Dealing with gambling problems in Oklahoma

Gambling is becoming big business in Oklahoma, but sometimes gambling can cause big personal problems. <br/><br/>With casinos expanding and a state lottery on the way, one Green Country man wants to

Thursday, June 9th 2005, 10:17 am

By: News On 6

Gambling is becoming big business in Oklahoma, but sometimes gambling can cause big personal problems.

With casinos expanding and a state lottery on the way, one Green Country man wants to help people with gambling problems before all bets are off. News on 6 reporter Omar Villafranca has more.

OAPCG director Dr. Mike Smith: â€œsometimes a person needs to, their recovery comes a little swifter when they call somebody to say I've got a problem and I need some help." Most people know how to have fun at casino, for some people, it can become a problem. And for problem gamblers, getting help was a hand they always lost. "I called the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling and he said 'Mike, you don't have any certified councilors in Oklahoma'."

Dr. Smith heads up the Oklahoma Association of Problem and Compulsive Gambling. The Tulsa-based chapter will train the first councilors to help gamblers in need. And Dr. Smith thinks that with a state lottery on the way and horse racing getting bigger in the state, trained councilors will be needed. "I think the problem is significant and I think it's going to grow and grow and we're going to do everything we can to take care of these problems with people and their families."

Dr. Smith says the state was slow in setting up help for gamblers, but he expects to have as many as 400 councilors trained and ready to help in one year.