He was just 15 years old when he went to a Cleveland horse-racing track with a friend and his parents.
For the next 35 years, Justin Gale was hooked -- race tracks and casinos were his gambling outlets of choice. He was attracted, he said, to "the excitement of it, the rush of it. It's kind of hard to explain, but when I was gambling it eliminated everything else from my thought process so I didn't worry about day-to-day worries. It was just like a shot of Novocain to my brain."
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This year, Mr. Gale, 52, of Mayfield Heights, Ohio, became the first person to voluntarily exclude himself from the guest list at Ohio's new casinos. He signed up for the state's voluntary exclusion list which means that he cannot enter an Ohio casino, and, if he does he could be arrested for criminal trespassing -- and would be required to relinquish any winnings owed by the casino.
"If I was identified [in a casino] I could be arrested for trespassing, and I don't want to be arrested," Mr. Gale said. "I never have been and don't plan to start now."
So far, just 10 people have signed up for the voluntary exclusion program operated by the state's Casino Control Commission, program coordinator Laura Clemens said.
"Since the casinos have only been open for two weeks, the program is relatively new," she said referring to Hollywood Casino Toledo that opened on Tuesday and the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland that opened on May 14. "Other states have similar programs, and we modeled ours after theirs."
Interested persons must complete an application in person at one of the casinos or at the Casino Control Commission Office in Columbus. They can choose a one-year or five-year exclusion, both of which allow them the opportunity to ask to be removed from the list later, or a lifetime exclusion, which is irrevocable.
Those who sign up will be asked to provide a brief physical description, a Social Security number, and driver's license. A photograph will be taken as well.
While it may sound far-fetched that a compulsive gambler would voluntarily put his or her name on a list that makes a legal activity illegal, those involved with the programs say the need -- and the demand -- for them is real.
"I had a woman call me and say, 'I've got to get on this list. If my husband finds out I've lost money again, he'll divorce me. We'll lose our home,' " said Eric Bush, a Michigan Gaming Control Board spokesman. "I had a guy tell me, 'That's all I need to know: I'm going to get busted and get put in handcuffs, that's all I need.' "
Richard McGarvey, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, said much the same thing.
"Sometimes, it takes that threat of arrest to keep a person out of a casino," Mr. McGarvey said. "This is a great way to keep you out of the casino and get you into treatment. It's a good program. It works."
Since the first casino was opened in Pennsylvania in 2006, some 3,772 people have asked to be placed on that state's self-exclusion list. In Michigan, 2,591 had added their names to the state's 12-year-old disassociated persons list by the end of 2010.
Mr. Gale said the program is a small but vital part of his treatment for compulsive gambling.
"It's not a be-all, end-all. It's not a cure-all," Mr. Gale said. "It's just one more barrier in place. With the voluntary exclusion program, I know that if I walk into that casino I could be arrested for trespass -- that's a deterrent for me."
He sees a counselor twice a week and attends three to four support group meetings every week.
"It has to be a multifaceted attack on the problem," he said. "The voluntary exclusion program is just step one. Just on its own, it wouldn't be enough to keep me from gambling, but it helps."
For more information about Ohio's voluntary exclusion program, go to casinocontrol.ohio.gov/ResponsibleGaming.aspx or call Laura Clemens at 614-387-5848.
Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-724-6129.
First Published May 30, 2012, 4:03 a.m.
