Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

Almost 70% of Moscow's casinos and slot machine parlors had been closed recently Moscow deputy mayor Iosif Ordzhonikidze said at a press conference on Thursday, the Interfax news agency reports. However, the official noted that tax revenues of the Moscow budget from gambling have declined by just 3 percent. Over 2,000 from total 2,720 gambling houses have been closed, so tax revenues were supposed to decline substantially Iosif Ordzhonikidze said. According to the independent research the owner of just one slot machine makes an average profit of $10,000 per month. Gambling business tax returns have struck a seven billion ruble mark, roughly 260 million U.S. Dollars. Without Internet poker, there wouldn't be very many people outside Barberton, Ohio, who know the Rev. Greg Hogan Sr. Hogan isn't one of the dozens of poker players who have struck it rich on the poker Web sites. His son is in prison because of those Web sites. Hogan was the highlight of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling annual conference Thursday, where more than 150 people listened to the story of how his son, Greg Hogan Jr., went from aspiring college student to indebted gambler and eventually bank robber. "Greg's life and all his dreams went into meltdown," Hogan said. "He was never honest with me or anyone else." Hogan has since been traveling all across the country telling his son's story. He was featured on "Good Morning America" with his son before the son started serving a 22-month-to-10-year sentence for the robbery. Jacqueline Owens, president of the Norwich Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, attended and said she knows of youths who have "friends" who gamble. She was hoping to use the convention to get ideas on how to get through to them about the dangers of gambling. "They say they have friends. When they say that, it usually means they are (gambling), too," Owens said. "I always find it interesting to get some new information."

Much of the information centered on viewing gambling as an addiction that can lead to other problems. Several speakers talked about the physical sensation gambling addicts get from playing that can mimic the effects of cocaine.

"It teaches us to do things that are intrinsically rewarding," said Debi LaPlante, instructor of psychiatry at Harvard University and part of the Division of Addictions at Harvard Medical School. "Things like having sex and gambling can affect the reward center (of the brain)."

Marvin Steinberg, executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, said the conference is meant to get new information about gambling addiction to gambling support workers and gambling industry participants.

"We try to educate in different areas," Steinberg said.

Bruce MacDonald, a spokesman for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which owns and operates Foxwoods Resort Casino, said the conference is an opportunity for the casino to learn about new trends in problem gambling.