13 Groups work to ban internet gambling nationwide

It was only a matter of time, as there has not been much press about the Supreme Court ruling about online gambling.

"Referring to the Justice Department’s December interpretation of the law allowing in-state Internet gambling, the groups wrote that the decision 'unleashed actions by a growing number of revenue-hungry state governments to turn the Internet into the largest casino ever, and welcoming into homes a greater social cost than any government can handle. This action is undermining Congress’ clear intent when it passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 that online gambling should be prohibited.'”


As of last count 9 states have video poker, 9 have Keno (I suspect it's more), Mega Millions in 43, Power ball in 41 and all 50 have Scratch-offs.  I think it's a tough call and using the "think of the children" argument may not be the best in this area.  The lottery funds a lot of community resources and does bring in huge revenue for the state as it hurts less than 10% of it's players.  I think a better way to go is to make the lottery systems in each state allocate funds for treatment and prevention.  We will see how this continues, but asking for states to stop gambling, when it brings in revenue is not going to work.

Forbes: Lottery Warps Our Minds

"However noble may be the cause toward which the revenues are directed, [lotteries] foster an indigence of soul that must be overcome if democratic liberty is to thrive. In the service of revenue, they undermine the very idea of an extended temporal horizon — without which rational action becomes wholly inconceivable."

Putting the conspiracy theory part of the article aside, it is a very interesting article.  I also have wondered with this lottery mania over the last week if as a Problem Gambling Counselor we will see an increase in clients?  When we ask the "gambling history" question are we going to hear a lot of "I dabbled here and there, but during the big $580 Million Mega Millions things changed."

Estimates are that Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is worth around $520-600 Million.

Lottery Winners Curse

Not sure if I believe in curses, but with the Mega Millions climbing to almost $600 million there has been a  lot of discussion over buying a ticket.  Most clients don't find it triggering as the VLT machines, but some do and the constant media attention isn't helping.  Then they "what you would do if you won," conversation begins...which leads me into this article regarding the guy who won the last biggest jackpot:

Jack Whittaker: This West Virginia businessman won $315 million in the Powerball lottery in 2002, the largest jackpot ever from a single ticket in American history at the time. After being robbed of $545,000 in cash while at a strip club, Whittaker's granddaughter and daughter were later found dead, and Whittaker was sued by Caesars Atlantic City casino for bouncing $1.5 million worth of checks to cover gambling losses.