Casinos target elderly gamblers

industry watchers say senior citizens — identified by the U.S.Administration on Aging as the fastest growing age group in America –are flocking to casinos in record numbers.  “You’ll find older gamblers all over, not just inPennsylvania,” said Richard McGarvey, a spokesman for the PennsylvaniaGaming Control Board.  However, McGarvey said the state’s casinos are not permitted bylaw to track demographics or profile players, so there is no way todetermine exactly how many seniors visit them.  Although there has been no comprehensive national study onolder gamblers, Dr. Lia Nower, director of the Center for GamblingStudies at Rutgers University School of Social Work, said her center’sresearch and various university studies show their participation ingaming is increasing.  Nower said a 1975 study showed 35 percent of adults 65 andolder had gambled in their lifetime. In contrast, a 1998 studyindicated that 80 percent of older adults had gambled within the pastyear. A 2001 survey showed that 81 percent of adults 51 to 60 and 69percent of those 61 and older had gambled within the past year.  “Other studies have supported those findings, but there is little research in the area,” Nower said.

Source/more:  Pittsburg Tribune-Review, http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_520700.html