Slots play continues to be the only form of casino gambling that is increasing at Schenectady’s Rivers Casino since its first year of operation. Table game and Poker Table play are down. According to the Rivers Casino Monthly Reports submitted to the NYS Gaming Commission,
for the first four months of 2019:
- Total Gross Gambling Revenue [GGR] was $53,686,129, up $2,925,831 from the first four months of 2018
- SLOTS/ETG play was $37,627,968, up $3,686,342 from first four months of 2018
As with the 2nd Full Year of Rivers Casino revenue, the increase in Slots gambling from January through April 2019 was greater than the total increase in GGR at the Casino at Mohawk Harbor. Members of the community who worry about Problem Gambling and its effects on the gambler, and his or her family, friends, job, and on the community, are concerned, because Slots is the most addictive form of casino gambling..
Is this “slotsification on the Mohawk”, simultaneous with a reduction at the same location of table game and poker play, evidence of growing slots addiction in the mostly-local customer base of Rivers Casino? Perhaps the survey that the NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services plans to start in January 2020, may give some answers. See “Does New York have a gambling problem? Survey hopes to find out” (The Buffalo News, by Tom Precious, May 16, 2019) According to the Buffalo News:
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Bids for the gambling survey are due back to the agency on June 5. The group or firm selected will conduct surveys, in English and Spanish, of 5,000 adults broken down into specific regions of the state. Interviews will be conducted over five months beginning in January and a draft report on the findings is due in August 2020.
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As we have argued here often, proximity to casinos increases the prevalence of problem gambling, and we need to focus far more resources at preventing problem gambling, not merely treating it once its damage is apparent. See our post, “Slots and problem gambling prevention” (March 27, 2019) for discussion and suggestions.
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Meanwhile, it appears that Rivers Casino has not yet publicly reported the number of its Visitors in 2018. Last year, they reported the prior year’s Visitation numbers in the first week of February. Rush Street is always happy to broadcast good news. If there were fewer Visitors at Rivers Casino in 2018, slots players with problem gambling issues may indeed be gambling more.
