Category Archives: Gambling

GOODYEAR, Ariz. Everyone knows about the Beep Drill. The Cleveland Indians can call it whatever they want Warrior Dash tends to be the preferred nomenclature but as players ascend through the minor leagues and learn more about what its like in big league camp, they all hear the stories of what happens on the first day on full-squad spring training, and the fear kicks in.

Baseball camp isnt like football, with two-a-days in the blazing heat meant to turn men into men. Baseball is much lazier, much less demanding, which is what makes the Beep Drill something else. There is sweating. There is sprinting. There is betting. There is taunting. There is even the occasional barfing. Above all, the Indians believe, there is bonding.

On Saturday morning, the Indians held their second Beep Drill of the spring. One is for pitchers and catchers, this one for position players. The conceit is simple. They line up on a back field, listen for a beep from a speaker, run 21 yards to a cone, turn around and run 21 yards back, trying to cross the line before another beep. After a break, they do it again. And again. And again. Until the last player is standing.

Its basically go until you drop, said Shawn Armstrong, an Indians relief pitcher who made a valiant effort earlier in the week before succumbing to the taunts of teammate Francisco Lindor and the vagaries of his stomach. Once I hit about 35, I kind of got tunnel vision and stopped hearing. When I first started dry heaving a little bit, Ill be honest, I did hear Lindor yelling: Get it out! I was able to go more once it started coming. Its not that I really was vomiting. The dry air and mucous just got together a little bit and came out.

The position players didnt realize their break of 10 seconds was going to be shorter than the pitchers 13, and thus the record of 69 set earlier in the week by minor league pitcher Dylan Baker would be difficult to beat. So goes the Beep Drill. It is unrelenting, a test of speed and endurance for the players, knowledge and acumen for the coaches and executives.

A row of them stood behind the line of players. Manager Terry Francona, team president Chris Antonetti, GM Mike Chernoff, nearly all the coaches each drafted a player. Pitching coach Mickey Callaway had picked Baker a few days earlier. This time through, Antonetti got the first pick. He couldve gone with Lindor, the champion two years ago and runner-up last season. Instead, he chose Greg Allen.

This was a popular pick. Earlier, as bench coach Brad Mills strolled by the pitchers, he asked: Who you got? Answered pitcher Mike Clevinger without a beat: Mr. Greg Allen.

Allen is a 23-year-old with only 37 games of Double-A to his name, but he ascended the Indians prospect ladder last season with a deft control of the plate, keen base-stealing instinct and a legitimate major league-caliber center field glove. In July, he almost wasnt an Indian anymore, as Cleveland agreed to deal him to acquire catcher Jonathan Lucroy. He rejected the trade, Allen stayed, and here he was, the player to beat.

G.A., you got this? asked Steve Karsay, the Indians Triple-A pitching coach.

Well see, Allen said.

The Beep Drill is viewed as a team-building exercise for the Cleveland Indians. (AP Images)

On a field backdropped by an airplane graveyard, the players lined up and awaited instructions from the speaker. In a kind, computerized female British voice, it said, Get ready. Three, two, one, run, followed by a beep. When the players came back about nine seconds later, there was another beep, followed by a suggestion from the masochistic lady: Stop and rest.

Then another beep.

The noise, one onlooker said, just gives me nightmares.

The players, too. Lindor, in arguably the best shape of any player on the team, dropped out after 12. I got tired, he said. I havent been feeling 100 percent. Jose Ramirez, the Indians other left-side infielder, tapped out a few laps later. Edwin Encarnacion, their $60 million free-agent signing, cried uncle after 18.

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The pitchers were chuckling, none quite as loud as Jason Kipnis or Lonnie Chisenhall had during the first race. They were into it, though, trying to handicap who was left and who would be there at the end. Francona walked down the line to Erik Gonzalez, an infielder whom hed chosen with a late pick as a darkhorse.

You all right? Francona said.

He nodded, preferring to conserve his breath for the next run.

At the 20th lap, only 10 players remained. By the 28th, it was five: Allen, Gonzalez, top prospect Brad Zimmer, infielder Giovanny Urshela and Eric Stamets, a minor league shortstop. Zimmer and Stamets dropped out at 32, Urshela at 34. Allen showed no signs of slowing down as Gonzalez bent over after each subsequent lap.

On the 37th lap, Gonzalez finished late and got a warning. He did the same on the next. Greg Allen was the 2017 Beep Drill champion with 38 laps.

I didnt want to disappoint, he said. I know the staff and the guys like to have a good time with it and place their bets. That part of it makes it a little more fun.

He high-fived Antonetti and everyone else he passed going off the field. He soaked in the notoriety of winning camp for a day. It wont matter any until the Beep Drill next year, but thats not the point.

Its a good team-building day, Francona said.

And in baseball, where the players show up in February and, best case, arent separated until November, they cherish that sort of thing. Maybe the Beep Drill helps fortify bonds or strengthen friendships or start new ones. Or maybe it doesnt do a damn thing. Thats the confusing part of trying to adjudicate cohesion. Nobody really knows whats going to be a good clubhouse or isnt.

What the Indians do as well as any team, though, is implement an overarching philosophy that goes top to bottom and side to side, from the team president down to the lowest level of the minor leagues and fanned out to players at all levels. They listen, they learn, they iterate, they implement, they grow. One thing theyve learned is that for all the misery of the Beep Drill, the players, competitors as well as trash talkers, like it as much as those who dont have to endure it.

So theyll run it again next year, hopefully on a day more pleasant than the grim, overcast 60s of Saturday, and theyll sweat and sprint and bet and taunt and, yeah, probably barf. And if all goes well, if that chemistry experiment turns out to be covalent after all, theyll bond.

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Meet the sweaty, gambling, barfing, bonding Indians race known as the Beep Drill - Yahoo Sports

ALBANY Gov. Andrew Cuomo embraced the spread of state-sanctioned gambling during his first six years in office, from expanded lottery and commercial casinos to daily fantasy sports wagering.

One of the outcomes, though, was that churches, fire halls and veterans posts that run bingo games, raffles and other games of chance suffered with the saturation of new gambling opportunities across New York.

So Cuomo now is pressing for major changes to the states charitable gambling laws. He wants to help the charitable groups reverse the slump in revenues that has eaten into their support of local activities, such as youth sports leagues, scholarship funds or veterans programs.

Its an acknowledgement that this is an important activity in New York that requires some care and nurturing, Robert Williams, executive director of the governors state Gaming Commission, said of the proposals tucked into 42 pages of legislation in Cuomos budget for this year.

The governor's proposals include:

But is it too little too late?

Thats what some charity groups are wondering. Walk into a bingo hall, and you see their clientele: old and getting older.

And that group is not being replaced by millennials who, if they do gamble, are attracted to claims of bigger and faster payoffs at more upscale casinos or through illegal off-shore internet sites they can access on their phones.

Consider also that the total amount of money wagered on bingo across New York in 1980 was $223 million. In 2015, that sum had slipped to $31 million

Charities unable to compete

Competition from lottery games, like the omnipresent Quick Draw electronic games, is far and away the key reason for declining bingo and raffles of charitable groups.

Casinos that dot the landscape across the state, particularly upstate, also havent helped.

Charities in Western New York face competition from three Seneca Nation casinos, two racetrack-based casinos and gambling offerings in Ontario.

Now add state rules that kept these charities operating games stuck in a kind of time warp with paper slots called bell jars and often retrieved by gamblers from a fancy or otherwise container.

Volunteer Valerie Schmarje, right, sells Joanne Lorenz some pull tabs at Fourteen Holy Helpers in West Seneca on Feb. 16. (Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News)

Charities say they cant go up against a casino and its array of slots, table games, entertainment, alcohol and food.

Ive been in local casinos and seen some of our players there, said Paul Podsiadlo, one of the volunteer chairmen who runs the weekly bingo nights held for more than 40 years at Fourteen Holy Helpers church in West Seneca.

I hear players talk and say, I couldnt come last week because I went to the casino. They only have so much money to spend in a week, and if they spend it at the casino they dont come to bingo, he said.

Catholic churches once were synonymous with bingo. Today, many have shut down their money-losing operations, unable to draw gamblers or volunteers to run the games.

Those that remain try to offer amenities to lure consumers. Some of those give a bow to their aging clientele. One bingo hall in Western New York now offers earlier evening hours that promises to get bettors home sooner.

Another key attraction: no stairs to climb.

Bingo attendance statewide has dropped so much since 1997 when 10 million bettors played that the state no longer even bothers to count how many people play. (Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News)

At Fourteen Holy Helpers, parishioners are dealing with the Catholic Dioceses decision to close its school in 2014. The parish still needs to raise money to subsidize the cost of sending its students to another Catholic school. Thats where the churchs weekly bingo games come into play as a longtime fundraising device.

But revenues from bingo and other games of chance are off more than 25 percent from peak years at Holy Helpers.

And that is the case throughout New York.

Bingo halls across the state in 1997 reported 10 million bettors, according to the then-Racing and Wagering Board.

By 2005, bingo attendance had been cut in half.

Now, the state doesnt even bother to put a number on how many people play bingo, according to that agencys successor, the state Gaming Commission.

Thirty years ago, about 550 groups offered regular bingo fundraisers in an eight-county region of Western New York, recalled Charles Gajewski, owner of the sole remaining supplier of gambling products to charities in the Buffalo area. Today, the number of organizations offering bingo has fallen to about 150, he said.

Bingo and bell jars

While bingo is often the poster child of charitable gambling, the sale of bell jar tickets, or pull tabs, is now the big draw for charities.

Bell jars accounted for $215 million of the $250 million charities reported being wagered in New York in 2015, according to the Gaming Commission.

In contrast, bingo players put down $31 million in wagers in 2015 while raffles accounted for about $3 million.

Among Cuomos proposals is to raise the top prize for bell jars from $500 to $1,000.

Gambling tickets ready to be used at Fourteen Holy Helpers. (Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News)

Bell jars are cards, usually sold for less than $2 apiece, drawn from a jar or machine and they contain numbers, colors or symbols that, when uncovered, reveal a prize or not.

Kirby Hannan wants lawmakers to let charities use enhanced bell jar machines that come with video screens and encourage a quicker play by gamblers.

Charitable gaming technology has not been revitalized in way more than 30 years, said Hannan, legislative director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars in New York. The young people were trying to attract are not pulling pull tabs from a jar. They prefer to see a video screen.

Without modernizing the bell jar games that many vet groups offer as their sole gambling option, Hannan said, 90 percent of the organizations I represent would probably not benefit significantly from Cuomos proposal.

Charitable gaming was initially designed to help non-profits, such as military service organizations, churches and fire houses to help them raise funds. And yet were the once stuck in the paper world, said Marlene Roll, an Alden resident and past statewide commander of the VFW in New York.

Wholesale modernization

Cuomo administration officials say the governors plan amounts to a wholesale modernization of charitable gambling.

His plan would lift restrictions on advertising, such as on the internet.

To deal with shortages of volunteers working the gambling ventures, Cuomo wants to lift barriers that prohibit people with certain criminal backgrounds such as a public drunkenness charge when they were a teenager from working at a bingo parlor.

Cuomo also seeks to reconcile competing statutes to make clear that all charitable gambling can be conducted on Sundays.

Giving flexibility to where charities can offer gambling is meant to prevent problems that arose last year that forced a Niagara Falls charity to cancel the annual Duck Race at the Canal Fest of the Tonawandas because it was to be held on state property. The state let the event proceed.

The Catholic Church is noncommittal regarding Cuomos proposals.

While bingo is used as a fundraiser by some of our parishes, its too early to determine what some or all of these proposed changes might mean to those parishes, said George Richert, a spokesman for the Diocese of Buffalo.

Groups concerned about the states gambling expansion say the irony is not lost that Cuomo now seeks to enhance charitable gambling operations after he led the support of the 2013 referendum for legalizing up to seven new Las Vegas-style casinos.

They also question Cuomos plan to allow gamblers to place their charitable bets on a credit card.

The proposal is yet another expansion of predatory gambling in New York State, said Dr. Stephen Shafer, chair of the Coalition Against Gambling in New York, a group that had its organizational roots in Buffalo.

More gambling options, even if run by charities, equates to more problem gambling, he said.

All these moves reflect the fallacy that legalized gambling is good for New York State because some money flows from it into support for education or charitable causes, Shafer said in an email response to questions.

Even if all of Cuomos charitable gambling proposals are cleared in state budget talks, few charities think the gambling times of the past will return.

With more and more casinos popping up in the last five to 10 years, I think we are now seeing the repercussions from that, said Roll, the past statewide VFW commander. The bank accounts of these groups have dwindled because were just not seeing the money come in like it did.

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Cuomo wants to resurrect charity gambling. Is it too late? - Buffalo News

KEARNEY From online poker and slot machines to daily fantasy sports, the Internet has made gambling accessible to anyone interested in logging on.

That easy access has changed the face of gambling, according to Deb Hammond, a provider with the state of Nebraska Gamblers Assistance Program. Hammond will be conducting a public forum in Kearney Saturday afternoon at First Baptist Church to raise awareness and spark a discussion about problem gambling.

What were seeing now is a different generation of gambling. Millenials are who are having problems. Theyre gambling on the phone not casinos. Its a population that isnt going to a casino in another state anymore. They can gamble at anything they want on the Internet, Hammond said.

Gamblings shift from table games to tablets has made it harder to recognize the traditional problem signs, Hammond said. Thats why its important to open up a dialogue in forums where experts, community members and, of course, gamblers can collaborate.

The goal of Saturdays forum is to talk about how we can talk about this together, said Hammond. How can we open up a dialogue between political leaders, community leaders, problem gamblers and the gaming community? Its not the gaming communitys fault anyone loses control, but we should talk about how they can help.

The forum also will address how the Gamblers Assistance Program can help those who may be in over their heads. The program uses a portion of the proceeds from the Nebraska State Lottery to certify and train gambling counselors and pay for problem gambling counseling, making it easier for people with financial barriers to receive treatment.

Problem gambling is not isolated to just the gambler, Hammond said. Family members, employer and friends of problem gamblers can all be affected, and all are eligible for counseling services with the help of the program.

GAP is available, and its free to anyone whos affected by a problem gambler, Hammond said.

People need to figure out how to gamble responsibly, Hammond said. Were never going to get rid of gambling, and I dont think we should. Gambling isnt wrong or a moral issue, but it can get out of control, and we need to be sure to talk about that, and offer help when its needed.

There are three Gamblers Assistance Program providers directly serving the Kearney area as well as several in McCook, North Platte, Scottsbluff and Norfolk. All have certified gambling counselors.

The providers with the program are allowed to treat at no charge to the client whatsoever, according to Hammond. There are no limits to the amount of counseling sessions people can receive through the Gamblers Assistance Program, she said.

State Sen. John Lowe of Kearney is expected to attend, Hammond said.

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Millennials new target for gambling addiction - Kearney Hub

The idea to lower Nevadas legal gambling age percolated after a veteran asked Assemblyman Jim Wheeler a simple question.

The man, who had served in Afghanistan, asked Wheeler how a person could be old enough vote or fight in wars but be considered too young to legally gamble.

I didnt really have an answer for him, Wheeler, R-Gardnerville, said last week.

And thus Assembly Bill 86, which seeks to lower Nevadas legal gambling age from 21 to 18, was born.

No one in the gaming industry has raised the idea to the commission in nearly a decade, said Tony Alamo, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, so the bill came out of left field to him.

The industry has not come to us with any wants for dropping this. Everyones happy with 21 years of age, he said.

Alamo said he wondered if this is a solution for a problem that doesnt exist.

Wheeler said the goal is simply to start a dialogue on whether 21 is the correct threshold.

I just wanted to have the conversation more than anything, Wheeler said.

There is some precedent for allowing people under 21 to gamble in certain circumstances across the U.S.

Several casinos on Native American land in other states set the threshold at 18. Some states, like New Jersey and Louisiana, allow 18-year-olds to play bingo, but set the age restriction at 21 for other gambling games such as slot machines, poker and blackjack.

But dropping the age to 18 on all gambling in Nevada would present a list of issues, Alamo said most notably the interaction between gambling and alcohol.

With both gambling and drinking having the same 21-year-old threshold, casino workers do not have to verify the person sitting at a poker table is old enough to order a drink, Alamo said. Allowing 18-year-olds to sit down at a slot machine or poker table could get burdensome for workers who would likely have to ask for ID every time someone at gaming table orders a drink, he added.

Wheeler agreed that those interactions could become a problem, but argued that servers should be checking IDs in casinos anyway.

Contact reporter Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4683. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.

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Veteran's question spurred Nevada lawmaker to propose gambling age bill - Las Vegas Review-Journal

Miami Herald

Florida House, Senate play different hands in approach to gambling legislation Miami Herald While the industry-friendly Senate plan (SB 8) and the House proposal, which protects the Seminoles' interests, are at different ends of the gambling continuum, the diverging strategies at least provide a starting point for negotiations a sharp ... House, Senate at odds over gambling proposals - Orlando SentinelOrlando Sentinel all 2 news articles »

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Florida House, Senate play different hands in approach to gambling legislation - Miami Herald

KEARNEY From online poker and slot machines to daily fantasy sports, the Internet has made gambling accessible to anyone interested in logging on.

That easy access has changed the face of gambling, according to Deb Hammond, a provider with the state of Nebraska Gamblers Assistance Program. Hammond will be conducting a public forum in Kearney Saturday afternoon at First Baptist Church to raise awareness and spark a discussion about problem gambling.

What were seeing now is a different generation of gambling. Millenials are who are having problems. Theyre gambling on the phone not casinos. Its a population that isnt going to a casino in another state anymore. They can gamble at anything they want on the Internet, Hammond said.

Gamblings shift from table games to tablets has made it harder to recognize the traditional problem signs, Hammond said. Thats why its important to open up a dialogue in forums where experts, community members and, of course, gamblers can collaborate.

The goal of Saturdays forum is to talk about how we can talk about this together, said Hammond. How can we open up a dialogue between political leaders, community leaders, problem gamblers and the gaming community? Its not the gaming communitys fault anyone loses control, but we should talk about how they can help.

The forum also will address how the Gamblers Assistance Program can help those who may be in over their heads. The program uses a portion of the proceeds from the Nebraska State Lottery to certify and train gambling counselors and pay for problem gambling counseling, making it easier for people with financial barriers to receive treatment.

Problem gambling is not isolated to just the gambler, Hammond said. Family members, employer and friends of problem gamblers can all be affected, and all are eligible for counseling services with the help of the program.

GAP is available, and its free to anyone whos affected by a problem gambler, Hammond said.

People need to figure out how to gamble responsibly, Hammond said. Were never going to get rid of gambling, and I dont think we should. Gambling isnt wrong or a moral issue, but it can get out of control, and we need to be sure to talk about that, and offer help when its needed.

There are three Gamblers Assistance Program providers directly serving the Kearney area as well as several in McCook, North Platte, Scottsbluff and Norfolk. All have certified gambling counselors.

The providers with the program are allowed to treat at no charge to the client whatsoever, according to Hammond. There are no limits to the amount of counseling sessions people can receive through the Gamblers Assistance Program, she said.

State Sen. John Lowe of Kearney is expected to attend, Hammond said.

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Millenials new target for gambling addiction | Local | kearneyhub.com - Kearney Hub

Deputies raided a gambling establishment that resulted in the seizure of 70 illegal gambling machines and two arrests in rural Alamo, according to a criminal complaint. Photos courtesy of Hidalgo County records.

Deputies raided a gambling establishment that resulted in the seizure of 70 illegal gambling machines and two arrests in rural Alamo, according to a criminal complaint.

On Wednesday, Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office deputies entered a suspected eight-liner off of Moore Road.

When authorities arrived, 31-year-old Maria Elena Garza and 25-year-old Salvador Matias Lopez attempted to flee the scene, according to the criminal complaint.

Garza was accused of paying out patrons in cash for winnings inside the establishment, according to the criminal complaint. Lopez served as a bouncer of the establishment and was paid by proceeds made from the gambling operation, according to the criminal complaint.

Lopez and Garza were arrested and charged with possession of gambling devices/equipment/paraphernalia, keeping a gambling place, and gambling promotion -- all Class A misdemeanors.

Garza was released Thursday from the Hidalgo County jail on a $15,000 bond.

Lopez remained in the Hidalgo County jail Friday evening. A judge set his bond at $30,000.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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Records: 70 gambling machines seized, two arrested in Alamo raid - KGBT-TV

A legislative committee approves the bill, which has changed from allowing bingo to green-lighting keno

The Arizona State Capitol(Photo: David Kadlubowski/The Republic, David Kadlubowski/The Republic)

A legislative effort to legalize gambling in bars and clubs is advancing, despite warnings from the American Indian tribes that it violates their gaming contract with the state.

But the bill's sponsor has changed the proposal significantly, limiting itsscope to allow electronic keno games instead of bingo, saying that keno is essentially the same as a lottery something Arizona already allows without conflicting with tribal gaming.

The revised Senate Bill 1312 would create a new State Electronic Keno Commission to regulate and oversee keno games statewide. It would requirethat revenue be divided among the state general fund, public safety and full-day kindergarten. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, said the new commission would decide how and where the game is played.

Some video keno machineslook like and work almost identically to video slot or poker machines, allowing players to pull a lever or push a button and watch a row of symbols spin as lights flash and music plays. The real game is played via a random-number generator and a tiny digital keno card displayed somewhere on the edge of the screen. The players win based on the results of that card.

Borrelli said keno could go into the same locations that offer lottery games, including bars, gas stations and fraternal clubs.

Angel Juarez, with the American Legion, supports the bill. He said the state has 47,000 American Legion members and 140 posts, and already has lottery and pull tab games.

"This proposal will enable our posts around the state to a great new revenue source that can replace those we lost when conventional bingo went to other locations," he said, referring to bingo moving to the casinos. "With that loss, our post saw a marked decrease in the programs we were able to support, hampering our ability to serve our veterans."

Tribal representatives said they believe the proposal would violate the state gaming compacts.

Arizona's 2002 gaming compacts with American Indian tribes include a "poison pill" that saysif the state allows non-tribal entities to offer casino-style gaming, the tribes no longer must comply with limits on casinos, card tables and machines. They also don't have to give as much revenue to the state.

Mike Bielecki, representing the Navajo Nation, said the poison pill is triggered when the state allows a new game that wasn't grandfathered in under the compact. He said he believes keno would apply.

Bernadine Burnette, president of the FortMcDowell Yavapai Nation and chairwoman of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, opposesthe bill.

"Gaming has been one of the very few economic activities that has succeeded in Indian country. It has created tens of thousands of jobs. It has allowed us to provide services to our tribal members that we could never have afforded before," she said.

Borrelli said he changed the bill because he believes keno is clearly under the state's jurisdiction and not the tribes'.

"The state reserves the rights for certain games ... lottery, keno," he said. "We didn't give away all our rights."

If the bill is approved, Borrelli said revenueraised could go a long way toward funding full-day kindergarten, which is estimated to cost about $240 million a year.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 4-3 Thursday to support the bill, with most of those in support saying they have concerns about the bill's impact on the compact but are willing to continue the conversation. The bill is scheduled for another public hearing Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Arizona bar and club gambling proposal advances - but only for keno - AZCentral.com

The gambling watchdog may have carried out a probe into how a rapist tricked his way to a lottery jackpot, but it seems they are not prepared to share the results with the public.

And they were accused of staging a cover-up over Edward Putmans 2.5million payout which he obtained with a dodgy ticket and alleged insider help.

Of the 270-page Gambling Commission report obtained by the Mirror, 195 are blacked out either in part or fully that is 72%. Another 79 pages have been removed from the dossier entirely.

Among the questions left unanswered were whether Camelot knew of the friendship between alleged inside man Giles Knibbs and 51-year-old Putman and what was the rapists side of the story.

Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson MP blasted the watchdog for denying the public details behind the 2009 win.

He said: It seems the Great Lotto Robbery is in danger of turning into the Great Lotto Cover-up.

Whilst the Gambling Commission have taken action against Camelot for its failure, the public will rightly want to see further action taken by authorities in order to recoup the money fraudulently taken.

To maintain public confidence in the integrity of the lottery, we need full disclosure of facts, the sequence of events and the failures to make sure something like this can never happen again. Pages of redacted evidence are not good enough.

The Gambling Commission, which had ruled it was more likely than not Putmans jackpot was paid out of a dodgy ticket, said: We believe the public interest does favour the disclosure of certain parts of the information.

There is, however, still material which remains exempt where the public interest balance favours maintaining the exemption and withholding information.

But Campaign for Freedom of Information director Maurice Frankel branded the withholding questionable.

The report did reveal alarm bells should have been ringing at Lottery HQ from the day Putman made his claim. He rang the lottery claimline bosses 10 days before the 180-day deadline.

Putman said his ticket had been damaged but had enough information about where the winning line was bought and was paid a week later.

It is feared he had the help of Camelot IT specialist Knibbs, who worked in the fraud detection department.

The Commission report said: The circumstances of the claim made it an exceptional onewhich should have caused concern.

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And it remained troubled as to why the prize was paid out in all the circumstances. If Camelots inadequate investigation been done properly, there was a real possibility the fraud would have been spotted.

The operator was fined 3million last year over the scandal.

Police looked into the alleged fraud when it came to light in 2015 and arrested Putman, of Kings Langley, Herts.

He was told four months later he would face no further action and the file has now remained closed for more than a year.

Camelot said: We accept that, at the time of the alleged incident, there were weaknesses in some of the processes we had in place to prevent a potentially fraudulent claim of the very specific kind seen in this case. And, as we said at the time, were very sorry for that.

Running The National Lottery with the utmost integrity has always been our priority.

"Having investigated the circumstances of the alleged incident and having reviewed and strengthened the systems we have in place to prevent potential fraud, we are completely confident that the alleged fraud could only have been carried out under a unique set of circumstances and would certainly not be possible today.

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The great Lotto 'cover-up': Gambling watchdog redacts details on rapist's dodgy jackpot - Mirror.co.uk

Iowa Resources

The Iowa Gambling Treatment and Prevention Program (IGTP) The Office of Problem Gambling Treatment and Prevention works to reduce the harm caused by problem gambling by funding a range of services for Iowans. These services include: outpatient counseling for problem gamblers, concerned persons and family, housing services for problem gamblers in treatment and with no other housing options, financial counseling including budgeting and debt reduction plans and a state-wide help line that provides information and referral services. In addition, the program funds prevention and education services for schools, community groups, casino employees, and other at-risk groups.

Responsible Gaming Education Week-August 3-7Responsible Gaming Education Week (RGEW) was created by the AGA in 1998 to increase awareness of problem gambling among gaming industry employees and customers and to promote responsible gaming nationwide. Find ideas for events and programs on the American Gaming Assocation Website.

National Problem Gambling Awareness Month Of MarchThe National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) is pleased to present the National Problem Gambling Awareness Month (NPGAM) campaign, a grassroots public awareness and outreach campaign. The goal of this campaign is to educate the general public, and health care professinals about the warning signs of problem gambling and raise awareness about the help that is available both locally and nationally. [Theme: Have the Conversation] See suggestions forIowa's National Problem Gambling Awareness Week on their website http://www.ncpgambling.org

Problem Gambling Resources in iowaNCPG website listing assessment tools and additional resources

Download the 2016 NPGAM Guide The NPGAM Committee created this guide as a tool for planning your activities during the month.

Apps to use 'freemium' model, aim for young players amid daily fantasy stumbles

Online Library on Problem Gambling - from Responsible Gambling Council

Pathological Gambling: A Critical Review (1999) - read full-text of monograph online

Gambling in California- informative chapters on "Gambling in the U.S.", "History of Gambling in the U.S.", "Why Do People Gamble?", "Economic Impact of Gambling", and more.

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Problem Gambling Online Resources - Drugfreeinfo.org