Monday, November 06, 2006

Almost 70% of Moscow's casinos and slot machine parlors had been closed
recently Moscow deputy mayor Iosif Ordzhonikidze said at a press conference
on Thursday, the Interfax news agency reports. However, the official noted
that tax revenues of the Moscow budget from gambling have declined by just 3
percent. Over 2,000 from total 2,720 gambling houses have been closed, so
tax revenues were supposed to decline substantially Iosif Ordzhonikidze
said. According to the independent research the owner of just one slot
machine makes an average profit of $10,000 per month. Gambling business tax
returns have struck a seven billion ruble mark, roughly 260 million U.S.
Dollars. Without Internet poker, there wouldn't be very many people outside
Barberton, Ohio, who know the Rev. Greg Hogan Sr. Hogan isn't one of the
dozens of poker players who have struck it rich on the poker Web sites. His
son is in prison because of those Web sites.
Hogan was the highlight of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling
annual conference Thursday, where more than 150 people listened to the story
of how his son, Greg Hogan Jr., went from aspiring college student to
indebted gambler and eventually bank robber. "Greg's life and all his dreams
went into meltdown," Hogan said. "He was never honest with me or anyone
else." Hogan has since been traveling all across the country telling his
son's story. He was featured on "Good Morning America" with his son before
the son started serving a 22-month-to-10-year sentence for the robbery.
Jacqueline Owens, president of the Norwich Chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, attended and said she
knows of youths who have "friends" who gamble. She was hoping to use the
convention to get ideas on how to get through to them about the dangers of
gambling. "They say they have friends. When they say that, it usually means
they are (gambling), too," Owens said. "I always find it interesting to get
some new information."

Much of the information centered on viewing gambling as an addiction that
can lead to other problems. Several speakers talked about the physical
sensation gambling addicts get from playing that can mimic the effects of
cocaine.

"It teaches us to do things that are intrinsically rewarding," said Debi
LaPlante, instructor of psychiatry at Harvard University and part of the
Division of Addictions at Harvard Medical School. "Things like having sex
and gambling can affect the reward center (of the brain)."

Marvin Steinberg, executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem
Gambling, said the conference is meant to get new information about gambling
addiction to gambling support workers and gambling industry participants.

"We try to educate in different areas," Steinberg said.

Bruce MacDonald, a spokesman for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which owns
and operates Foxwoods Resort Casino, said the conference is an opportunity
for the casino to learn about new trends in problem gambling.