"The Insiders" for Gambling Lawsuits: Are the Games "Fair" and Will Casinos and Gambling Facilities Be Easy Targets for Blueprints for RICO and Other Causes of Action?

Authors

John Warren Kindt

Publication Date

3-2004

Document Type

Article

Abstract

As the insider Jeffrey Wigand came forward to rattle the U.S. tobacco industry, insiders within the U.S. and Australian gambling establishments began to go public as the twenty-first century began. By 2002 government officials, scholars, and social activists who were experts on the gambling industry believed that some of the next big industry lawsuits would be targeted at gambling facilities. Gambling opponents argued that casinos and gambling facilities fueled gambling addiction and pursued players who had gambling addiction problems, even after those players complained to the gambling facility and asked to be banned. Casino owners maintained that their industry was not the cause of gambling addiction. Reportedly concurring with this viewpoint was Keith Whyte, head of the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), who was previously employed by the American Gaming Association (AGA), the gambling industry's lobbying group. Whyte stated that "[clausation would be very difficult to prove," although several academics and experts disagreed.

Recommended Citation

Kindt, John Warren (2004) ""The Insiders" for Gambling Lawsuits: Are the Games "Fair" and Will Casinos and Gambling Facilities Be Easy Targets for Blueprints for RICO and Other Causes of Action?," Mercer Law Review: Vol. 55: No. 2, Article 2.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.mercer.edu/jour_mlr/vol55/iss2/2