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Senior gamblers fight bad odds, experts say
By Tony Doris, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Monday, April 12, 2004 [Excerpt] For generations gaming venues have offered fun, friendship and an escape from boredom for South Florida seniors and retirees. First they flocked to racetracks, jai-alai frontons, cruise ships and bingo parlors. Then came the Indian casinos, the Internet and now, the video arcades. The many options are drawing growing numbers of Palm Beach County residents who never previously gambled, but now find themselves blowing Social Security lifelines and even tapping their retirement nest eggs, compulsive-gambling experts say. It's an addiction that they're too old to overcome financially, says Pat Fowler, executive director for the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling. "They can't go out and start over." 1 in 5 seniors has problem A Florida study estimated that more than 650,000 seniors in the state -- more than one in five -- are experiencing a gambling problem. There's no official count of compulsive senior gamblers in Palm Beach County, but the combination of increased numbers of seniors and increasing ease of access to gambling makes it likely that the problem will worsen. The number of Palm Beach County residents 65 and older rose to 262,000 in 2000, up from 210,000 a decade earlier, according to the U.S. Census. While that 262,000 figure represents 23 percent of the county's residents, University of Florida researchers predict that seniors will represent 27 percent of the county's growing population by 2020. Nine Gamblers Anonymous groups conduct weekly meetings across the county, an unusually large number for a community this size. Joe S., a 57-year-old retiree who runs a Boynton Beach group, says 35 people used to show up for the Tuesday meetings a year or so ago. Now, 75 do. Some of that increase is seasonal, he says, but much of it is because of an increase in retirees' getting hooked: "It shocks them that they've spent all that money in such a short period of time.... And for nothing." http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/news_04a751069040608a007e.html |
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