Many callers into Ohio’s problem-gambling helpline are interpreting “helpline” to mean help with gambling more successfully. The hotline was opened when the state started opening casinos last year and has received 5,645 calls at the end of the state’s fiscal year on June 30. However, 54% of the calls were labeled as “not applicable” because they were inquiries about winning lottery numbers or information on local casinos and horse tracks. The state has now taken action by leaving a recorded message on the hotline that lets callers know they are calling a number for people seeking help with problem gambling. “We want it to be the best value, obviously, for the taxpayer,” says Stacey Frohnapfel-Hasson, chief of problem-gambling services for the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. “That’s not, ‘What’s on the buffet?'” The hotline number is also posted on lottery tickets, slot machines and advertisements. Statistics from October 2012 show less than 3% of adults in Ohio are problem gamblers or at risk of problem gamblers, but that number is expected to rise now that casinos are in the state. However, only 6% of Ohioans reported that their preferred gambling method was in a casino; 72% preferred lottery and scratch-off games.
