Casino Pushes for Rule Change Allowing Statewide Gambling Online

Gambling

KFSM reports Saracen Casino in pushing for a rule change that would effectively allow casino-style gambling statewide online.

Under current law, gambling is allowed at Arkansas’ three casinos — Oaklawn, Southland, and Saracen — and sports betting is allowed online via smart phones.

The casino’s proposed rule change reportedly would let people gamble on table games and slots online from anywhere in Arkansas.

Family Council opposes gambling — but online gambling is a particularly serious problem. The rule change could turn smart phones into pocketsize casinos.

Compulsive gamblers could gamble — and lose — 24 hours a day from anywhere in the state. That kind of gambling ruins lives, tears families apart, and hurts communities.

We already have seen how gambling addiction has become a serious problem in our state. Earlier this year the Arkansas Problem Gambling Council announced it has seen a 22% increase in calls for help with problem gambling — driven largely by sports betting.

Legalizing other types of online gambling would simply make these problems worse.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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CBS News Highlights Problem Gambling Tied to Sports Betting

Gambling,

Last week the Arkansas Problem Gambling Council announced it has seen a 22% increase in calls for help with problem gambling — a spike largely driven by sports betting.

Recently CBS News reported how gambling addiction has become a serious problem as sports betting has grown nationwide.

As we have noted before, people who gamble online face a serious risk of developing a gambling addiction, and some research indicates that people who engage in sports betting are twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems.

You can watch the CBS News segment below.

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Driven by Sports Betting, Arkansas Problem Gambling Council Reports Spike in Calls for Help

Gambling,

KATV reports the Arkansas Problem Gambling Council has seen a 22% increase in calls for help in 2024:

Between sports, horse racing, and casinos, the thrill of a possible big-money win keeps Arkansans coming back for more.

“The love of the game, the love of sports, but it’s also with the advancement of technology,” said Vena Schexnayder of the APGC. “Right now, we carry little casinos in our pocket and that’s our phones.”

Schexnayder said this silent addiction can get out of hand.

Gambling via smart phone is relatively new in Arkansas. In 2022 lawmakers approved a state rule change to permit sports betting online via smart phones and other mobile devices from anywhere in Arkansas. Family Council strongly opposed that rule change.

Sports betting is particularly out of hand nationwide, and some sports betting companies have actually produced ads that seem to promote problem-gambling behavior — like commercials that show people so fixated on sports betting that they ignore everyone else around them or encouraging people to take advantage of every opportunity to gamble.

People who gamble online face a serious risk of developing a gambling addiction, and some research indicates that people who engage in sports betting are twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems.

You can watch KATV’s news segment below.

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