Dear Governor Patrick,

There comes a time in every leader’s tenure when he or she will come to a crossroads; a point at which they must make a fateful decision that will intractably impact those in their care.  You stand at such a nexus now.  The decision you make in the next few days will be felt by generations to come in Massachusetts, long after you have moved on.

Governor, I am willing to bet that you have not heard the information that I have provided here.  You will be stunned at what you are about to learn.  You have promised that we would “get it right” here, in Massachusetts, because we have the ability to look at the mistakes of those who have traveled this road before us.

History will either report that you did it right or that you failed the people miserably.  I disagree with you on many topics but I believe you to be an earnest and honest man of integrity and I hope that you apply those traits to this issue.

As you are considering the fine print of the casino legislation that has arrived at your desk, I wanted to provide you with some insight on the business practices of the casino industry.  I am confident that you are not aware of these practices, as they are the “dirty little secret” of the industry.

I work in the field of Business Intelligence.  I design databases that companies use to collect information about their customers and prospective customers.  The data collected are used to decide how to promote their products or services to their patrons.  In other industries, this is a relatively benign practice as it simply allows companies to match up customers with products and promotions.  The hope is that those targeted consumers will spend their money more frequently at their establishments as opposed to their competitors.

Financial institutions also take advantage of this information in order to decide what banking, lending and investing products to offer to their own customers and prospects.  This is why we receive unsolicited credit card offers in the mail.

As financial institutions, the casinos will have access to all of an individual's financial information.  They leverage this specialized status and "loyalty programs" to gain specific knowledge about how much cash and credit a patron has access to, when they use their credit cards in the casinos.  The industry calls this Total Cash Availability.  Additionally, they will also be able to find out how much equity a patron has in their home, car and other assets; this is called Global Cash Availability.  These can and will be taken as equity in exchange for credit.  Casinos will also extend what amount to payday loans at high interest rates.  These will be offered to patrons who are under the influence of alcohol, alcohol, that the casinos will be able to offer free of charge.

The casino industry uses all of this information along with real-time game-play data to make targeted offers to specific people.  They are also able to alter the payout rate and the “near-misses” seen by each person to increase their rate of play and the amount per play.

Governor Patrick, you have acknowledged that there will be more addicted gamblers created by the advent of casino gambling in Massachusetts.  I'm sure we would disagree on the total number but you should understand that this legislation allows the casinos to offer loans directly to those who have been drinking.  Our state is still trying to recover from the sub-prime mortgage lending scandal.  Does it really make sense to introduce an industry that will prey on people by offering them loans while they’re intoxicated? 

Casino industry experts will tell you that they only need to provide loans to “high rollers”.  This is disingenuous.   The legislation does not provide any income threshold or guidance.  All patrons are fair game.

Below are three links, which show how the casino industry collects and uses the financial and game-play data to identify patrons who can be tapped for more revenue.

1)  The video linked below shows that casinos have access to all of your financial information as well as transactions outside of the casinos as soon as you use your credit or atm card in one of their machines.

2)  This link is a promotional page which brags about this software’s ability to identify “the most profitable customers and those which can be ‘tapped’ for additional revenue and profit.”  This software identifies these gamblers while they are playing and helps identify them for promotions.  This software targets people to ply with free liquor.  It is not a random offering. 

3) The following is a link to a patent for a “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMICALLY AWARDING BONUS POINTS.”  It also describes in detail how machines can be dynamically reconfigured to generate more revenue while they are being played by increasing the rate of play and reducing payouts.

Let me be clear.  The methodology is as follows: 

Dear Governor Patrick, this is only the tip of the iceberg.  This industry uses this data to manipulate payouts at slot machines to coincide with show times.  It also uses this data to identify patrons who may be slowing down their play and who may increase their play if they were provided with a free drink or two.

Governor, I know that you would not have supported this legislation if you were aware of these practices.  This is simply bad public policy.  If you sign this bill, you will have unleashed these predatory practices on the unsuspecting people of the Commonwealth.  The very people whom you have sworn to protect.

Kind Regards,

John Ribeiro

Winthrop, MA

    Slot machines at race tracks, actually reduced revenue in some states. Proximity to gambling increases bankruptcy. Gambling is the 4^th leading and fastest growing cause of bankruptcy. Baton Rouge opened casinos in 1994. By 1996, bankruptcy rose there by 53%. New bankruptcies in counties with casinos rose by 18% to 35%. Most money lost  comes out of credit and ATM cards, not from cash carried into the casino. Most customers of “resort” casinos live locally.    

    Gambling causes social instability by increasing crime, alcoholism, child abuse, suicide, youth gambling, divorce, domestic violence and  many other emotional and behavioral problems.

    Independent studies found an increase in crime rates from 8% to 10% in casino states, 30% attributable to casinos. About 21.4% of gamblers have been incarcerated compared to 7% for non-gamblers. About 30% of those incarcerated have gambling problems.

    Suicide attempts are higher among gamblers than other addictions.  Las Vegas has the highest suicide level in the country. Abnormally high suicides appeared in Atlantic City only after casinos opened. Suicide levels are 2 to 4 times higher in gambling counties.

    More money is spent on college campuses on gambling than on alcohol. Gambling is the fastest growing teen addiction with a rate of pathological gambling twice that of adults. In one study, 24% of male students in grade 10 and 11 visited gambling internet sites in a year.

    In Deadwood South Dakota, after 2 years of casino gambling, child abuse cases increased by 42% and domestic violence by 80%. In one study, 25% to 50% of spouses of pathological gamblers had been abused. The Indiana state gaming commission records revealed that 72 children were found abandoned on casino premises in a 14 month period.

    Problem gambling far exceeds the cost of illegal drugs.  About 30% of active gamblers have some level of gambling problem along a continuum from mild (at risk-18%), moderate (problem-10%) to severe (pathological-5%). 

    About 30% of people with drinking problems have gambling problems and about 60% of people with gambling problems have drinking problems. Gambling, drinking and mental health problems are not isolated, but connected. For example, 1 out of 5 returning veterans have a gambling problem, secondary to substance abuse, depression and PTSD.

    Some studies show costs outweigh benefits by $3 to $1. No independent C/B analysis of casinos has been done in Massachusetts.

    Evidence for these assertions can be found in The National Gambling Impact Study Commission Report (1999), Gambling in America-Costs and Benefits (Grinols- 2004) The US International Gambling Report (Kindt-2008) and Time, June 28, 2010.

                                                                                               June 30, 2010