Hollywood Casino supports Responsible Gaming Education Week | Business

Information provided by Hollywood Casino Tunica

On Monday, August 2, 2010 Hollywood Casino® Tunica will launch its week long “Bust the Slot Myths” educational campaign to support the American Gaming Association’s Responsible Gaming Education Week held August 2 – 6. 

This year’s American Gaming Association’s (AGA) theme, “Taking the Mystery Out of the Slot Machine,” will focus on educating casino employees and the public about how slot machines work and correcting some of the misconceptions about them. Understanding how casino games work is a key component of responsible gaming, and helping gaming employees learn more about how slot machines work is an important part of empowering them to educate casino patrons about what it means to keep it fun.

Slot machines are an important part of casino industry.  Currently, there are nearly 833,000 electronic gaming machines in 38 states. Slot machines make up almost 70 percent of gaming floors nationwide, and all commercial casino states receive at least 65 percent of their revenues from them.  They also are consistently the most popular casino game in the AGA’s yearly public opinion survey.  However, despite their popularity and ubiquitous nature, there is a persistent air of mystery about how slot machines work – for casino patrons and employees alike.  To help remedy this, Hollywood Casino Tunica is using information provided by the AGA to launch an awareness and education campaign this August. 

As part of that support Hollywood Casino has planned a “Bust the Slot Myths” campaign to add a little element of fun to this serious subject of how slot machines actually work and clearing up the myths surrounding slot machines. Throughout the entire week, guests and the public will be encouraged to become educated and understand the significance of responsible gaming.  Events on property will include an employee poster contest with cash prizes judged by civic and political leaders, a presentation by Hollywood Casino’s General Manager, Anthony Carlucci and his executive team, a luncheon, week-long puzzle contests with gift card prizes, and days dedicated for employees to wear their responsible gaming t-shirts to help stress the importance to patrons.

Hollywood Casino Tunica and its corporate entity, Penn National Gaming, Inc, support the American Gaming Association’s responsible gaming commitment throughout the year with employee training, on-property signage and ongoing communications.  Each year the American Gaming Association (AGA) the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) and casino and gaming companies across North America come together to help encourage guests, employees and the general public to become knowledgeable on responsible gaming.  This year’s 13th annual Responsible Gaming Education Week (RGEW) is scheduled for August 2-6 and the theme “Bust the Slot Myths” encourages all people to learn how slot machines really work and discuss responsible gaming at home, on the job and in the community.