High Stakes: The Rising Cost of America's Gambling Addiction
Sam Skolnik
Language: English
Pages: 256
ISBN: 0807006297
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
What the explosive growth of legalized gambling means socially, politically, and economically for America.
Forty years ago, casinos were legal in just one state. Today, legalized gambling has morphed into a $119 billion industry established in all but two states. As elected officials are urging voters to expand gambling’s reach, the industry’s supporters and their impassioned detractors are squaring off in prolonged state-by-state battles. Millions of Americans are being asked to decide: are the benefits worth the costs?
With a blend of investigative journalism and poignant narratives of gambling addiction, award-winning journalist Sam Skolnik provides an in-depth exploration of the consequences of this national phenomenon. In High Stakes, we meet politicians eager to promote legalized gambling as an economic cure-all, scientists wrestling with the meaning of gambling addiction, and players so caught up in the chase that they’ve lost their livelihoods and their minds.
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go to the ballot box and determine what they want the quality of life to be in their own area,” Fahrenkopf said in a video clip of the debate found on two different recordings posted on YouTube.com.22 “Now, if someone were to come along and tell me that they were going to put a casino in McLean, Virginia, where I live, I would probably work very, very hard against it. I just don’t . . . What’s the old saying, NIMBY, not in my backyard. Now, I may be in favor of gaming, but I just don’t want it
asked him where he places his bets, and how often and how much he typically wagers on games. I was mostly just curious, but I also knew that if he agreed to share some details, it would have made for a good story. The former high-priced criminal defense lawyer deflected the question. I then suggested that my paper’s readers, especially the gamblers among them, might be interested to learn more about the wagering he’s long hinted at. “I’m sure they would, Mr. Skolnik,” he said, smiling, as he left
community, a person who enjoys having fun with friends and family and a non-gambler by choice,” she said. “But I am potentially your customer, too.” After meeting some of the gamblers who signed up for treatment at the Problem Gambling Center in Las Vegas—usually gamblers near their lowest state, new to their recovery, reeling from their addiction, and desperate to stay away from casinos—it seems clear that they would not want to receive any casino flyers in the mail, whether the coupons
Strip hotels—and had lost a total of $700,000. She was forced to file for bankruptcy after taking out three mortgages on her home to raise gambling funds and pay debts. She borrowed money from any friend or family member who would loan to her. Her marriage melted down, and her relationship with her daughter became badly strained. She thought about suicide but never attempted it. After relapsing twice, Angela quit gambling for good on October 24, 2001. Initially, having to come back to Las
gambling-related corruption charges sprouted across the country, and it’s easy to conclude Simon may have been right. In Kentucky, a bribery investigation involving the state’s horse racing industry resulted in convictions of fifteen state legislators. After escaping convictions in previous corruption trials, former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards was convicted on charges that he extorted hundreds of thousands of dollars from businessmen applying for riverboat casino licenses. And in
