After Linda Ruder sold her house, cashed out her pension and lost all the money playing slot machines at Illinois casinos, her children staged an intervention and persuaded her to sign up for a state program in which she essentially banned herself from entering the state’s casinos.
Despite placing herself on the state’s “self-exclusion” list last year, Ruder, 67, returned to the casinos during a relapse and lost another $35,000.
“I’m not blaming the casino,” said Ruder, who came out of retirement to work as a nurse to pay off her debts. “It was my own doing, but if they would check people’s IDs when they went in, then people who had self-excluded couldn’t get back in and that would definitely save us from relapses.”
In a step that could lead to carding all gamblers, the Illinois Gaming Board has begun to demand identification of all players who appear to be under the age of 30. If their names appear on the state list, they will be turned over to local police for trespassing.
If the new procedure keeps problem gamblers from the under-30 set out of casinos, Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe said, the board may expand it to all age groups.
There are now nearly 3,800 people on the self-exclusion list. Since the carding policy was enacted Aug. 15, Illinois casinos have arrested at least five people after the new ID checks showed they were on the list, Gaming Board officials said. At least another 16 people have been arrested after casino employees learned through other ways that they were on the list.
“This should not be seen as a last step, this is merely a first step,” Jaffe said. “It might be that everyone in the state is carded,” he said.
Since 2002, problem gamblers in Illinois have been able to sign themselves up for the self-exclusion program, adding their name and photo to a database that identifies individuals who should not be allowed onboard. But, if a casino employee did not recognize the problem gambler, or the person avoided transactions or jackpots that may require an ID, no one was likely to know the person had made an illicit visit.
As Ruder’s story illustrates, gamblers who wanted to get around the system found ways to do so. She steered clear of situations where she might be carded and slot machines with high jackpots that would require her to show an ID in order to collect her winnings.
But the gaming industry says carding everyone who walks in the door isn’t the answer. Gamblers struggling with addiction must also take responsibility and seek out the help they need, said Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association.
“If somebody comes on the boat every day for 300 days, we can arrest them 300 times, but that doesn’t help them. It’s the next step they need,” he said.
Carding everyone would also lead to long lines and force players to casinos over the borders where rules are more relaxed, Swoik said.
Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin don’t card all players upon entry. Missouri requires everyone to have a player’s card to enter, and patrons must show their ID to obtain a player’s card.
Swoik said some casinos had already been carding those under 30 on their own, but the new policies make the rules uniform across the state. Besides the new carding effort, the casinos sent a letter out to all individuals on the self-exclusion list reminding them of the possibility of arrest if they try to enter a casino.
Swoik said people often don’t want to present identification when they enter casinos. They either prefer the anonymity or have privacy concerns, he said.
As for the next step in helping problem gamblers, Michael W. Crider, general manager of Harrah’s Metropolis Casino, said the focus should be on linking them with clinical assistance.
Concerns about problem gamblers must also be balanced with concerns for people who gamble responsibly, he said.
“This is a legal choice, people have a right to do this activity,” Crider said.
In Missouri, when people on the self-exclusion list try to enter, their players’ cards are flagged and they are arrested, said Melissa Stephens, problem gambling program administrator for the Missouri Gaming Commission. Stephens said the threat of arrest often keeps some people away.
Indiana has discussed the new carding procedures being instituted in Illinois, said Ernest Yelton, executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission. But Yelton said he doesn’t foresee the commission following suit.
Indiana has nearly 1,300 people on its self-exclusion list.
“Do we want to help assist these people in the issues they have? Of course we do, but you’re dealing with a small number of individuals who frequent the casinos. Is it worth carding 27 million people to try to catch a few sneaking on in violation of a voluntary program?” Yelton said.
Only the problem gamblers can enroll themselves in the self-exclusion program, said Gene O’Shea, acting director for the Illinois Gaming Board’s program. If a person on the list gambles and is caught with gambling winnings on a boat, he or she must donate the winnings to a problem gamblers organization.
The state has a record of more than 700 instances when people on the list have returned to a casino and been caught, O’Shea said. More than $334,000 of their winnings have been donated.
Over the last two years, the board has issued more than $1 million in fines to casinos that violated the self-exclusion program rules, according to Gaming Board records. In some cases, the casinos did not check the self-exclusion list before signing up individuals for players’ cards, mailed promotional materials to problem gamblers on the list or failed to update their lists.
Jaffe said that the Gaming Board intends to see how well the carding program operates before determining whether to expand it.
“The board has a responsibility to protect those people who are somewhat unable to protect themselves,” he said.
Linda Ruder’s son Todd recalled how he and his siblings persuaded her to sign up for the self-exclusion program when she had $20 left to her name. They were shocked when she lost more after enrolling.
“I said `How can you get on the boats if you have self-exclusion?’ She said `It’s easy. They don’t card me,'” Todd Ruder said.
He has spoken out about the issue at Gaming Board meetings, urging the board to expand the carding effort.
Linda Ruder, who is now in Gamblers Anonymous, said she hated gambling most of her life, but started once she was preparing to retire.
“I was using it as an escape for aging,” she said. “And I lost complete control.”
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cyednak@tribune.com
