DES MOINES – Persons who have banned themselves for life from Iowa casinos may have the option of returning, after the Iowa Senate approved legislation Tuesday that would allow those gamblers to apply to have their ban lifted.
Under Senate File 204, which passed 46-2 in the Democratically-controlled Senate, banned persons could apply to have the ban lifted after five years. The option of just a five year ban would also be offered, versus the only option now, which is a ban for life.
Currently, a self-imposed ban from Iowa casinos is for life and there is no way to undo it. By signing an exclusion form, a person can voluntarily request a lifetime ban from all casinos in Iowa. This form will then be disseminated to all IGA member casinos (The two tribal casinos are exempt from participation). The form can be downloaded and taken to the nearest casino.
I believe that a person on persons can become wiser with age and therefore we should be allowed if not privileged after a certain period of time to lift a state wide bar food for thought
The problem with the current ban is… They didn’t explain it THOROUGHLY !! I had NO IDEA it was imposed in OTHER states !! I did some checking and there seems to be NO training or guidelines to how this is presented. The state knows they have had problems with the way it was presented and explained, because I know I am not the only one who later found out they couldn’t go into a casino in another state….. I would be interested in contributing to a lawsuit to get out of it !
Article is two years old. Get over it.
okay so I ban myself from the Waterloo Casino now I Drive one hour to go to the Indian Reservation in Tama so tell me what is the difference between driving there in spending my money are staying in town spending my money
Excluded myself because of frequency, not a gambling proble. If I wish to gamble, I simply drive a few miles in any of three directions to an out-of-state casino. lose some money and come back home.
Note to Citizen: Thankfully, there is help and treatment for gambling. The fact that a person would want their name off the “banned” list should be a major red flag. Sadly there is no treatment program for assholism so it looks like you’re doomed.
@btincc – Sounds like we have an anger issue here. Not sure why the name calling was needed, but evidently you did. And I agree, there is help and treatment for gambling. But I also feel that since this “problem” was a choice of theirs, they should be the ones responsible for correcting it. Not federal, state, or local govt. I don’t feel I should have to pay taxes to help someone who has made a bad choice, whether it be alcohol, drugs, abortions, gambling, or if they are too lazy to get a job and love that free welfare money this country so willingly hands out.
@a citizen-on this issue I agree with your statements. Why indeed should we pay for someone else’s bad habits or mistakes? I am not against gambling as such providing it is used for recreation. When my wife and I go to the casino we decide how much we will spend and then hole to it. To us it is like going to a movie and a dinner. We never spend more than we can afford to lose. Unfortunately, there are people (we know some) who lose much more than they can afford. People always seem to forget, casino’s are in business to make money, not to give it away.
You are obviously one of those people that you talk about. You don’t know shit about what you are talking about. Get over yourself asshole.
Now WHY do you thick this is happening? Because the casinos lobbied for it and your bought and paid for representatives are going along. Problem gamblers are good income gamblers for the casino so we got to get that changed.
You don’t get it. Our government is sold to the highest bidder today on every level.
Always follow the money.
Why make society responsible for the bad choices these people make? If they wish to throw away their money in a casino, let them. Their choice, their loss.
I’ll 2nd that emotion.
Let me tell you a TRUE story. Young woman goes gambling uses her paycheck then her husbands and then takes the ATM card and takes all there saving. Young man leaves his wife and take the kids because he can’t trust her anymore. He has NO money losing there house (because of gambling) has to go on food stamps, title 19, rent asst, and any other help he can get, not because he wants a free hand out but because of gambling. Now tell me it is just there problem and not ours unless you like spending your money for other people to go to the casino! I for one have better places to spend my hard earn money!!
I know a couple from NE that lost their construction business because they would gamble away their money when they got paid for jobs, but before they paid their bills. Just think how many people got hurt by them when they went belly up and bankrupt. And it wasn’t just one of them, it was both, and they had children. They had had a good business, a good life, were able to take an expensive 2-week fishing vacation every year to Canada, and it all fell apart for them. Gambling has ruined many marriages and families and leaves a wake of unpaid bills in its swath. It affects all kinds of people who don’t gamble.
@Katie – So are you saying that it’s our fault that these two people wrecked their lives by gambleing? That sounds like the gist of your post. Gambling has not ruined anything. Just like guns have not done anything. It’s the people who gamble, who drink, who use the weapon, who use the drugs that cause the problem. You’re like the person who says that gambling and alchoholism is a disease. I have been inoculated against plague, yellow fever, typhoid, typhus, cholera and a number of other diseases. If gambling and alchoholism are diseases, I will gladly go and get inoculated against them. Quit making excuses for these losers. They make the choice, they pay the price. I save my pity for those who deserve it.
While I said it’s a choice and their own fault, I also believe it’s a disease. Addiction is a mental health issue. I’m offended that you call an alcoholic or a compulsive gambler a loser. Any addict could be a very nice person aside from their addiction issue. Addiction is too involved to go into. I conquered my addiction years ago but I will never consider myself “superior” to those who haven’t. If you don’t think you have any addictions good for you. Count your blessings.
@citizen: You sure read a lot into my post that wasn’t there. Hope you had fun jumping to conclusions.
The “choice” to gamble is the gambler responsibility, fault or whatever name we can give it. We’re not saying it doesn’t effect others. But the choice to gamble is NOT on me. I don’t go to casinos and voted no on them for just the reason you gave. The kids. They are the ones who suffer when a casino comes to town. But it’s not my or anyone else’s responsibility to control their choice.
@Katie – You stated that gambling has ruined many marriages and families. Therefore you are putting gambling as a causative factor. It’s not and never has been. And no, I didn’t have fun jumping at conclusions. Rather I felt disgusted that someone would infer that gambling was the problem, when it was the people who made the choice to gamble that was in fact the problem. And as to blaming gambling, you are in the same class that say it is a disease, putting a label on it to make it acceptable, rather than a personal choice to be a failure in controlling one’s actions.
Wow what away to get more money from sick people. Lets band AAA meetings after 5 years people won’t need it!
No one is being forced to gamble.
And no one is being forced to drink.
yup.