Numbers Running

[April 20th, 2005] Using a gambler's logic of studying past track records to handicap a race, bet on video slots to land heaviest in Portland's working-class neighborhoods this year.

As Oregon readies video slots for introduction in July, statistics for the last calendar year in the metro area show less-well-off ZIP codes with far more video-poker options than their wealthier counterparts. The corollary to that factoid: As Oregon's gambling franchise expands, residents in those working-class neighborhoods are gambling away bigger chunks of their smaller incomes.

"Greater accessibility brings a greater number of gamblers,'' says Peter Walsh, program manager for Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare's Gambling Treatment Program.

The 97217 ZIP code in North Portland, which has 49 video-poker outlets, topped Oregon's list for net video-poker sales in 2004 with $19.4 million-or $650 per man, woman and child. That's over a month's rent for a one-bedroom apartment in an area where the last U.S. Census classified nearly one in seven residents as living in poverty.

Compare that with the 97221 ZIP code in Portland's West Hills, where the median income is nearly double that in 97217. Net sales last year from its five video-poker outlets were $1.1 million, or $95 per person.

Oregon's 30 highest-grossing ZIP codes (out of more than 400) generated more than half of last year's entire video-lottery proceeds. Almost two-thirds of those top-30 ZIP codes fall below the state average in per-capita income.

"The retailer sees it as their money, and the school advocates see budget dollars,'' says Jeffrey Marotta, problem-gambling services manager with the Oregon Department of Human Services. "But those are someone's losses."