(Cincinnati, OH) A Forest Park woman, Johnnie Brown, has filed suit in federal court to force a casino to ban her compulsive gambler husband, Willie Brown. She stated her husband has gambled away money for the mortgage, car insurance, electric bills and phone service. State regulators, casino executives and gambling industry insiders consider there is little chance she will win her case.
But it raises questions about who has the responsibility for stopping problem gamblers - and basically asks casinos to act like bartenders who cut off customers who have had too much.Mrs. Brown contends in her lawsuit that the casino failed to take any action when notified that her husband was a compulsive gambler, causing extreme family hardship.
If successful, the suit could open the doors for third parties to bar friends and relatives from casinos. Casino officials say that would put them in an impossible position. They already operate under laws that allow problem gamblers to put themselves on a restricted list. But third parties?
According to Executive Director Keith Whyte of the National Council on Problem Gambling, there are 6 to 8 million problem gamblers in the US. The cost of the problems is estimated at $5 billion a year from unemployment, welfare, and bankruptcy. Not included in the cost are theft, embezzlement, suicide, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect.
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