LEWISTON — The chlorinated-pool smell doesn’t extend to the back room of the YWCA, where the weekly Gamblers Anonymous meeting is held.

Inside, where neon lights highlight the institutional decor, Don and Mike, both retired, sit waiting with no expectation that anyone will show up.

Mike is dressed in a shirt and sweater, wearing a knitted hat, popular in hipster fashion. On his elderly, white head, the look is endearing, a trait that extends to the way he advocates GA: all-inclusive, lifesaving, a group of mostly older men who keep each other sane.

Don is similar, with white hair but no hat, wearing a nylon and cotton coat.

Neither has gambled in over a decade.

Mike’s abstinence stretches from the weekend he outed his addiction to his wife, a cathartic episode of sobbing preceded by strategies for suicide and a marathon $600 spree on scratch tickets in a 20-minute blur. He was $40,000 in debt at the time. 

He’d relapsed after his first stint with gambling abstinence after his children bought him scratch tickets for Christmas, cycling between convenience stores and intercepting the mail to hide bank statements from his wife.

Instead of driving his car in front of a dump truck and ending it all — he had car insurance and a life insurance policy his wife could collect on — he confessed his addiction to her.

A weight was lifted off his shoulders.

“It’s a disease. (But) you can’t force people to come,” Mike said of the GA meetings.

Don, once $70,000 in scratch-ticket debt, chimed in. “Some people can go in and buy just one or two. I hate them. It’s a compulsion.”

“Seems more acceptable than drugs or booze,” Don said. “People would say to me, ‘You’re gambling too much.’ But I would say, ‘Mind your … business.'”

Bankruptcy, he said, made him feel like a thief and changed his attitude.

Gamblers Anonymous is not a religious program, though spirituality is an important element to overcoming addiction. Faith in the process and the gritty determination to show up at meetings are both key, they say.

Maine’s addiction to gambling is as anonymous as its addicts. There are few studies on its prevalence, and state efforts to address the problem are just beginning.

The effects of turning a blind eye, according to advocates, are disastrous.

‘Wicked good fun’

The Oxford Casino’s official motto is “Wicked Good Fun,” a slogan marketed in a bright, exciting, cheery fashion.

But how much fun is too much?

Maine’s two casinos brought home $127.28 million in 2014, which for some people meant an exciting activity that brought with it the high drama of winning — and losing. But especially, it brings the anticipation that the next roll of dice or spin of the wheel might bring financial reward.

For those addicted to gambling, it’s a downward spiral of unavoidable behavior, rewarded with financial ruin.

Mental health professionals say there isn’t enough research into the scope of the problem in Maine.

According to Christine Theriault, a behavioral health prevention manager at the Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services in Augusta, the absence of any in-depth study means it’s not known whether gambling addiction is on the rise or shrinking, or whether efforts to address it are having any effect.

“The neurological processes of addictive gambling are extremely similar to other addictions,” Theriault said. “They can have withdrawal symptoms like nausea or even diarrhea, because dopamine changes the brain structure, impacting a person’s ability to stop.” 

Nationally, the picture is slightly clearer. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, most adults who gamble do so responsibly. One percent of Americans meet the criteria of being pathological gamblers and another 2 to 3 percent are problem gamblers — a rate that doubles within 50 miles of a casino.

But the impact in Maine is largely estimated. Complementary addictions such as alcoholism complicate attempts to measure the gambling problem, according to Theriault.

Prevalence studies can be costly, in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, though the upside is that the information can inform policymakers.

Under state law, a portion of casino revenue is dedicated to funding the operations of the Gambling Control Board and addiction counseling services. When the state devised that funding allocation in 2010, it based the funding on call levels to a national hotline — which were low — and the fact that no one had sought assistance in Maine.

In 2013, when Maine was spending $50,000 a year on gambling addiction services, the council found the state’s per-capita expense was 4 cents; the national average, including National Council on Problem Gambling affiliate funds, was 32 cents. The state has since doubled its allocation, but at the time, Maine ranked 37 out of 50 states in its addiction investment.

Under statute, both casinos pay a percentage of their slots revenue into the state’s General Fund. Hollywood Casino Hotel & Raceway pays an additional 3 percent of its table game revenues, which is not required of the Oxford Casino.

Last year, Hollywood Casino paid 4 percent of its net slots revenues, roughly $1.67 million, and 9 percent of net table game revenue, or $722,000, into the general fund.

Oxford Casino’s 3 percent share amounted to $1.75 million.

Of the amount paid by Hollywood Casino, $100,000 is set aside to fund efforts to treat gambling addiction, a stipulation not required of the Oxford Casino.

Theriault said her office can ask for more than the allotted $100,000 but has never done so. And, now, five years after legislators created the mechanism to fund problem-gambling treatment, gambling has increased in Maine, with a second casino in Oxford and table games augmenting the former Hollywood Slots, transforming it into a casino.

Half of the money is spent on preventive education and awareness, an effort that tries to destigmatize gambling addiction, so those suffering from the problem are more willing to come forward. One program prints helpline numbers on cocktail napkins used at the casinos; another program has a $10,000 budget to reimburse specially licensed therapists who treat gambling addicts.

In 2006, Maine started answering local calls made to a confidential hotline for people seeking help. The program — 211 Maine — now receives between 5,500 and 7,500 calls per month on needs ranging from assistance with utilities to information on mental health programs.

At most, 15 of those calls will be for gambling addiction, according to Program Director Karen Turgeon.

Little is known about the callers, she said. Some need help themselves, while others are family members or friends trying to help loved ones. She suspects some callers asking for assistance with basic needs might be in predicaments because they’re in gambling debt and unable to meet those needs.

“I think as gambling addiction becomes more recognized and accepted, we may see a change in call volume,” Turgeon said. “You know it’s out there, but it’s not talked about.”

Self-excluded designation

Problem gamblers who recognize their problem but don’t have the self-control to avoid the slots and tables can voluntarily ban themselves from the state’s two casinos by signing up to be placed on a confidential list.

The self-imposed ban prevents them from entering a casino for one, three or five years. There’s also an option for a lifetime ban, which can be removed upon request after five years.

First-time offenders are escorted from the casino, while repeat offenders can be arrested or issued summonses for trespassing. Any winnings are returned to the state.

Jane Hoyt, spokeswoman for the Oxford Casino, said it maintains a copy of the state’s list to identify patrons at entry. Citing the confidential nature of the list, she declined to elaborate how they handle banned people trying to enter, but she said such incidents were rare.

“We do have a moral, social and business responsibility to promote responsible gambling among our employees and patrons,” Hoyt wrote in an email.

Casino employees receive annual training to spot compulsive gambling behavior.   The conference is held in March, which is National Problem Gambling Awareness Month, and the theme in Hallowell this year is “Problem Gambling: Have the Conversation.”

According to Patrick Fleming, executive director of the Gambling Control Board, 142 people — 61 women and 81 men — have signed up to be on the list of self-excluded gamblers. Of those, 137 are from Maine and five are from out of state.

Over half are on the list for a year, and about a fifth are placed on the permanent-ban list. The top three counties that the excluded patrons come from are Penobscot, Androscoggin and Cumberland.

Recovering addicts

Several years ago, Joe Turbessi woke up inside his car, parked in the shadow of the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut, to a worried message from his mother. It was 8 a.m.

For him, it was a turning point.

Turbessi, screaming in anguish, realized he had spent half a decade in pursuit of a gambling lifestyle that had brought him no joy.

A math major at the University of Connecticut, he figured he could calculate and beat the odds at poker, which was then enjoying a burst in popularity with TV stars and shows on ESPN. He wanted to be its next star.

Turbessi had learned the game at age 7 from his grandfather, who was also an addict.

He missed classes, gambling from midnight to dawn. He did not tell his family about the problem, and often lied and said he was away with a girlfriend. He slept during the day, which left him feeling disgusted.

He had become a habitual gambler — he’s wary of the negative connotation “addiction” carries — with $40,000 in losses, though he was less in debt than he could have been because he maintained a steady job.

“I was a little lost and I think that happens to a lot of people,” Turbessi said.

Writing became an outlet, an introspective odyssey he turned into a therapeutic dose of reality. He put the brakes on gambling and his musing formed the basis of an autobiography, published in 2010, titled, “Into the Muck: How Poker Changed My Life.”

“The hardest part was looking at my past actions and realizing they didn’t amount to much,” he said.

On Wednesday, Turbessi, 30, who lives in Connecticut and runs a small business on personal motivation, will give one of two keynote addresses at Maine’s conference on gambling addiction. He’ll focus primarily on youth gambling; Turbessi sees problems on the horizon with online gambling, such as fantasy football.

Gambling runs in his blood. His grandfather’s habit forced his grandmother into early dementia after he gambled away their retirement savings and lived in a car parked outside the casinos in Atlantic City, N.J.

“It’s not talked about a lot,” he said. “It’s hidden where we don’t acknowledge it.” 

He could relate. The allure wasn’t so much pleasure as obsession. Thoughts of gambling were unavoidable. When not gambling, he cataloged strategies for poker hands and tried to find ways to get back inside a casino. The feeling was more pronounced after a loss.

“I’m not going to tell people not to do it,” he said. “That’s fake, and you’re not getting a real experience. But people have to know the perspective of what they’re getting themselves into.” 

[email protected]

Meetings in Maine 

Gamblers Anonymous meets from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. each Tuesday at the YWCA of Central Maine, 130 East Ave., Lewiston.

This is a closed meeting, which means only those with gambling problems or those who think they may have gambling problems and have a desire to stop gambling may attend and participate. This is not for families and friends of gamblers. 

Open meetings that welcome gamblers and their families are held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursdays at Maine Medical Center in Portland. Meetings are held in the Dana Health Education Center, Classroom No. 1, 22 Bramhall St.

To locate other meetings in Maine, go to gamblersanonymous.org (The Brewer program is currently inactive).

Two conferences on problem gambling:

• The annual Maine Conference on Problem Gambling Awareness, hosted by the Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services,  will be held Wednesday, March 11, at the Maple Hill Conference Center in Hallowell. Registration will close when the workshop reaches capacity. The registration fee is $50. 

For more information, go to http://bit.ly/16ZqKIm.

• The National Conference on Problem Gambling, hosted by the Maryland Council on Problem Gambling and the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, will be held in Baltimore on July 10 and 11. The theme for the event is “New Challenges — Creative Solutions.”

For more information, go to www.ncpgambling.org.

Where to go to self-exclude: 

Aroostook County Action Program 
771 Main St.
Presque Isle, ME 04769
(207) 764-3721

Bangor Public Health and Community Services 
103 Texas Ave.
Bangor, ME 04401
(207) 992-4530

Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians
Health and Wellness Center
3 Clover Circle
Houlton, ME 04730
(207) 532-2240

Kennebec Behavioral Health 
5 Commerce Drive 
Skowhegan, ME 04976 
(207) 474-8368

Kennebec Behavioral Health
66 Stone St.
Augusta, ME 04330 
(888) 322-2136

Maine Gambling Control Board
45 Commerce Drive
Augusta, ME 04333
(207) 626-3900

Mid Coast Hospital Behavioral Health 
66 Baribeau Drive, Suite 7
Brunswick ME 04011
(207) 373-6995

Portland City Hall 
389 Congress St., Room 307
Portland, ME 04101 
(207) 756-8116

Stephens Memorial Hospital
181 Main St.
Norway, ME 04268 
(207) 743-5933

Wabanaki Health & Wellness
157 Park St., Suite 5
Bangor, ME 04401
(207) 992-0411

Washington County: One Community
121 Court St. 
Machias, ME 04654 
(207) 255-3741

York Hospital Community Health 
2B Hospital Drive 
York, ME 03909
(207) 351-2659 or (207) 351-3658