Minnesota Lottery preying on Minnesotans.

The Minnesota Lottery is working to take more money from Minnesota's problem gamblers.  They're doing this by starting a pilot program placing lottery tickets at ATMs and gas pumps.  The reason this initiative targets problem gamblers is they disproportionately account for a large majority of sales.  It's estimated that 10% of gamblers account for 70 to 80% of video gambling/ lottery sales.

Lottery jackpots are growing bigger more quickly, and ticket sales are soaring all over the country.

Now Minnesota is the first state to make buying tickets even faster, at gas pumps and ATMs.

With a debit card, driver's license and cellphone number, buyers can try their luck at a touch screen. The system is being piloted at nine gas stations and 19 ATMs in the Twin Cities, allowing people to buy quick-pick Powerball and Mega Millions tickets without going inside to a counter. Since October, about $5,260 worth of Powerball tickets have been sold that way.

"People are always in a hurry nowadays," said Minnesota Lottery Executive Director Ed Van Petten. "The thought is it takes 10 to 15 seconds to go through the process, and I think people would say, 'Why not. I'll give it a shot.' "

Andrew Anderson, who works at the BP station at Calhoun Beach in Minneapolis, said in the days leading up to last week's record Powerball drawing, many patrons avoided convenience store counters.

"A lot of people just want to pay at the pump now," Anderson said....

Lottery buyers insert their debit card into the slot used to pay for gasoline. They then select a prompt to buy tickets, choose how many, and after entering a cellphone number and other identification information, a ticket is dispensed with their numbers. A $1 fee is charged for each transaction, and the minimum is three Powerball or five Mega Millions tickets. A text message also is sent to a cellphone with a link to the numbers....

 

The convenient way of buying a lottery ticket arrives when sales in Minnesota already are at an all-time high. Sales for the 2012 fiscal year, which ended June 30, topped $520 million, an increase of $15.6 million from the previous year.

Minnesota was one of at least two dozen states to post record sales over the past year.

For last week's big Powerball jackpot, 130,000 tickets a minute were being sold nationally — about six times the volume two weeks ago.

The large jackpots often cause sales to skyrocket, which means higher revenue for participating states....

 

Andrea Davis, 23, of Minneapolis, was one of them. She only occasionally buys lottery tickets, but the new technology may change that.

"I'd be more apt to buy one if I don't have to come inside," she said. "I usually pay with my debit card at the pump."

Traditionally, a problem gambler had to venture out to casino or go up to a window to buy tickets, now they can do it when they get cash from an ATM or buy gas.

 

The "house" that gambling built.

We all remember the description of Yankee Stadium as the house that Ruth built.  When it comes to the new Vikings stadium, it's fair to describe it as the house that gambling built.  That's because the state's share of $350 million is largely funded from expected tax revenues generated by electronic pulltabs and bingo machines.

We've been vehemently opposed to the expansion of electronic gambling, which is the most predatory form of gambling. Electronic or video gambling is the most addictive form of gambling.  Studies estimate that a third to half of video gambling in casinos comes from just one percent of gamblers - those who are the problem gamblers.  

The state's plan calls for the placement of the electronic gambling devices in at least 2,500 bars and restaurants across the state with 25,000 or more machines used.  That means we'll be blanketing the state with these addictive gambling machines and they'll be used in establishments where alcohol is served.  A bad combination to say the least.

Many have questioned whether the electronic machines will actually generate the revenues they're projecting.  Comments by charitable gambling advocates in the media today only reinforced this concern.  

King Wilson, Executive Director of Allied Charities of Minnesota, said the conference bill retains a split in charitable gaming tax revenue that is less favorable than they wanted: The state would get $59 million per year and the charities would get $13 million.

"Obviously, we're disappointed," Wilson said. "At this level, we're not convinced the machines are going to be economically viable."

Wilson said it may not make sense for organizations to install electronic pull-tab and bingo games at this level of taxation.

"I hope it'll be successful," he said. "I hope we're wrong."

The state depends for its share of the stadium funding on taxing new, electronic forms of charitable gaming. Critics have said the funding mechanism is unproven. 

That's coming from the people who should know, those on the ground in the establishments which are expected to use the machines designed to generate the revenue.

What does this all mean?  If they're right, the legislature will be looking for additional funding sources next year or the year after.  What might they be?  A further expansion of gambling?  Slot machines in bars and restaurants?  State run casinos at the horse tracks and elsewhere?  

What the legislature did this week may well have been sowing the seeds of a massive expansion of gambling in our state.  I certainly hope I'm wrong but I've seen in the past how not only do individauls get addicted to gambling so do policy makers who see it as easy, cost free money.  In reality it's anything but cost free.  It destroys individuals and families and corrupts our culture with a get rich quick mentality.  Video or electronic gambling is a predatory business product which is dependent on indebtedness and addiction to be profitable.