Out of an estimated 124,000 gamblers in Pennsylvania, or one percent of the state's population, that are "pathological gamblers," only 52 have signed up so far for a new program that the state has initiated that allows problem gamblers to ban themselves from casinos.
The program started in Pennsylvania in 2006 with the opening of the Philadelphia Park Casino in suburban Philadelphia and the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs near Scranton. The program, however, seems to work for those who signed up for it. According to Philadelphia Park's spokesman Tom Bonner, no one on the self-exclusion list has tried to gamble in the casino.
New Jersey also has a similar program. According to the garden state's Casino Control Commission there are 580 people signed up.
Pennsylvania is on its way to become one of the largest gambling states in the U.S., with five freestanding casinos scheduled to open by the end of 2008.
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