Bill Bennett has a gambling problem!
bayarea.com
Author on traditional virtues reportedly a heavy gambler
By David Von Drehle
Washington Post
Former Secretary of Education William Bennett, whose books and speeches espousing traditional virtues have made him rich and famous, is a high-stakes casino gambler, according to reports published Friday.
``I've gambled all my life, and it's never been a moral issue with me. I liked church bingo when I was growing up,'' Bennett told reporters for Newsweek and Washington Monthly, which worked cooperatively on stories that appeared on their Web sites.
Joshua Green, an editor at Washington Monthly, obtained documents from several casinos indicating that Bennett has lost about $8 million in the past decade, generally during intense stretches of video poker and high-stakes slot-machine play in exclusive rooms at leading casinos.
``On July 12 of last year, for instance, Bennett lost $340,000 at Caesars Boardwalk Regency in Atlantic City. And just three weeks ago, on April 5 and 6, he lost more than $500,000 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas,'' Green reported. He quoted ``a casino source who has witnessed Bennett at the high-limit slots in the wee hours'' as saying: ``There's a term in the trade for this kind of gambler. We call them losers.''
`Pretty close to even'
Bennett confirmed to Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter that he sometimes wagers hundreds of thousands of dollars in a night of gambling, but denied that he had lost millions, saying casino records do not adequately account for winnings. ``Over 10 years, I'd say I've come out pretty close to even,'' he said.
He said he gave some of his winnings to charity and reported everything to the Internal Revenue Service.
Asked for comment Friday on the published articles, a Bennett spokesman said, ``He needs time to digest the story, so he won't be available for comment today.''
Some of Bennett's allies on the conservative side of the culture wars disagree with him on the moral status of gambling. When Bennett's fellow Republicans controlled both houses of Congress in the mid-1990s, they voted to create a National Gambling Impact Study Commission and appointed as chair conservative Kay Coles James. Most commission members eventually voted to endorse a moratorium on expanding legalized gambling -- a $51 billion industry in the United States. The commission's final report called for further study of the social effects of gambling, which has been tied to higher rates of divorce, crime and poverty.
Another commission member, James Dobson, heads the conservative organization Focus on the Family, which offers tapes of Bennett's speeches for sale on its Web site. Dobson has lamented the widespread acceptance of gambling in contemporary America as an example of moral decline.
After the commission concluded its work, Dobson said, ``I remain radically opposed'' to legalized gambling.
To some extent, these differences may reflect variations in the doctrines of Christian denominations. Many fundamentalist Protestant churches have long held that all gambling is a vice, but the Roman Catholic position -- Bennett's faith -- is less clear-cut. ``Games of chance or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice,'' according to the catechism of the Catholic Church. ``They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for one's needs and those of others. The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement.''
`I view it as drinking'
Bennett has said in the past that he does not consider gambling a moral issue. When his interviewers reminded him of studies that link heavy gambling with a variety of societal and family ills, Bennett said he did not have a problem and likened gambling to drinking alcohol.
``I view it as drinking,'' he said. ``If you can't handle it, don't do it.''
Frank Scoblete, a widely published authority on casino games, said it is unlikely that Bennett could have avoided losing money over time while playing slot machines. The highly popular games are programmed to give the casino an advantage of 2 to 15 percent, depending on the machine -- and a player's skill cannot narrow the odds.
``The only thing you can control is how much money you're putting through it,'' he said.
Video poker, on the other hand, ``is a game of skill,'' in which players make decisions that effect their chances. Depending on the machine and the player, Scoblete said, it is possible to break even or perhaps even come out slightly ahead over time.
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