Expert: Media May Encourage Illegal Gambling

BRADLEY BEACH, NJ – The media may play a role in the billion-dollar illegal sports betting industry, according an expert in compulsive gambling.“You can only place a legal bet on sports in the state of Nevada,” former compulsive gambler turned addiction advocate Arnie Wexler said.  “Yet most of the newspapers in America carry the odds and lines in their sports sections.”Wexler, a recovering gambler since April 10, 1968, runs a consulting firm with wife Shelia in Bradley Beach, New Jersey to educate and provide help to others facing the addiction that took such a toll in his own life.“I thought that I was the only one living the way I was living and doing the things that I was doing,” Wexler said. “I found out that I was not alone and that I could stop gambling with the help of the other people.”Wexler said the information published in the media regarding favorite teams and point spreads may encourage readers prone to the addiction to place bets, especially on the upcoming Super Bowl in Arizona Feb. 3.“Who do (the media) think (the readers) are going to bet with?” Wexler said. “They are encouraging people to make bets with illegal operations.”Billions of dollars are expected to be wagered this year as the two top National Football League teams take the field with only about $90 million of that consisting of legal sports betting in Nevada, according to the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey Internet site.The council is a non-profit organization providing help to compulsive gamblers in the state.“(Sports betting) is the number one gambling problem (in New Jersey),” Council Executive Director Terry Elman said. “It only grows and grows.”Elman agreed with Wexler, who previously served as director for the council for eight years, that printing the odds and point spreads only fuel the fire of illegal sports betting in the state.“The only reason (newspapers) put that in is because it gets (bettors) to buy the paper,” Elman said. “(The media) could be asked not to print the push-line and favorites.”Elman estimated about 364,000 people in the state have a compulsive gambling problem and the media could do more to show the negative impact of the problem on their lives and society.“They could put in the negative side,” Elman said. “People think (sports betting) is a victimless crime.”New Jersey State Police and authorities from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and other law enforcement agencies conducted a raid in March 2007, rounding up 52 people throughout the state allegedly involved in a $500 million illegal sports betting ring.The 16-month investigation claims the criminal enterprise served hundreds of bettors in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, according to a press release from the office in 2007.Those arrested and charged in the ring included a lobbyist and a former Union City mayor and state assemblyman, according to the release.The ring, the release said, took in an estimated $35 million on $500 million in wagers during the period of August 2005 through February 2007, according to the release.A spokesman from the prosecutor’s office declined further comment on the case.Wexler admits doing illegal things, including stealing from his employer, to support his habit before hitting bottom 39 years ago.“The only things I didn’t do was get a gun or (deal) illegal drugs,” Wexler said. “That is because I didn’t know where to get them.”At the worst part of his life, Wexler owed money to more than 30 people totaling more than two years salary at his management job for a Fortune 500 plant in New Jersey where he supervised about 300 employees.“I went to work everyday in a suit and tie. There were no (needle) tracks on my arms or smell (of alcohol) on me,” Wexler said. “No one knew about my problem.”Wexler likened the feeling of gambling as a state of euphoria several times stronger than that experienced by someone gambling in a casual manner.“It is all about being in the action,” Wexler said. “A gambler is always chasing wins or losses.”Media representatives said publications usually determine on their own whether to publish this kind of information, based on local desires of readers.“We are in the business of providing information,” Tara Connell, a spokesman for the Gannett media corporation said. “We can only hope readers use it responsibly.”Gannett publishes 85 daily newspapers including USA Today, 1,000 non-daily publications and owns 23 television stations, according to the corporation.The organization, which reported a circulation of about 7.2 million in its 2006 Annual Report, does not have an overriding policy regarding specific content and leaves those decisions to the individual papers, Connell said.Gannett owns several newspapers in New Jersey including the Asbury Park Press and the Home News Tribune in East Brunswick.“If someone has a problem (gambling), publishing the information is not going to make a difference,” Connell said.New Jersey’s largest publication, the Newark Star-Ledger would not comment on the accusation that publishing the information may increase illegal betting activity.“We don’t comment on anything we do,” Sports Editor Tom Bergeron said.New Jersey Press Association Executive Director John O’Brien said his organization, which represents 19 daily and 150 weekly newspapers in the state, is split on who publishes this kind of information and who doesn’t.“Our newspapers are privately owned businesses and make their own decisions,” O’Brien said. “The information is available in other places (as well).”O’Brien said that publishing sports information is a bigger issue to the industry than just those that may place a bet, but the desire of average people to know about their teams and sports they follow.“It goes beyond betting,” O’Brien said. “It is a natural extension for people that view sports. I just want to know who is favored for the information.”Wexler said the media could simply help matters by adding a disclaimer, similar to what the state has on lottery tickets, providing information and a phone number to call if someone feels they have a problem.Anyone who believes they may have a problem gambling can call Wexler’s organization 24 hours a day at 1-888-LAST-BET.