Lillie Holstead of Tallulah, a regular at the Isle of Capri casino in Vicksburg, makes a bet at a table game.(Melanie Duncan Thortis)

Fourth of five parts

[9/10/03]]Known as “Miss Lillie” around the boat, Tallulah resident Lillie Holstead has been visiting the Isle of Capri since it opened 10 years ago and says it’s the people who keep her going back.

“My husband and my children don’t give in to me like they do here,” Holstead said. “We all like to be spoiled, whether we admit it or not.”

Holstead, who stands at about 5-feet-tall, can often be found at the blackjack tables trading in new Isle anniversary chips for the older ones. It’s just one of the “funny things” she does.

“It’s got a parrot on it and the sunrise, but it looks like the Rising Sun (of Japan), and I lived through War World II, and I won’t touch it,” Holstead said.

Karen Bottin, senior executive casino host at Ameristar Casino Hotel, said that “funny things” are something most regular gamblers have in common.

“Some guests don’t like to be messed with. Some have little teddy bears they put on the slot machine, and some have angels on their key rings,” Bottin said.

Bottin, a host at Ameristar for six years, said spoiling the customers is hers and other hosts’ purpose.

“They’re there for every beck and call,” she said.

A host can be called on for everything from a bottle of aspirin to arranging a limousine or getting tickets to an event. But sometimes, Bottin said, the most important thing is listening.

“They’re not just customers. They’re friends,” she said. “They treat us like family, and some have to hug me before they leave.”

Nell Young, a criminologist from West Monroe, has been coming to Ameristar for four years and said it’s people like Bottin who keep her coming back.

“I’m not a very heavy gambler, but I’m very loyal to Ameristar,” Young said.

An ordained minister, Young said there is no moral issue for her about gamblingit’s just entertainment.

“My husband says he doesn’t believe in gambling, but he has all of our money in the stock market, and I tell him he’s the definition of a high roller,” she said.

Young said that since she started visiting the casino, she has won more than she has lost. Her winnings have paid for trips and to buy a motorized wheelchair for an elderly friend.

Holstead agreed that gambling is about the entertainment and not winning, but says that in 10 years she’s still not ahead.

“Do you believe in the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy?” Holstead asked. “You lose more than you win, but it’s entertainment.

“They’re taking your money, but they’re smiling while they do it,” she said.

A 1997 report by Mississippi State University to the Mississippi Council on Compulsive Gambling found that gamblers spend between $50 and $180 weekly at casinos. That report also concluded that about 3 percent of the casino customers, or about 85,000 Mississippians, are problem gamblers.

“We’re not just sticking our heads in the sand on that. We’re very aware of it,” said Curt Follmer, general manager of Rainbow Hotel Casino and president of the Mississippi Gaming Association.

To help fight gambling addiction, casinos sponsor the Mississippi Council on Compulsive Gambling and each provides informational brochures on gambling problems and phone numbers to call for help. The casinos also offer customers the opportunity to “self-86,” meaning the person is not allowed on the property again.

Currently, there are 1,500 people from across the state on the list who have asked to be self-excluded. The Mississippi Gaming Commission has also passed new regulations that allow problem gamblers to “self-86” themselves from every state casino with one form.

Although there are few demographic differences between non-problem and problem gamblers in Mississippi, problem gamblers are more likely to be black and never married.

One important difference between nonproblem and problem gamblers is the age at which they start gambling. While the mean age at which nonproblem gamblers in Mississippi started gambling is 34, the mean age for problem and pathological gamblers is 27, according to the Mississippi State University report.

“When somebody does have a problem it’s a lose-lose situation,” said Ray Neilsen, general manager of Ameristar. “We don’t want a person to spend more than they can afford. Moderation is the key.”

An estimated 100,000 visit the four local casinos each week and most of those people come from Warren County or within the state. Last year, about 1.7 million visited Ameristar alone.

According to their marketing information, about 70 percent were from Mississippi, 20 percent from Louisiana, and the remaining 10 percent from the rest of the country and around the world.

Mickey Fedell, marketing director at Rainbow Hotel Casino, said the biggest segment for the casino market in Vicksburg comes from the Jackson metro area.

“Without Jackson, we don’t have four casinos. Vicksburg can’t support four casinos alone,” Fedell said.

Earlier this year, Jim Belisle of Multi-Gaming Management and Lakes Entertainment announced plans to build on a 500-acre site between U.S. 61 South and the Mississippi River. The development is expected to include a golf course and to compete with both local casinos and the Dancing Rabbit Golf Club near Philadelphia, which is owned by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw.

Tomorrow: The future