Gambling counselors are reporting a growing trend of gamblers returning to area casinos, despite the fact that they signed up for the disassociated lists that bar them from entering gambling establishments for life. Over 14,000 people have signed up since the program began in 1996. The areas with the largest clusters of these self-banned problem gamblers are
St. Peters,
St. Charles, as well as
north St. Louis and
St. Louis
County. Before they can be barred, the gaming commission gives them every chance to change their minds before they sign up.
But now, since
Missouri voters got rid of the loss limit last November, it appears that more problem gamblers are changing their minds and are slipping into local casinos.
The repeal of the $500 limit means that gamblers no longer have to present their driver’s licenses to enter. According to Keith Spare, chairman of the Missouri Council on Problem Gambling Concerns, "If you don't check ID, you don't know who's trying to get through or who got through.”
State regulators insist that elapsed addicts are still identified when they try to cash a check, since they have to show a government-issued ID to the casino cashier. And they also can be caught if they win big, since gamblers must present their government issued ID if they win over 12-hundred dollars. When they win, they also lose, since casino cashiers match winners against the self-exclusion list. Banned gamblers not only are arrested; they forfeit the money. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, gaming agents at the state's 12 casinos arrested 480 people on the "disassociated persons list" in the first half of 2009, compared with 584 during the same period last year.
