People assume in advocacy that elected officials know what the problem is,” she said. “One of the first things in advocacy is not to assume. Identify the problem and explain what it means.”
Pinkin staged a simulation of successful advocacy, where Daniel J. Trolaro, education coordinator at CCGNJ, established why gambling is a problem. He requested money so his organization could reach more individuals about the dangers of gambling.
A presentation on gambling addiction was given by Daniella Franov and Justin Lucero, seniors at Rutgers University who are interns at Wellspring.
“Gambling is not caused by financial difficulties,” Lucero said. “It is an emotional and psychological problem that has financial consequences.”
The two discussed factors that would cause a gambling addiction, such as boredom and excitement. A gambling addiction mirrors substance abuse symptoms and 95 percent of those who suffer from substance use disorders tend to gamble.
“Realistically, anyone is at risk,” Franov said.
According to the statistics they provided, 75 percent of Americans have gambled at least once, and one in 20 Americans has an addiction. In New Jersey, 350,000 adults have gambled. Per year, the cost of gambling is $5 billion.
The presentation also made note of the three types of gamblers: social, who gamble for fun; problem, whose gambling causes negative results; and pathological, who cannot control their gambling. Social is the most common and pathological is the most damaging, they said.
According to Trolaro, the gaming industry targets seniors because they are vulnerable. They have money and they are living on their own.
Casinos treat senior citizens with the utmost respect, even remembering their birthdays and sending them cards when they are absent from the casino.
“They’ll greet you by your first name,” Trolaro said. “They’re happy to remember you. You’re getting treated like royalty.”
Seniors themselves often turn to gambling due a variety of factors, including boredom, loneliness and the jolt of revitalized energy it provides. Trolaro noted that gambling helps seniors maintain their independence and self-esteem.
Since gambling addiction can surface late in an individual’s life, Trolaro emphasized that it could be prevented in seniors. He discussed the three types of prevention efforts the CCGNJ offered: primary for the general population, secondary for those at risk of developing a gambling addiction and tertiary for those with established gambling problems. Primary efforts attempt to prevent the onset of at-risk gambling, secondary is intended to divert seniors away from problem gambling and tertiary provides physical aid to gamblers.
Lia Nower of the Rutgers University School of Social Work, Center for Gambling Studies, provided statistics that demonstrated the increasing rate of gambling activities among older adults. The statistics revealed that in 1975, 35 percent of adults age 65 and older gambled in their lifetime. In 2001, 81 percent of adults age 51-60 gambled in the past year, and 69 percent of adults age 61 and older gambled.
“Slot machines are the crack cocaine of gambling,” Nower said. “That’s how you lose all your money.”
According to Nower, there were three pathways that typically led to problem gambling. The first was brought on by the excitement and illusions of control gambling could provide. These gamblers generally had normal upbringings and turned to gambling to escape loneliness, feel excitement or achieve a sense of “belonging.”
The second pathway dealt with vulnerability, individuals who suffered a disturbance in their childhood. Stating that they never felt normal in their lives, these gamblers typically suffer from depression and anxiety and use gambling as an emotional escape.
The third pathway featured individuals who possessed a biological disposition to thrill-seeking. With high levels of impulsiveness and anti-social behavior, these gamblers enjoy the risk gambling provides.
“They are impulsive and they want to feel a rush,” Nower said.