slot machines

Dear Editor:

While the American Gaming Association does not take a position on local gaming issues, we do make a point to correct the record when inaccurate information is presented. In her Aug. 7 column, Elizabeth Marsh Cupino included a few such inaccuracies while reflecting on the pending referendum on casino gaming in Maryland.

Dear Editor,

The possible addition of slot machines at Kentucky’s racetracks has sparked considerable debate throughout the state and in the pages of this newspaper. While the American Gaming Association does not take a position on expanded gambling, we would like to correct the misinformation included in the June 8 opinion piece, “Facts on gambling you haven’t heard.”

Sir, in “Games prey on your mind” (March 12), Christopher Caldwell makes an attention-grabbing contention that electronic gaming machines are addictive. However, the facts simply do not bear out his claim.

First, there are hundreds of thousands more gaming machines in the U.S. today than there were 35 years ago. And yet, it is settled science that the prevalence rate of disordered gambling has remained virtually unchanged during that time. If gaming machines brought about an increase in the condition, surely the rate would have jumped substantially.

Dear Editor:

The June 2, 2010 article, “Equipment Maker Searches For Profit In The Mind Of The Gambler,” demonstrates, at best, a remarkable failure to understand the relationship between the gaming industry and our customers, and, at worst, reveals an anti-gaming bias.

There’s no way around it – this past year was tough. The down economy dealt most Americans challenges we haven’t faced in some time, if ever. For those of us in the commercial casino industry, that meant people had less money to spend on our products.  Our revenues in 2009 fell 5.5 percent from 2008 to $30.74 billion. This is the story told in the 2010 edition of AGA’s State of the States report.  But as challenging as the year was for most of us, that’s not the entire story.

One of the first documents we produced when we opened the doors of the American Gaming Association (AGA) was called “Myths and Facts about the Gaming Industry.”  It was a fairly lengthy document.