Nebraska Families Speak Out

Terry Watanabe

"He lost $204 million in a single year. The casinos kept him gambling with free alcohol, painkillers, and round-the-clock access. Then they sued him for the debt."

Terry Watanabe was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. He inherited Oriental Trading Company — the Omaha-based novelty and party supply giant his father founded — and built it into a business generating hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue before selling it in 1999. He was, by any measure, one of the most successful businessmen Nebraska had ever produced.

Linda M.

"I didn't know my son had a gambling problem until the day he called me from jail."

My son was 28 when the casinos opened near Omaha. He had a good job, a girlfriend, an apartment. Within 18 months, he had lost everything — his savings, his relationship, his job. He was stealing from his employer to fund his gambling. I didn't know any of it until the day he called me from jail.

David R.

"At my worst, I was gambling 14 hours a day. I told myself I could stop whenever I wanted."

I'm a 47-year-old accountant. I have a master's degree. I managed other people's money for a living. And I lost $180,000 to slot machines over three years. I tell people that because I want them to understand: this is not about being weak or stupid. The machines are designed to do exactly what they did to me.

Colombo Candy & Tobacco — Omaha, NE

"She earned $62,000 a year. In 2011 alone, she gambled $14.2 million — and the casino kept taking her money."

Caroline Richardson, 54, of Gretna, Nebraska was the controller at Omaha-based Colombo Candy and Tobacco. Her salary: no more than $62,000 a year. Between 2010 and 2012, she embezzled $4.1 million from her employer — and gambled every dollar of it at the casinos in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Teresa and Gary K.

"We remortgaged our house to pay our daughter's gambling debts. We'd do it again. But we shouldn't have had to."

Our daughter started gambling after her divorce. She was lonely and the casino was 20 minutes away. It gave her somewhere to go. Within a year she had $60,000 in debt and was having thoughts of suicide. We remortgaged our house to pay it off. We'd do it again. But we shouldn't have had to.

Marcus T.

"Sports betting made it so easy. I never even had to leave my couch."

I was never a casino person. Then sports betting became legal and I could do it from my phone. Within six months I had lost $40,000. I was betting on games I didn't even care about at 3 in the morning just to have action. It escalated faster than anything I've ever experienced.

Renee S.

"I found out about the gambling the same day I found out about the second mortgage he'd taken out on our home."

My husband and I were married for 22 years before I found out he had a gambling problem. I found out about the gambling the same day I found out about the second mortgage he'd taken out on our home without telling me. We had $240,000 in equity. It was gone.

Anonymous

"I tried to self-exclude three times. The casino let me back in every time."

I enrolled in Nebraska's self-exclusion program twice. Both times I was able to walk back into the casino within weeks. The third time I enrolled, I was told the program had been updated and my previous enrollment had expired. I didn't know that. Nobody told me.

Kevin B.

"I drove two hours to Council Bluffs every weekend for three years. My wife thought I was fishing."

I grew up on a farm outside Kearney. I'm not someone you'd picture with a gambling problem. I drove two hours to Council Bluffs every weekend for three years. My wife thought I was fishing with a buddy from work. I had a whole story — the lake, the truck, the cooler. None of it was true.

Pastor James W.

"In five years of ministry in Hastings, I have counseled more families destroyed by gambling than by any other single cause."

I've been a pastor in Hastings for nearly twenty years. I want to speak plainly: in the last five years, since the casinos expanded, I have counseled more families in crisis because of gambling than because of any other single cause. More than alcohol. More than drugs. More than infidelity. Gambling has become the quiet destroyer of Nebraska family life.

Amber N.

"I was a single mom working two jobs. The casino gave me free play offers every week. I felt like I was winning even when I was losing everything."

I was a single mom in Bellevue working two jobs — days at a dental office, nights at a restaurant. I was exhausted all the time. A coworker took me to the casino for my birthday and I won $400. That felt like a miracle. I went back the next weekend. And the next.

A Fremont Small Business Owner

"My bookkeeper stole $87,000 from me over 18 months. She told the judge she gambled it all away at the casino."

I own a small plumbing and HVAC company in Fremont. I started it from nothing 22 years ago. In 2022, I discovered my bookkeeper of eight years had been stealing from me. By the time I found out, she had taken $87,000 — money I had set aside for equipment upgrades and two new hires. At her sentencing, she told the judge she had gambled every dollar away at a casino in Council Bluffs.

Tom H.

"I came home from two tours in Iraq and found the casino. It was the only place that quieted my head."

I did two tours in Iraq with the Nebraska National Guard. When I came home to North Platte in 2009, I had PTSD that nobody had diagnosed yet. I found the casino. It was loud and bright and it required total concentration. For a few hours, it was the only place that quieted my head. I didn't understand I was self-medicating. I just knew it worked.

Carol and Dennis F.

"We are raising our three grandchildren because their father's gambling destroyed their family. He is a good man. The casino didn't care."

We are in our late 60s and we are raising our three grandchildren — ages 8, 11, and 14 — because their father's gambling addiction destroyed his marriage and his ability to care for them. We want to be clear: our son-in-law is a good man. He is not a bad person. He is a sick person who did not get help in time. The casino did not care about the difference.