Growing Old Gambling

Growing Old Gambling explores the rise of problem gambling among Baby Boomers and older adults, examining why this generation is particularly vulnerable to developing gambling-related harms. Set primarily in the Midwestern United States, the documentary explains how retirement, increased free time, financial resources, isolation, and easy access to casinos, lotteries, keno, and sports betting can contribute to gambling becoming more than just a social activity.

Through personal stories and expert insight, Growing Old Gambling examines the emotional, financial, and psychological consequences of gambling addiction while challenging the misconception that it is simply a matter of willpower. The documentary also emphasizes that, regardless of age, recovery is possible and that support is available for older adults struggling with problem gambling.

Accompanying Information:

"You can make the argument that the generation that is most susceptible for developing gambling as a problematic behavior are Baby Boomers. Older adults have more time, more resources, than younger adults, and they are more willing to go places, socially … Older adults, many times, use casinos, bingo parlors, keno places, as social places. It's a place to go, it's my night out. Wouldn't you go someplace where everyone was like you? And so, they're all congregating there."

"Recovery is a day-at-a-time process, but it's a forever process … It's a very insidious addiction. It hijacks everything that is logical and sane about your thinking, and causes you to act in the most illogical, insane way."

"I had a moment of crisis. I was thinking of committing suicide because I had run out of money to pay rent. I had no money to pay my credit cards, my cell phone bill. I had written bad checks. So, I felt hopeless, totally hopeless. I'm pulling my hair out because I just wanted to kill myself. I just had this awful feeling that I had to do it, and I had two ways to do it even, two ways that I was thinking of doing it. And then I decided to call the 1-800-BETSOFF and they took me to the hospital where I stayed for five days."

"When you look specifically at women, when you look at older women, I can tell you that their faces look very similar. They typically are women who, they've raised their family, they've had the successful career, they've had the good marriage, but as you know, once we get older, life can get tougher. And when you start to experience losses, sort of the perfect storm that can happen, and particularly in a community like Vegas where people may come here to retire."

"The average age of gamblers in Las Vegas is creepin' up and up. It's interesting, though, that a significant percentage, actually over 30% of my patients here at the Problem Gambling Center, are over 51 years of age."

"It's a little more devilish, because of that chase phenomenon … I've never had a late-stage alcoholic say, If I get drunk just right, my liver will heal. But my patients sincerely say, If I could just get $1,000, I'd win back my 401K."

"You can never be too old to get this addiction, but you can also never be too old to get the recovery, and that's really the message that we need them to hear."

"In the 1990's, state-sponsored lottery and native American-owned casinos were introduced to Wisconsin. Today, statistics suggest 333,000 state residents have a gambling problem. Seniors and adolescents have the highest risk of developing a gambling addiction."