Nebraska News
Casinomania, the Rise of the Machines
(2004-07-02)
SANTA MONICA, CA
(KCRW) -
With Americans feeding in coins at the rate of a billion dollars a day, slot machines make more money per year than McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King and Starbucks combined. State legislators all over the US are discovering the slots as an easy way to reduce debt without raising taxes. This week, the Pennsylvania State Senate voted to authorize more slot machines than any other state but Nevada, in the hopes of keeping local gamblers from crossing the line to New Jersey or West Virginia. But some of the new video-type machines are creating false expectations that keep gamblers coming back. Warren Olney joins representatives and consultants to the gambling industry, an advocate for traditional family values, and journalists and psychiatrists for a look at compulsive gambling and its use as a course of revenue for law enforcement and schools.Reporter Rick Green covers gambling for the Hartford Courant in Connecticut, home to the largest casino in the world. Scott Fisher is the managing director of financial analysis with The Innovation Group, a consultant to the gambling industry. Chad Hill is a reserach associate for gambling issues at Focus on the Family. Frank Fahrenkopf, Jr is president and CEO of the American Gaming Association. Nancy Petry, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, has studied gambling treatments since 1998.
Other organizations/events/websites of interest, discussed in today's program:
Global Gaming Expo© Copyright 2012, KCRW
National Center for Responsible Gaming
National Council on Problem Gambling
National Gambling Impact Study
National Institutes of Health on compulsive gambling
KCRW's Which Way, LA? on the growth of gambling in California
Governor Schwarzenegger's re-negotiation of gaming compacts with California tribes
