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Iowa Gambling Hotline Sees 17% Increase in 2005
The Iowa hotline, 1-800-BETS-OFF, recorded 6,363 calls last year. Referrals to one of the 11 gambling treatment center around the state also increased. The number of Iowans who called the state's gambling treatment hotline jumped 17 percent in 2005, as the state's casino industry posted record revenues of $1.14 billion for the fiscal year ending in June 2006.
An official with the Iowa Department of Public Health, Bob Kerksieck said, believes the jump in calls can be traced to the Iowa Lottery's TouchPlay video lottery machines and the opening of two new casinos in Emmetsburg and Worth County.
Kerksieck spoke with one man, a recovering gambling addict who hadn't gambles in 7 years, who was lured back in after seeing a TouchPlay machine in a convenience store.
TouchPlay machines were taken out of commission on May 3. "He said 'I just couldn't resist putting a buck in, and pretty soon I'd lost my paycheck,'" Kerksieck said.
According to Kerksieck, the state will spend $4.6 million to help problem gamblers this year. With two new casinos set to open in Waterloo and Riverside, state officials are anticipating more problem gamblers will need help.
"I'm assuming there's going to be more services needed," he said.
Wes Ehrecke, president of the Iowa Gaming Association, said the industry has worked to help problem gamblers. Money from casino profits is earmarked for treatment efforts, and casinos allow problems gamblers to ban themselves from casinos.
Transitional housing facilities, which give shelter to gamblers undergoing treatment who have lost their homes or have been kicked out, already exist in Council Bluffs, Des Moines and Fort Dodge, with another planned for eastern Iowa.
