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Addicted to Big Money — and Bad Odds

Asian Americans targeted by casino marketers

By Neela Banerjee

On a trip to a local casino to witness the problems of gambling addiction first-hand, Dr. Evelyn Lee made a disturbing observation: the majority of customers were Asian American. Moreover, the casino seemed to cater to the population with bilingual dealers and other Asian targeted perks.

“The casinos are more culturally competent than most Bay Area hospitals,” said Lee, who as president of the San Francisco-based NICOS Chinese Health Coalition, an umbrella group consisting of more than 30 health and human service organizations, is working to bring this problem to light.

Continuing its full-fledged attack on problem gambling in the Chinese American community, NICOS recently launched an aggressive media campaign targeting Bay Area Chinese language newspapers, television and radio.

“The gambling problem is an old, old problem in our community,” Lee said. “But we are continuing to move forward to address it.”

A 1997 survey done by NICOS found that 70 percent of 1,800 Chinese Americans surveyed in San Francisco believed that gambling was a serious problem in their community. Another informal study conducted by two U.C. Berkeley students the same year, which surveyed over 150 people in Portsmouth Square, found that 30 percent of them said they gambled once a week or more, 14.7 percent identified themselves as problem gamblers, and 21 percent of survey respondents met the criteria for pathologic gambling.

“Two to 6 percent of the mainstream population are problem gamblers, but in the Chinese community it is some 20 percent,” said Dr. Eddie Chiu of the Richmond Area Multi Service Center. “These people leave early from work to gamble; they don’t go to school to gamble; they can’t stop.”

According to Chiu, classic problem gamblers bet to escape from their own problems and anxieties. They bet at extremely high rates and when they stop gambling they go through depression, similar to withdrawal from drug addiction.

Gambling is seen as the root cause for many family problems, such as domestic violence. Social worker Tina Shum says that one-third to a quarter of all domestic violence problems she sees stem from financial difficulties.

“The gambler will no longer be involved in family life,” Shum said. “He or she will come home to sleep and then leave again. Then creditors come after them, which leads to bankruptcy, which often leads to divorce.”

Shum said many people try and hide this problem and families are made to feel isolated, even though it is a common problem. In extreme cases, the problem gambler will lose all their money and turn to robbery.

“This makes it a societal problem, not an individual problem,” Shum explained.

After the studies were completed in 1997, the “Anti-Gambling Task Force” was created, with the mission “To develop and implement culturally competent, community-based strategies to address problem gambling in the Chinese Community.”

In 1998, the Task Force created a development plan for the Chinese Community Problem Gambling Project (CCPG), which called for the certification of community counselors, research and outreach. The CCPG received funding from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, along with private organizations. By 1999, over 30 community members were trained to work as counselors with the treatment services programs and the referral phone line. Today, the CCPG has some 35 clients. The program, which has both support groups and individual counseling available, is the first of its kind in the United States. In the two months the phone line has been open, there have been over 50 phone calls.

“Support groups for families are very important. Gamblers might not realize that they need help until they hit rock bottom, therefore the family really gets affected,” social worker Sister Paulette Yeung said.

Along with direct services, NICOS and the CCPG worked with Greg Chew Advertising to create ads that appeal to the Chinese community’s sense of family. The 15-second television spot shows a woman’s hand picking up playing cards, a domino and a lottery ticket off a gaming table. Light flashes, and the hand becomes a smoky skeleton holding singed game pieces and a burnt family photo. The campaign slogan for the ad translates to “When One Person is Addicted to Gambling, the Whole Family Suffers.”

The ads run in both Cantonese and Mandarin twice a day on the Chinese language channels during news programs.

Asked why gambling is an especially big problem in the Chinese or Asian American community, both Lee and Chiu listed a variety of possible reasons.

“Gambling is a more socially acceptable form of recreation than drugs and alcohol,” Lee said. “While narcotic addictions are very taboo, gambling is accepted and even celebrated culturally and in the media.”

Lee said that many Hong Kong films depict the flashy life of high-rollers and that many Chinese people grow up with the traditions of games like Mahjong.

“There is a long history of mixed messages about gambling in our community,” Chiu said. “People take family vacations to Las Vegas and Reno and give their kids $20 for the slots. This is seen as OK.”

Chiu also pointed out that for an immigrant community, gambling offers a form of entertainment that is cross-cultural.

“When someone is a new immigrant who maybe does not have a lot of money and works really hard, they don’t have much excitement in their lives. They don’t want to watch the 49ers play or a Chicago Bulls basketball game. They don’t understand the rules of these games, don’t understand the English that the game is explained in,” Chiu said. “But they can go to a casino where they give you free drinks, the food is cheap and they treat you importantly. Or you can go to the card house and be with others just like you.”

Lee pointed out that casinos and lottery marketing agencies have become savvy when it comes to courting the Asian American customer.

According to Lee, not only are a large number of the high rollers in Las Vegas Asian American, but as well, she has been told that lotto fever has struck the community.

Added Lee: “Someone told me that the store that sold the most lottery tickets in all of California is in our Chinatown.”