Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board recognizes National Problem Gambling Awareness Month

The idea is to promote resources intended to help individuals with a gambling addiction.

The Board, at its February 10 meeting, adopted a resolution recognizing March as Problem Gambling Awareness Month.
Additionally, the Board has directed its staff to raise awareness of problem gambling and available resources by providing a public booth in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg on March 9, 16 and 23, 2016 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Gaming Control Board Executive Director Kevin O’Toole said the agency’s role in protecting the interests of the public is not limited to making sure casinos are safe and gaming is fair, but to readily provide help to individuals who develop a gambling problem.

“We fully understand that one of the key reasons that casino gaming has been successful from a revenue standpoint , the easy proximity of casinos to a large portion of the state’s population and also plays a role in accelerating gambling problems,” O’Toole said. “This is why the law, rightly so, annually earmarks millions of dollars in casino revenue through the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs to provide assistance in identifying a gambling problem and treating the individual.”

Elizabeth Lanza, Director of the PGCB’s Bureau of Compulsive and Problem Gambling, said the agency also offers assistance to those who have developed a casino-related gambling problem through a Self-Exclusion List. The list allows a person to request to be banned from all casino gaming activities and to be prohibited from collecting any winnings, recovering any losses or accepting complimentary gifts or services or any other thing of value at any Pennsylvania casino.

“For most individuals, the urge to gamble excessively at casinos is controllable. For others, however, the temptation to gamble beyond one’s means is strong,” Lanza said. “The availability of the Self-Exclusion List provides an effective tool that, together with problem gambling treatment, combats the urge to gamble.”

More information on problem gambling is accessible through the PGCB’s website.