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From Chinatown to the casino floor: Addressing problem gambling
One might not predict that the closure of a Chinatown gathering place would send patrons to the bright lights and loud machines of a local casino.
CHICAGO - More people are seeking recovery from a habit that can destroy homes and relationships. It’s when gambling becomes a problem.
One might not predict that the closure of a Chinatown gathering place would send patrons to the bright lights and loud machines of a local casino.
But one researcher says the decline of social spaces may drive the elderly to gambling places.
The backstory:
It is welcoming, the food and drinks are good, and all they have to do to get there is board a bus, right in the neighborhood. In the Asian culture, exposure to gambling starts at a young age.
Dr. Florence Chee, associate professor of digital communication at Loyola University, said for her, "It really starts from my childhood and how I grew up. I would spend lots of summers going to Reno and Vegas. My parents would be in casinos."
Dr. Florence Chee wrote "The Digital Game Culture in Korea, The Social At Play." She studies gambling and when it becomes a problem.
She said it’s, "The kind where you’re ashamed or if you’re hiding your gambling activity from friends and loved ones."
The buses pick up in Chinatown and take gamblers to casinos in Indiana or the suburbs.
Soon Chicago will have a permanent casino, scheduled to open in 2027. The temporary casino has been open in River North since 2023. But gambling is never far away when the casino is right in your pocket.
Dig deeper:
Online gambling can be the most tantalizing, the most secretive, and most risky.
AARP reports seniors are losing their retirement savings to online gaming.
The attractiveness of gambling could be rooted in Asian American superstitions about numbers and luck. It’s also an offensive stereotype.
Rates of problem gambling are higher in Asian American communities and some have lost everything.
"As someone who has had parents who have gambled and spent too much, our family did pay a hefty price for that activity… I can speak to my own experience where we have indeed lost homes and family friendships and it’s devastating. That’s part of what brings me to this work, and hopefully in my own advocacy and outreach I can prevent that from happening to others," Dr. Chee said.
Asian Americans are reluctant to talk about problem gambling, to admit shame or humiliation.
Dr. Chee hopes to break that stereotype, too.
For more information, the Illinois Council on Problem Gambling can help, or contact 1-800-GAMBLER, or visit the Illinois Helpline website here.
The Source: The information in this article was reported by FOX Chicago's Joanie Lum.