Growing Number of Women Hooked on Gambling

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By BRAD CAIN, Associated Press Writer

SALEM, Ore. - Maryann started gambling 10 years ago, playing video poker machines in hotel restaurants in Oregon as she traveled for her job.

"It got so any place I would see a lottery sign and that was a restaurant or other place that was comfortable, I would play," says the woman, who is in her 40s.

She figures she lost $60,000 on video poker before admitting she had a problem and enrolling in a gambling-addiction treatment program.

Maryann, who doesn't want her last name used, is among a growing number of women across the nation who are getting hooked on gambling.

A state agency that tracks gambling addiction says compulsive female gamblers in Oregon outnumber compulsive male gamblers 32,000 to 29,000, an estimate based on results of a statewide survey.

Nationwide, men make up two-thirds of problem gamblers. But that may be changing in states where video gambling is no further away than a corner deli or tavern.

Video gambling machines have particular appeal to women, said Rachel Volberg, a Massachusetts researcher who has conducted studies of problem gambling.

"The games are a lot less intimidating for women to play," Volberg said. "You don't have to sit at a card table and have men making jokes about 'the little woman learning how to gamble.'"

Oregon is one of nine states that allow games such as video poker and electronic keno in bars, taverns and other retail outlets apart from casinos.

The National Council on Problem Gambling says there's been an uptick in compulsive gambling by women in those states with widespread "convenience" gambling.

"As electronic gaming devices spread throughout the country, we are seeing greater numbers of women with gambling problems," said Keith Whyte, executive director of the Washington-based group.

Part of the reason for that is that the games often are located in brightly lit, attractive places such as coffee shops, delis and bowling alleys ÔÇö not just in smoke-filled bars and taverns, Whyte said.

"Women feel comfortable in these places," he said.

Few states with widely available video gambling have conducted studies to track rates of compulsive gambling among women, Volberg said.

But officials in several of those states said there's no doubt that a "feminization" of gambling is taking place.

"It's an opportunity to escape. Women tell us they go into a 'zone,' and that they are kind of mesmerized by the games," said Cindy Black, a spokeswoman for the state-run gambling addiction program in West Virginia, which has lottery-sponsored video poker games.

Donna Johnson, head of the Montana Council on Problem Gambling, said equal numbers of men and women are calling the council's telephone hot line seeking help for gambling addictions.

It used to be mostly men who called, Johnson said, "but gambling isn't just for the boys anymore. We're seeing more and more women coming into treatment programs."

In Louisiana, where there are 10,000 video gambling terminals at 3,000 locations statewide, 57 percent of the calls to that state's gambling addiction hot line are from women.

"The video machines are everywhere," says Reece Middleton of the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling. "It's no wonder we've got women in trouble."

There are nine tribal casinos in Oregon, but you don't have to go to a casino to gamble. You can do it at bowling alleys, neighborhood delis or restaurants, bars or taverns. Retail establishments must have a liquor license to have video poker, and each outlet is allowed to have up to six video terminals.

In all, there are 10,300 state-owned video gambling machines scattered across the state. They have been installed in 2,000 retail establishments ÔÇö about 38 percent of the state's retail establishments with liquor licenses.

Most Oregonians play video poker and the slots without getting addicted. The state estimates that about 2.4 percent of adult Oregonians who gamble are either addicted to it or prone to addiction.

Still, the number of gamblers in state addiction-treatment programs grows about 15 percent a year, state officials say.

A gambling addiction can break up marriages, destroy careers and send a gambler into bankruptcy. An example is Michelle, who also didn't want her last name used and is also in a treatment program.

Michelle first got hooked on video gambling playing the slots at a casino, then fed her addiction by spending hour after hour at video poker terminals in retail outlets closer to her home.

"I've spent thousands of dollars on video poker, and it's devastated me emotionally and financially," she says.

Gambling addiction officials believe Oregon may soon see more women with gambling problems.

The Oregon Lottery on July 1 will begin offering video slot machines, also known as line games, a move that's expected to raise around $120 million in additional lottery profits for the state's two-year budget.

"I think it's safe to assume that women will make up at least 50 percent of the problem gamblers that will develop from the addition of line games," says Jeffrey Marotta, a clinical psychologist who manages problem gambling services for the state Department of Human Services.

Marotta is forecasting that the introduction of slot machines will create another 8,000 problem gamblers, and he is urging the Legislature to provide at least $9 million for gambling addiction treatment programs in the coming two years. The current spending is $5.6 million.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who ordered the move to video slot games, also is urging the Legislature to spend more money on gambling-addiction treatment to handle the expected increase in caseload.

Those programs have helped Maryann deal with her problem, although she says she isn't "cured."

"I can't say never again," the Salem woman says. "I'm a compulsive gambler and I'm always just one bet away" from relapsing.

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