The problem Gambler help hotline (1-888-900-9979) is funded and administered by the Montana Gaming Research and Education Fund, which is in turn funded by the Montana Tavern Association, the Gaming Industry Association, the Montana Coin Machine Operators Association and Town Pumps, with additional funding from individual route operators and machine manufacturers.
It functions independently of--but hand-in-hand with--the Montana Council on Problem Gambling's (MCPG) group therapy programs for problem gamblers. The MCPG is also mostly supported by the same gaming entities that fund the research and education group.
The hotline concept was developed and implemented by Dennis Casey, former Executive Director of the Gaming Industry Association back in 1998. A Kalispell answering service took the calls 24-hours-a-day and seven-days-a-week, but was limited to providing callers with the dates and times of local Gamblers Anonymous meetings, the names and telephone numbers for qualified local clinicians, and was authorized to mail packages of information on compulsive gambling disorders to callers requesting them.
The research and education group decided to enhance the service by providing trained counseling over the phone. This necessitated routing the calls to the Texas Council on Problem Gambling which had a caller counseling service for its own state but provided similar services to other entities on a contract basis.
The switch increased the cost of the service by a factor of three, but the group decided the added value was worth the price. The Texas Council soon suffered a major funding cut that forced them to discontinue telephone counseling services.
The research and education group's chairman, Rich Miller, then approached the Delaware Council on Problem Gambling to arrange for it to provide telephone counseling, information mailings and referrals to local Gamblers Anonymous meetings, licensed clinicians and group therapy services provided by the MCPG.
In 1999, the hotline received 23 calls per month on average. The telephone number was being promoted with posters in licensed gaming establishments and yellow pages advertising.
The quantity of calls grew to an average of 31 per month in 2000 and 41 per month in 2001. However, with the advent of the improved service and a major advertising blitz on television and billboards, along with yellow pages and posters, average monthly call volume jumped to just over 73 in 2002.
Promotion of the service continued through 2003, but average monthly volumes fell to 60 calls. 2004 has seen an average monthly volume of only about 20; there were 234 calls to the help line last year. Packets of information were sent out to 210 of the callers.
Why call volumes are tapering despite continued television advertising campaigns is open to speculation, but may be due to a maturing gaming market and a maturing gaming player who, once having encountered a problem, has learned--perhaps through MCPG group therapy--to modify their behavior, specifically as it applies to gaming.
It is interesting to note that call volumes have historically trended sharply upward during December and January, a holiday season renowned for its stress and patterns of over indulgence. The increased call volumes during that time also correspond to burgeoning participation in group therapy programs during those same months.
Source: Montana Tavern Times,
Sept., 2004, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701; updated March, 2005. The Montana Council on Problem Gambling can be reached at , 1-406-252-9076 or 1-888-552-9076, e-mail <donna@mtcpgambling.com>.