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Seminole Tribe donates $300,000 for gambling addiction treatment


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The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling has hit the jackpot.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida announced a $300,000 donation to the center Tuesday, specifically for treatment of problem gamblers.

For the past 20 years, the gambling council has directed problem gamblers to treatment, but has had no funding to actually help them, executive director Pat Fowler said.

"As you can imagine, many people facing this isue don't have the funds to go out and pay for treatment," Fowler said. "We have a helpline, but it doesn't make any sense."

The council contracts with the state and is funded by $1.3 million from the Florida Lottery; a $250,000 licensing fee from the three Broward pari-mutuels; and a $100,000 contribution from the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The council took 4,208 calls on its 1-888-ADMIT-IT line last year, an increase after slots came to Broward County racinos.

The Tribe's John Fontana, president of the Hard Rock Tampa, also sits on Fowler's board. He pushed for the funding and made the presentation at the Florida Gaming Summit Tuesday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

"I've worked 10 years nonstop toward this goal," she said. "I not only badger the state, I badger the Tribe."

The council is now planning how to set up the program. In South Florida, for example, there are "certified and well-trained clinicians," she said.

"But in other parts of the state, there isn't even a Gamblers' Anonymous meeting to send them to," she said.

The best the council has been able to do is direct gamblers to Gamblers' Anonymous -- which she supports -- and develop aninteractive workbook, she said.

"But one size doesn't fit all, and there are people who need clinical help," she said.

Photo caption (Hard Rock photo): L-R: John Fontana, president, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa; Pat Fowler, executive director, Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling; Jim Allen, CEO, Seminole Gaming; and Paul Ashe, president, Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling.

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About the author
Maybe you've made the right play, maybe you haven't. Your heart speeds up, your stomach rumbles.

That's why it's called gambling.

ACTION is a view of the numbers, the psychology and the flavor of gambling here in South Florida, through our lens.

We do have one sure bet. There's something here for you.

NICK SORTAL began playing 3-card "gut" and "Indian poker" on high school band trips, moved on to "night baseball" and "pass the trash" during a Dr. Pepper-infused midnight game in the 1980s at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and now play in a regular neighborhood Hold 'Em game in Plantation. I have been given the assignment of writing about the gambling life in South Florida casinos for the Sun-Sentinel...which means sitting around watching poker on TV now counts as research.
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