Casinos exploit the poor, argues Barbara Dafoe Whitehead in a recent New York Times op-ed, "Gaming the Poor."
How do they do this? She explains:
The casinos' method is to induce low-income gamblers to make a huge number of small bets per visit, to visit the casino several times per month, or even per week, and to sustain this pattern over a period of years.
She points to a study from the University at Buffalo and SUNY Buffalo State that offers new evidence along these lines.
The Daily Circuit catches up with Whitehead on why casinos pose a threat to the poor.
Listen to This American Life producer Sarah Koenig's story about a woman who sued the casino where she lost her inheritance, saying that the casino was to blame, not her: