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GAMBLING ADDICT WINS A FORTUNE IN COURT RULING AGAINST CASINO
By Michael Leidig in Vienna
The Daily Telegraph, London - 22 February 2004.
A compulsive gambler who lost his business and tried to take his life after running up huge debts on casino blackjack tables and roulette wheels finally struck lucky in Austria last week.
The country's Appeals Court ruled that Christian Hainz should be reimbursed €499,729 (£336,709) by the operator of two casinos where he claimed that he lost up to €2.5 million (£1.68 million) in a three-year betting binge. He argued that the casino had done nothing to help to cure his gambling habit, and should pay back some of his losses.
The verdict, which confirmed a lower court ruling two years ago, has set an alarming precedent for Austrian casino companies, with dozens of similar claims now being lodged. Mr Hainz declined to comment on the ruling, but his lawyer, Gunter Huainigg, hailed the result a "great success, not only for our client but for other compulsive gamblers".
He said: "Compulsive gambling is an illness that is very hard to control and casinos manipulate this. Our client was sick and the casino did not help him - they did nothing to stop his gambling."
Gamblers Anonymous, however, stressed that it does not regard legal action as a solution to the problem. It said that court action was a last resort and that gamblers must learn to kick their habits, regardless of a casino's behaviour.
The court heard that 40-year-old Mr Hainz, a married father of two young children and the director of a building supplies company in Klagenfurt, had visited two casinos belonging to Casinos Austria - one of the biggest operators in the world - more than 100 times between 1997 and 2000.
He claimed that staff had taken no action to limit his excesses until he was heavily in debt.
Mr Hainz lost his business and tried to take his own life by poisoning himself with carbon monoxide from his car exhaust, but was found before he died.
His lawyers claimed that casinos had a duty of care towards their customers that should include turning away people who were drunk and not properly in control of their actions, and people who could be classed as "addicted gamblers".
Mr Hainz told the court: "I was certainly someone in both categories. I was sometimes drunk, and only played with extremely high amounts. If there were restrictions on the upper limits for a game I wanted to play, I would get round them by playing up to three tables at a time. I once threw away 750,000 schillings (£36,000) on a single bet at black jack."
Casinos Austria, which has 60 casinos in 12 countries and on 17 cruise ships, was ordered in February 2002 to pay back part of the money it took from Mr Hainz.
Settlement of the claim was delayed after the casino operator appealed against the ruling, but the decision was upheld last week.
Casinos Austria had claimed that it had records of Mr Hainz spending only €290,000 in its outlets. The court took into consideration both Mr Hainz's claim, and that made by the company, when calculating his compensation.
The Klagenfurt county court found Casinos Austria guilty of "gross malfeasance and negligent behaviour" by not doing enough research into their client's financial resources, and for failing to restrict the actions of a person who had all the signs of a compulsive gambler.
Both courts upheld Mr Hainz's claim that casinos and betting houses had an obligation to check the financial situations of regular players and to refuse them entry if there was any suspicion surrounding their solvency.
Casinos Austria said the company had "followed all the regulations to ensure he and other players were protected".
Lawyers acting for Mr Hainz had originally demanded compensation of €1.2 million (£807,000) - half the sum that he claimed he lost on the casino's tables. They said they were considering a further appeal to have the compensation increased.
Casinos Austria said that the company's lawyers were still deciding whether to lodge a further appeal.
GAMING MACHINE CONSUMER BODY LAUNCHED
Media Release - 21 March 2005.
Duty of Care, an independent non profit consumer protection association representing gaming machine consumers and their families was officially launched this week in time with Problem Gambling Awareness Week in South Australia.
Duty of Care represents gaming machine consumers Australia wide offering services such as public speaking, legal action, political lobbying, school education, parliamentary submissions, consumer complaints and practical advice for consumers, their families and friends, with support from a worldwide advocate network and local groups.
Duty of Care is unique in that it does not accept funds or involvement from the government or the gaming industry.
The executive committee of Duty of Care comprises solely of ex-problem gamblers who have experienced the highs and lows of the pokies and have a unique insight into what is required to protect consumers.
Duty of Care also aims to teach families how to overcome gaming machine problems without the use of services provided by the gaming industry, whose aim is to maintain the continuing potential for serious harm in order to not jeopardize their significant profits.
Duty of Care will also aim to educate sentencing courts to take a far more compassionate approach in the sentencing of problem gamblers.
Duty of Care firmly supports the Action Against Gaming Machines legal proceedings against state governments and the gaming industry, and are organising a series of meetings in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide to discuss gaming machine related issues.
Elizabeth Mitchell, spokeswoman and Vice President for Duty of Care said "Gaming machine players and problem gamblers comprise a new and vulnerable consumer group. They are liable to gross exploitation by the gaming industry, whilst having very few consumer rights.
Duty of Care welcome the public to have their say, find out what is happening and gather together to find a collective voice in the action against gaming machines. Meeting times and locations will be published in local newspapers Australia-wide.
GAMBLERS
Rick Alm
Kansas City Star - December 14, 2004.
The day is drawing near when compulsive gamblers might pop a pill to combat their self-destructive urges.San Diego-based Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc. appears to be the first U.S. firm to stake a formal claim on a treatment drug.
The company recently announced it has obtained North American licensing rights to a Finnish firm's treatment for impulse control disorders using the drug nalmefene hydrochloride.
An intravenous version of that chemical cocktail already is permitted for use in the United States to counteract morphine and other opiate drug overdoses.
If clinical trials next year with test groups of gamblers prove effective, Somaxon president and chief executive Ken Cohen said the company would seek federal Food and Drug Administration approval for commercial use. This could take several more years, however.
"Everybody knows that gambling in this country has undergone spectacular growth," said Cohen. "Problem gambling is a significant illness and public health problem. There is no effective treatment for these people.
"We're reluctant to refer to anything as a magic bullet. But we think it has great promise. We know from phase two studies the drug had a significant effect compared to the placebo."
Researchers for years have been trying to unlock the mysterious causes of addiction, and most evidence points to chemical imbalances in the brain's pleasure-and-reward responses to stimulus.
The medical community's understanding of gambling addiction may have taken a leap forward with the disclosure last week of a new theory by researcher Howard J. Shaffer and others at Harvard Medical School.
The team advanced its "syndrome" theory that suggests all addictions may stem from a common root.
Addiction, said Shaffer, may simply manifest itself in whatever addictive object is most accessible, affordable or attractive. The co-occurrence of multiple addictions has long been documented and may "signal the presence of an underlying force responsible for addiction," the study said.
For support, the study cited other research that has explored "addiction hopping" by victims, particularly those in recovery, who shift from drug addiction, for instance, to gambling or some other compulsive activity such as exercise.
The study also noted the positive effect drugs such as nalmefene and naltraxone have had in both substance abuse and behavioral addiction research patients.
"In many ways this is an expression of my career's work," Shaffer said in an interview. "I've just never stood back and put it together in one paper. This is probably the strongest case ever" to link substance and behavioral addictions, he said.
Shaffer expects to make waves among professional colleagues who believe addiction doesn't occur without a physical stimulant.
Shaffer's camp agrees substance addictions — alcohol and nicotine for instance — may be more potent, but he argues "the brain can get excited by certain behavioral activity" alone.
Much more study is needed, said Shaffer, before the syndrome theory can be established as fact.
ASIAN STUDENT GAMBLING PLAGUE EXPOSED
Michelle Wiese Bockman
The Australian - December 2, 2004.
A 17-YEAR-OLD school student from China lost more than
$40,000 in five months at an Adelaide casino, exposing
widespread but hidden gambling addictions among Asian
students studying in Australia.
Underage Year 10 student "Brian", who cannot be identified, said he used fake Hong Kong identification to enter the Skycity Adelaide Casino along with other overseas secondary school students, losing two years' tuition and up to $20,000 in one week.
His distraught mother, Min, who flew in this week from Guangdong province, tearfully explained that she and her husband had borrowed from parents and siblings to send their only son to Australia for a decent education.
The incident had implications for Australia and for Adelaide as a safe destination for Chinese students, according to Robin Fan, a gambling counsellor with the Overseas Chinese Association.
Mr Fan said young, isolated and underage students were required by immigration officials to keep large sums of money in local bank accounts, Mr Fan said.
"They are lured to the gambling table," he said.
"I hear from the classmates and friends of many about the problem gamblers ... and some of them are very young. One university student lost around $200,000."
He said Brian's loss was the largest and most serious he had heard about among Chinese secondary school students, who comprise half of Adelaide's overseas student population.
He has dealt with 500 cases of gambling addiction in the overseas Chinese community since 1997, and says most students are deported or quietly brought home to China by mortified parents.
Education Adelaide, a state government body that promotes Adelaide as a destination for overseas students, described Brian's case as a "wake-up call".
"This highlights the need that there are young people here who are more vulnerable and we should do all we can to ensure that they understand how to management their money," said Education Adelaide CEO Patrick Markwick-Smith.
A spokeswoman for the casino said it was "a bit premature" to consider returning the money if there was no proof that it had been gambled illegally by an underage student.
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