Responsible Gaming Education Week Message Reaches Nationwide

While the commercial casino industry is committed to responsible gaming 365 days a year, every August during the first week of the month the industry joins with others in gaming communities throughout the United States to place special emphasis on this important message.

Whether it was lectures in Atlantic City, N.J., or Joliet, Ill., special messages on electronic marquees on the Las Vegas Strip, educational games in New Orleans or employee training programs across the country, the industry each year has dedicated resources to educating both its employees and customers about the importance of gambling responsibly.

Two of the innovative programs launched this year during Responsible Gaming Education Week represented significant new steps in the industry's outreach efforts.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) developed an online quiz encouraging employees and the general public to "log on to learn." More than 575 people took the 10-question quiz intended to boost awareness of disordered gambling and the importance of responsible gaming – enhancing their understanding of these issues in the process.

Those taking the quiz represented different segments of the gaming industry, including the casino, lottery and pari-mutuel industries. In addition, hundreds of employees took a hard-copy version of the quiz. Others involved in gaming, including those in government, media, gaming regulation, and treatment/ research/education of problem gambling, also participated. Those who self-identified as members of the media earned the highest score of 72 percent, while government professionals scored the lowest, with 51 percent. Casino employees scored 62 percent – the total test average.

Casino companies in southern Nevada also attempted to broaden awareness of disordered gambling, but they did so by seeking the assistance and cooperation of other leading employers in the region to help educate their own employees about these issues. The Nevada Resort Association, working in partnership with the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, helped to develop the program, which already has gained the support of employers representing more than 57,000 area residents.

"[More than] 25 percent of Nevada's work force works in the gaming industry," Park Place Entertainment President and CEO Tom Gallagher told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "We felt that we needed to reach out to other employers to help them develop [problem gambling] awareness and support programs."

According to Carol O'Hare, executive director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, including local nongaming employees as part of an education initiative will help increase overall community awareness. "The bottom line is that education is what's necessary to let people make informed choices," O'Hare told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "The opportunity to choose to change is what's significant."

The next Responsible Gaming Education Week is planned for Aug. 4-8, 2003.