Kathy Bassett Is Mad
by: Karen Cole - Sep 1, 2005 - comments: 1
Kathy Bassett is mad—furious, in fact—and she wants everyone to know why. Her family has been devastated by casino gambling.
Her son Jason, a casino employee, was convicted of embezzlement. He began stealing from the casino to fund his own gambling and to share his ill-gotten gains with others. “He was acting like Robin Hood,” Kathy says, stealing from the casino and giving the money to struggling friends and family members. His wife was found guilty of knowing about the embezzlement and also is serving time. Kathy’s young grandsons are living with their other grandmother while both their parents are imprisoned.
Kathy’s mother, in her seventies, is another casualty of the casinos. She was living modestly on her retirement income in a condominium that was paid for. Then she began visiting the nearby casinos and is now working full time to pay off the Chapter 13 bankruptcy judgment that resulted from her gambling addiction.
Kathy’s most heart-wrenching story is of her brother David, a licensed counselor with a master’s degree in social work. He had manned gambling and suicide hotlines and counseled people with addictions. Unfortunately, David’s own life began unraveling when he started gambling. In spite of having himself banned from one casino, he found his way to another, where the losing continued. He ended his addiction, and his life, while sitting on his father’s grave with a shotgun in his mouth. His suicide note expressed his hopelessness: “If you knew the panic, despair and shame I wake up with every day, you would not want me to live like this. I know it seems cowardly. I’m sorry. If there were another way to disappear, I would. Believe me, there is nothing any of you could have done to stop it.” He also wrote that he wanted his wife to find someone free of addiction.
David’s widow commented, “The whole thing began with a small slot machine win
during a vacation we took in Las Vegas to see some shows there. We gambled a little just for fun, but that wasn’t the reason for the trip. That win hooked him and gradually he began going to the casinos close to Topeka. Their rewards club offerings would get him
to go up there just to receive the little incentive gift or whatever. But then he would end up gambling – sometimes thousands of dollars in a night. I told him that the ‘VIP’ on the members’ rewards card should really stand for “Very Impaired Person.” Eventually he
came to a point where he absolutely hated the casinos, but he couldn’t stop himself anymore.
“What was worse is that, as a mental health professional, he was very aware of his addiction and was humiliated by it. He felt horrible that his work was to help others with their compulsions, yet he couldn’t control his own. It tore him up. He was too ashamed
to even go for help. He felt that banning himself from Harrah’s might be enough of a barrier, but obviously it wasn’t.
“Harrah’s ‘official position’ that they don’t want problem gamblers is a lie. They wouldn’t have ‘platinum’ players’ club levels if they didn’t want compulsive gamblers. If you ever see the casino hold an event for their high rollers, most of them look like they
don’t have enough money to pay for the basic necessities of life. David gambled $113,000 in 2003, and nobody at Harrah’s ever blinked an eye.”
Unfortunately, this family is not the only one devastated by gambling, but help is available. The National Council on Problem Gambling exists to increase public awareness of pathological gambling, ensure the widespread availability of treatment for problem gamblers and their families, and to encourage research and programs for prevention and education. The NCPG offers counseling around the clock at 1.800.522.4700. If you are a problem gambler, or care about one, take Kathy Bassett’s advice: “Run as fast as you can to get help.”
Kathy Bassett’s story was compiled from accounts by Baptist Press and the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Family, Addictions, Gambling, Living, Finances, Life, Suicide
comments (post your own) feed
1 On Aug 1st, 2006, at 7:07am, Bruce Rinker wrote:
Would you have this article/testimony on DVD. I would like to show a good, up-to-date testimony of the evils of gambling. I’m with a new church start, have mostly young people who respond better to a visual testimony.
Thanks,
Bruce Rinker (pastor)