Winstar World Casino Is the Largest Casino in the World, Based on Gaming Floor Space
Over the past 10 years, the state of Oklahoma has licensed dozens of tribal casinos across the state. Over the same period of time, Oklahoma’s leaders have done almost nothing to provide support to the state’s growing number of problem gamblers.
Oklahoma has about a dozen treatment facilities which receive state financing. At these facilities, only about 45 certified counselors are trained to assist gambling addicts. Addiction recovery experts suggest a state with as many gambling venues should have twice the number of trained counselors, at the least.
Rural Players at Greater Risk
Making matters worse is the fact that rural areas, where the vast majority of Native American casinos are found, have almost no addiction counselors. If someone with a gambling problem wants to talk to a recovery professional, they often have to travel up to 100 miles to receive help.
Most Problem Gamblers Receive No Help
Wiley Harwell, executive director of the Oklahoma Association on Problem and Compulsive Gambling, says most Oklahomans he knows who have gambling issues receive no help at all. Harwell said, “It’s so frustrating, because a lot of people don’t seek help, because they don’t have any money left.” In these case, the state-funded gambling addiction centers are the only recourse.
Oklahoma is the 28th state in the United States in terms of population and 37th in the nation in terms of per capita personal income. While Oklahoma has had one of the fastest growing economies in the past 15 years, that is in many ways an indication of how far the state had to go. Traditionally, Oklahoma has been one of the poorer states in the US, so it has a history of providing limited social services. Oklahoma is a conservative state, so its leaders tend to believe people should fend for themselves.
Gaming Proliferation and Its Effects
The lack of problem gambling counselors was a minor issue until the last 20 years. When Native American tribes won the right to open legal casinos, Oklahoma became one of the states most affected. Prior to it becoming a state, Oklahoma was a traditional destination for Indian tribes forced to relocate and live on reservations. The infamous Trail of Tears of the 19th century led from the American southeast to Oklahoma.
Therefore, with the advent of tribal casinos, Oklahoma was among the best-situated to take advantage of the new laws. Dozens of tribes existed inside the state. Many of these tribes successfully joined the gaming compact, so that now Oklahoma has more gaming facilities than any other states, except Nevada, California, and Montana–though Montana’s gaming venues are mostly small mom-and-pop operations.
Also, Oklahoma borders six other US states, including the wealthy and populous Texas. Casinos like Winstar in Thackerville and Choctaw Casino in Durant are a little over an hour away from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. A great deal of wealth has poured into the state through out-of-state gamblers, which has allowed Native American tribes to build a second and third casino, in some cases. While out-of-state gamblers are a burden of their home state’s social services, the worst-affected are going to be those gamblers with the least distance to travel for gaming.
Dozens of Gaming Facilities
Thus, over 120 casinos exist in Oklahoma, so most citizens live within a short drive of a casino. In fact, Oklahomans are 10 times more likely to live closer to a casino than they are to an rehab facility.
Last year, 345 Oklahomans sought help from a licensed counselor from gaming addiction. That was up over 10% from the 302 gamblers who sought help the year before. Problem gambling researchers believe those numbers are only an indication of the true size of the problem. For the reasons listed above, only a minority of problem gamblers ever report their issues to state workers.
Gaming Addiction: A Nationwide Concern
This is not to say the issue is isolated to Oklahoma. The National Council on Problem Gambling, which is based in Washington DC, estimated that the country has approximately 6 million to 8 million problem gamblers. Meanwhile, the USA has only 8,000 trained counselors or 1 per every 1,000 gambling addicts.
