Responsible Gaming

RESPONSIBLE GAMING

At Sandia Resort & Casino we want all of our customers to enjoy casino gaming as a planned and budgeted entertainment option. We recognize though, that a small percentage of people may have problems gambling responsibly. Sandia Resort & Casino cares about its customers, and is committed to helping those in need of compulsive gambling treatment; Our Responsible Gaming Program helps.
Responsible Gaming refers to practices designed to prevent and reduce potential harms associated with gambling, and more specifically compulsive gambling.

  • Gambling should not interfere with your everyday life
  • Keeping your gambling under control by setting a dollar limit and time limit
  • Become educated on the warning signs and ask for help, if you feel you need it


Compulsive Gambling is defined as a continuous or periodic loss of control over gambling. Problem Gambling is any gambling behavior that disrupts or damages your life.
Warning Signs:

  • Preoccupied with gambling- planning next venture
  • Increased Tolerance - the need to gamble with increased amounts
  • Lying - Lies to family members or others to conceal the extent of his/her gambling
  • Bailout - relies on others to provide money due to losing own money on some form of gambling
  • Loss of control - unable to stop gambling


You may have a gambling problem if you:

  • Feel the need to be secretive about your gambling. You might gamble in secret or lie about how much you gamble, feeling others won't understand.
  • Have trouble controlling your gambling. Once you start gambling, can you walk away? Or are you compelled to gamble until you've spent your last dollar, upping your bets in a bid to win lost money back?
  • Gamble even when you don't have the money. A red flag is when you are getting more and more desperate to recoup your losses. You may gamble until you've spent your last dollar, and then move on to money you don't have

RESOURCES

Treatment for problem gambling
The biggest step in treatment is realizing you have a problem with gambling. It takes tremendous strength and courage to own up to this. Don't despair, and don't try to go it alone, we are here to help. Overcoming compulsive gambling is never easy. But recovery and control is possible with treatment. When you are ready, for advice or looking for treatment information, Please contact one of the following:


At Sandia Resort & Casino we offer the Self-Exclusion Program. This procedure offers customers to self-exclude from any form of gambling at Sandia Resort & Casino. It is required for customers to contact the Security Department or the Responsible Gaming Coordinator for more information and to fill out required forms.


Responsible Gaming Coordinator
(505) 796-7500 ext. 2092

Evolution Group offers a Compulsive Gambling Treatment Clinic along with a living facility called Integrity Recovery House for late stage compulsive gamblers.
(505) 242-6988 ext. 129
www.Theevolutiongroup.com

NM Asian Family Center offers Compulsive Gambling Counseling, specializing in the Asian populations; compulsive gambling treatment is open to all ethnicities.
(505) 934-5139
www.nmafc.org


NM Problem Gambling Helpline offers referrals for treatment in New Mexico
1-800-572-1142
www.nmcpg.org

Gamblers Anonymous is a self-supporting fellowship to stop gambling and to help other compulsive gamblers do the same.
(505) 260-7272
www.gamblersanonymous.org

Gam-Anon offers support for family members and friends of a compulsive gambler
www.gam-anon.org/meeting.asp

10 Rules of Responsible Gaming

  1. If you chose to gamble, do so for entertainment purposes. If your gambling is no longer an enjoyable activity then ask yourself why you are still "playing".
  2. Treat the money you lose as the cost of your entertainment. Treat any winnings as a bonus.
  3. Set a dollar limit and stick to it. Decide before you go not only what you can "afford" to lose, but how much you want to spend. Do not change your mind after losing.
  4. Set a time limit and stick to it. Decide how much time you want to allow for gambling. Leave when you reach the time limit whether you are winning or losing.
  5. Expect to lose – The odds are that you will lose.
  6. Make it a private rule not to gamble on credit – Do not borrow money to gamble.
  7. Create balance in your life – Gambling should not interfere with or substitute for friends, family, work or other worthwhile activities.
  8. Avoid "chasing" lost money – Chances are the more you try to recoup your losses the larger your losses will be.
  9. Don't gamble as a way to cope with emotional or physical pain - Gambling for reasons other then entertainment can lead to problems.
  10. Become educated about the warning signs of problem gambling - The more you know the better choices you can make.