November 16, 2025 • 22 mins
In this essential episode of Qué Pasa Boston, Gabriela Salas speaks with Víctor Ortiz, Director of the Office of Problem Gambling Services. In this episode, Victor talks about his Puerto Rican background, living in Boston, his first lessons with racism at Fenway Park, and also shares ways to talk with family and friends about gambling without pointing fingers or shaming. This interview grounds the reality: gambling is part of our social life... and it can also become a problem if we don't understand the risks and the signs.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, Boston, how are you today? This morning, I have
a special guest. As usual, all my guests are special,
but today I'm going to talk about something very personal.
Maybe this is something that relates to you too. Because
I have a mother that loves the slot machines. She
goes to the casino and she loves to gamble and
(00:21):
also call me and tell me that she's won thousands
and thousands and thousands of dollars. And when I go
there to help her, I realize that she's got a lot,
a lot of pennies.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
And so my mom has taught me what not to
do when you go to the casino.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And for that reason, I have actually observed the race
in awareness of what's happening here in Massachusetts, especially in
the gambling side of things. It could be a great business,
a great job opportunity for people to have here in
the state, but also that creates a lot of side
of it, and our city is struggling a little bit
(01:03):
or if not a lot, on what's happening with the
gambling addiction. And for that purpose, I have mister Victor
Or Teas with me today.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Come and starts Victor.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Welcome, nice to be here with you.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Thank you so much for coming. But to start, I
would love to learn more about you.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Where do you come from?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Well, originally it was I was born here in Boston.
My family's originally from Puerto Rico, specifically Nice and so
my family we're originally from Puerto Rico. I was born
and raised here in Boston. I spent my entire life here,
both living and working here in Boston.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And what brought you to Boston?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
I mean, like your family just decided all of a sudden,
like I'm moving to Boston and that's it.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
No, my father, my father came here first and he
was a migrant worker in Florida or there was like
a Disney World of Disneyland was over there, and you know,
through the years him and my mom sort of them
sort of came up and settled in Boston.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
How do you like it here?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I mean I was born here and I you know,
the city is a great city. It has its challenges,
but you know it's a city that I was born around.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
So where did you go to school?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I went to school to Boston Latin School, Original, I
went Nice. I had some difficulties in my childhood regards
to education. I had a maybe a little bit of
a trouble past, which I did.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
And which makes you human, It makes me human, yes.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And so then I sort of transitioned from different high
schools and then I went to college. I went to
Anna Maria College and then I finished my master's work
at Simmons College School social Work. So I always been
I've always been passionate about social work and social justice,
even when I was a kid and a young person.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
So I love that about you.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
So I came here twenty five years ago, believe it
or not, it's in a.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
While my age.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
And when I got here, the Latinos were not as
represented as we are today. How was it for you
being in Boston? So I should you know, not as
diverse ay as it shows today.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
How was it growing up?
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Well, first of all, it was definitely an experience because
when I was as growing up as a kid, I
lived in specific in Boston, I lived in Dorchester and
Roxbury on Dudley Street, which was predominantly a Puerto Rican neighborhood,
and so I sort of obviously was born there and
(03:37):
raised there things that nature. That was fine, But it
was until I went to school that you started to
see the difference. Yes, you started to see that sort
of racial divide. And I and my father took me
to the first Red Sox game when I was a kid,
and I think was like eighty three, I believe, and
the first conversation he had with me when we were
going into the Frameway Park was to say, there's gonna
be people that don't look like us. And he that
(04:00):
had the race conversation with me, and that always stuck
to me, right, And so it was always challenging in Boston.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Because I feel now that you go to a Red
Sox game and Alex Korda manager, Hey, he's Puerto Rican,
that's a big representation of where you were.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Just check that story.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
You come from a place where your father actually had
to say be careful because it's not going to be relatable.
And now you go to a Red Sox game and
it's mostly Latino players, and now our manager is.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Alex Corda, who's Boriqua as well. I love that story.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
It is Alex go Boricua. But my father's last name
is Korda as well.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
So I'm going to ask for your autograph.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
So there might be some familial element there in the
trees somewhere. So it's it's you know, obviously, you know,
looking back at it as a kid coming all the way,
you know, moving fifty something years. You know, as Latinos,
we've made a lot of progress in the city. And
we see a lot of stuff that we still need
to address, but we made a lot of progress.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
How did you get into the government role?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Like, how was your career? Where did you start?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Well, I've always I've always been passionate about social justice, yes,
and I came across the issue of gambling by accident,
and and I've always spent my entire career focusing on
addiction and mental health and it and but in the
core of everything I've done has always been about promoting
equity and about promoting social justice. And it was about
(05:27):
fifteen years ago someone pulled me in as a consultant
to say, hey, we need to do some work around
consulting around some work around social justice and equity. And
I said, what's the topic And the person said gambling.
I said gambling really? And it was not known, not
talked about, and I said wow. But then as I
started to get into it, I became fascinated about how
(05:48):
interconnected it is to so many other social issues. Yes,
and the fact that Latinos and people of color disproportioning
impacted in regards to problem gambling and totally not aware
about the risk relating to gambling. So I started to say, well,
this is a really thing that we need to get
behind and educate our community around. And then as that
(06:09):
started to evolve, the legislation came about around casino and expansion,
and then there was opportunities at the state level regards
to the government, and I was asked to, hey, we
need to support because at the time I was the
only one doing education around this topic.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
So I'm gonna I'm very intrigued with this because maybe
in Mexican and my daughters half Dominican, I've lived in
this you know state with a lot of Caribbean background.
In the Caribbean background brings you to dominoes.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
O see Okay, yes, yes, so when.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
You're playing dominoes, you're gambling.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yes, So most people do not acknowledge the fact that
when you're playing a game and you're actually betting, that's
an issue. Right, Well, it's not an issue. So it's
cultural for us. It's cultural. It doesn't go beyond that. Dominoes,
but nowadays we were also dealing with online gambling. So
it's not just they're going to the casino betting on
(07:08):
the slot machines, that blackjacks and the roulettes and whatnot,
but it's also, you know, dealing within the family, like
oh now I'm playing dominoes and people get into.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Real big d like god, be cool.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
You know, I grew up as a kid. I grew
up in social clubs. Yes, and you know because my
father and I are really close and I spent as
a kid growing up. I was always in social clubs.
So where you where I witnessed the gambling would happen,
but there was a social element associated with it. So
why people were gambling, there's a socialization that happens with it.
(07:42):
And then my father loved the horse track, so I now,
they grew up in Boston, but I spent a lot
of time myselfing downs as a kid with my dad,
and so my first orientation around this topic is really
around my father and my experience with my dad and
just seeing the gambling in the community. But there was
a lot of socialization, and now what you see is
(08:03):
a totally different element because now with the whole technology
and you know, these smartphones and things of that nature.
You just start to see it at a different level
than what I'm accustomed to seeing as a kid when
I was growing up. So I always tell people I'm
not against the and not against gambling. People do participate,
and they do it socially, which is fine. But what
(08:25):
we're trying to do is to raise awareness that there
is risk and to be aware of your risk.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Victor.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
I used to work for the liquor industry for many,
many years, and one of the calls that I used
to make to the liquor stores or the chains, I
remember seeing women men the paycheck day or pay day
making life like in line to buy scratch tickets.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
That's gambling.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yes, that's definitely gambling.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
How can we prevent that?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
How can you make some awareness of Like, guys, you're
just receiving your money and it's going out the door
as like it was eight o'clock in the morning, and
that people were already waiting for the stores to be
open to spend that money.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
It is the dark side. This is why you know,
when we talk about gambling, especially when it gets to
a problematic state, it's called problem gambling. It's what it's
called the hidden addiction, right that no one sees it.
And when you start to dig deeper to why people
are so involving gambling, is that what we do know
is that over ninety eight percent of people who have
(09:32):
a problem with gambling will have a significant distress with
gambling had a pre existing mental health or substance use issue. See,
So it's not in isolation. So the question becomes why
are people gambling at so intensively? And it might be
other things that are going on in their lives.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
So it's not the hope of like solving your problems financially,
because I can see a lot of people saying like, oh,
whenever I win the lottery or my scratch ticket is
going to make you know the different and for these
month's rent spill or whatever it is.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
I mean, there is some element to that, right, There
is some association to that. Because we also know that
the two leading risk factors for people that you know
are sort of go from like social gambling to more
problematic is low education attainment and low economic status. So
the element of poverty cannot be dismissed. Right, People have
a you know this desire, right, about make you know,
(10:26):
income and money and what that can do to solve
my stressors and my issues and things of that nature.
So there's some realness to that. I mean, I deal
with it all the time, right I'm in the community,
I'm talking to people, and how many conversations I had
with people say, man, victim, when I hit the mega
the mega million, this is what I'm gonna do. Because
people are always in that fantasy about what they can
do with the money. But at the end, at the
same time, what we also know is that people are
(10:48):
dealing with major problematic issues, whether it's mental health.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
When you say mental health, people get scared. Because I
have to remind our audience, especially Latinos, we are very
prone to say no, esta's loco, you're not crazy. So
I remember, like my parents and you know, if you
have mental health or depression or you name it, they
(11:15):
will say, like, you don't need a psychologist because you're
not crazy.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
And it's a taboo. Right. So now, when you have.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
That cultural you know, it's like a fight against you,
you know, within when you're trying to establish that you
have an issue. But then you have your parents or
your grandparents or the people around you telling you that no,
you don't have to go to a psychologist or book
or look for help or resources. How do you educate
(11:47):
you know, that segment of audience saying like, it's okay
to look for help. Yeah, you're not crazy, you're just
you know, division in seratonin, or maybe you're just dealing
with some pece or whatever. How can we assure our
community that they can look for help and make sure
that they're feeling worth it and that it's okay.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
To look for that help, you know people, And it's
a great point. And one of the things that we
try to do through our work is to say, let's
just have the conversation. Let's just start there. Yes, let's
just stimulate conversation. If we can stimulate conversations among community members,
then awareness starts because then people can connect with you
because we have a profound trust to the people that
(12:33):
we are in relationship with.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
How do you do that when you have draft kings
and all these advertising all over the place, Because this
is a consumer basis, you know, type of environment.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
So wherever I turn around, I see gambling.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Everywhere, whether it is the lottery, the billion whatever, the
scratch tickets, and like how do you deal with it?
Even going to South Station. I remember back in the day,
you know, DraftKings had everything around that just branded. How
do you get away from that and how do you
start a conversation saying like it's okay.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Well, the thing that's first of all in regards to
what we see in regards to the media and the advertisement,
we have been under a tsunami of advertisement through the
various different entities that are that are promoting sports betting.
But it still have our responsibility at the Department of
Public Health to say, okay, in light of the tsunami
that's happening, we have a responsibility to lead the public
(13:31):
health response. And so how do we do that? And
one of the things that I am so grateful for
that that's who I am at the cous of person,
is that I believe in communities and I believe that
if we put the faith in communities and put the
resources in people, then they can be able to be
able to lead and resolve and really build their own communities.
(13:52):
And this is what we've done. And so you know,
since twenty sixteen, we've engaged over three thousand resident with
over twenty three programs, and we've invested over sixty six
million dollars in communities, and so we are proud of
that work right in the context of putting that putting
the faith in communities. And so even though the tsunami
(14:14):
of advertisement is real, we have a responsibility to say,
let's continue to make sure that we work with our
community partners, work with like minds, work with people to
continue to raise awareness that problem.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Let's go to the core, Victor, how can I identify
that I have a problem or that you have a problem,
because I'm obviously going to say, like I don't have
a problem, Like I just enjoy it. I'm going there
because it would be like going to the theater, Like
I'm spending two hundred dollars here, but it would be
my entertainment. How do I know that I am a gambler?
Speaker 3 (14:51):
You know, as I mentioned earlier, it's a hidden addiction.
And I always tell people we are not against gambling.
If people who want to gamble and gamble social and
that is a choice that they've made. That's a choice
that a person has a right to make. But know
your risk. If you are a person who has a
history of mental health and or substance abuse issues, you
(15:14):
should be alert that you could potentially develop a problem
with gambling.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Usually you don't, but if.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
You have that history, if you're you know, because most
there's a lot of group of people that I know
that are recovery from substance abuse that are unaware that
gambling is an addiction. Gotcha, do you see what I'm saying?
So they in recovery from subst abuse but have no
idea that gambling is an addiction. They're like, oh, victim
going to the casino. I'm like, you're in recovery. Do
you know that this is a risk before you make
the joys? Also, if you are gambling, like you said,
(15:43):
if you're in the middle gambling and you realize I
no longer want to attend family events, I'm no longer
interested in things that used to give me pleasure and
activities and things of that nature. If I no longer
you know, going to work or whatever the case may be,
or pursuing those things, or are you experiencing a lot
of anxieties or preocy patient with gambling, then it might
be time just taped.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
To reach out all all of a sudden, I lost
my home. I have a problem.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I always tell people I always say, you don't wait
to have you know, you can always call a helpline,
which is one hundred three two seven five five old.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Repeat that, one hundred three two.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Seven five oh five Oh. That is our helpline. And
that helpline is there for various different purposes. If you're
just concerned and just have some questions, call the help.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Can I call for a friend.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Exactly if you're a family member friend, if you're a
family member or a loved one who you feel like, hey,
I got I got somebody who I'm concerned about. It's
there to be a resource for the comonwalth of Massachusetts.
It's a central resource for education, awareness, support, and whatever
people may need. That is the number to call, and
that's one eight hundred three two seven five oh five O.
(16:50):
Just call the helpline.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Victor.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
When you're talking about community, because you mentioned your social justice,
where does that start and where does that end?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Right?
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Because obviously companies and the casinos and all these businesses
also are providing some sort of stability, financial stability for
the state. Where is the line where you say, like, yeah,
you're allowed to work in this segment or industry and
at the same time, you know, you have to be
(17:22):
responsible with others and then tell them you know that
they have an issue or at some point. You know,
if I were a manager of a place like that,
I would feel some sort of responsibility too. Where do
they have, you know, a way of telling some of
their clients like you shouldn't be here, like like alcohol right,
(17:43):
that's call and this is it, or I'm not serving
you again?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
What happens with gambling?
Speaker 3 (17:48):
You know. One of the things about this work in Massachusetts,
it's sort of divided in different segments, and so the
mass Gaming Commission is the regulatory body who provides the
regulation oversight with the industry about the dudes and the
don'ts in regards to what happens in regards to the
industry itself, and we have a great relationship working with them.
(18:08):
Our role at the Department of Public Health is to
lead the public health response. Is to make sure that
outside of those doors of the casino, that the community
is aware about the risk, that people are aware that
if you need help and if you're struggling with gambling,
that treatment is available for people. Is to be able
to put resources in community so that community programming can
(18:29):
happen for young people. For example, we spent a lot
of money and resources for young people to be empowered
and to have education and awareness and to do various
different things that raises awareness around this issue. So our
job is really and our focus it's outside the walls
of those casinos and working with our regulators to if
there are things that we see that we feel like
(18:50):
it's that they should consider think about. We have always
have an open Something that.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Called my attention is that even though your research says
that men of color are at the higher risk of
becoming an addict or a gambling addict, I mean I
see women all over the place and for me visually,
and what I've noticed is that women actually have more
(19:17):
in my personal opinion on my perspective, Is that true?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Is it just the men of care?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Well, no, We're seen over the last maybe over the
last ten to fifteen years, there's been a rise in
the number of women who are now engaged in gambling,
and they actually engage in gambling and develop problems with
gambling later in a later that's later, in years later
and years than men. But we're starting to see more
(19:46):
of that and specifically what we're seeing now because of
sports betting is we're seeing a lot of young men
engaged and really young men engaged in gambling.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Wow, how do we prevent that?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
I think, to me, I think we're in this. I
think I always I've shared with people that we are
in a really in a space and time in regards
to gaming that we've never.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Experienced, and I imagine now with AI and chat, GPT
and all of that is even worse. Right because you
probably can ask that question is like where should I
be betting? What is the opportunity that I have a
higher advantage or whatnot?
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Have you seen an increase on that?
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Well, what we've seen is that the technology and the
advancement of technology has made the gamling experience really different
than what it used to be ten years ago, even fifteen,
twenty years ago. And because of that is the reason
why we say that problem gambling is a public health issue,
and that as we think about moving forward, we have
(20:50):
to continue only to raise awareness, but really work with
our policy makers and many of our stakeholders to say
we need to continue to wrap our hands around this
issue because it is growing, it is manifesting, and it's
becoming more of a problem than ever before. When we
think about sports betting, I mean it used to be
that you can watch a game right and consume that
(21:10):
and just watch any game that you would like whatever. Nowadays,
the conversation is not just about the game and who's
pitching or whatever. It's about what the odds are and
what the bet is. And so the whole culture sports
is changing, right, and so what's and odds.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Being such a sports state, like you have the majority
of the teams that are so well known around the world,
and now you have these sports betting they go here
in Massachusetts, that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
So it becomes more of a challenge. But ultimately our
role is to raise a witness to let people know
that this can become a problem. That if people choose
to participate, they can participate, but know your risk. Know
your risk. And if you or a loved one or
someone is experiencing some level of distress with gambling or
just concern that maybe you're too engaged or maybe hey,
(21:57):
there's something that is not right, please reach out for help.
Call the helpline. It's one in one hundred three two
seventy five O five. Oh call the helpline and get
some information so that you can be able to get
some support.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Victor, I appreciate so much you being here. It's a
pleasure learning about your social justice commitment, especially with US Latinos,
and having you on a on a top job like
you have as an executive running this gambling pursuit of
health and public safety.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
It's really impressive.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
So thank you so much for being here with us,
yellow Saba Mihinte Accordon said the Bahar just download that
I Heart app and pre select Capasa.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Poston as your favorite podcast.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Will hear from you If you have a gambling problem,
you know what to do. If you know of somebody,
you know where to call, and you know that Pasa
Poston is bringing you the resources to make you a
better person and a better community here in Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Talk to you soon.
Hello, Boston, how are you today? This morning, I have
a special guest. As usual, all my guests are special,
but today I'm going to talk about something very personal.
Maybe this is something that relates to you too. Because
I have a mother that loves the slot machines. She
goes to the casino and she loves to gamble and
(00:21):
also call me and tell me that she's won thousands
and thousands and thousands of dollars. And when I go
there to help her, I realize that she's got a lot,
a lot of pennies.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
And so my mom has taught me what not to
do when you go to the casino.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And for that reason, I have actually observed the race
in awareness of what's happening here in Massachusetts, especially in
the gambling side of things. It could be a great business,
a great job opportunity for people to have here in
the state, but also that creates a lot of side
of it, and our city is struggling a little bit
(01:03):
or if not a lot, on what's happening with the
gambling addiction. And for that purpose, I have mister Victor
Or Teas with me today.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Come and starts Victor.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Welcome, nice to be here with you.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Thank you so much for coming. But to start, I
would love to learn more about you.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Where do you come from?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Well, originally it was I was born here in Boston.
My family's originally from Puerto Rico, specifically Nice and so
my family we're originally from Puerto Rico. I was born
and raised here in Boston. I spent my entire life here,
both living and working here in Boston.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And what brought you to Boston?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
I mean, like your family just decided all of a sudden,
like I'm moving to Boston and that's it.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
No, my father, my father came here first and he
was a migrant worker in Florida or there was like
a Disney World of Disneyland was over there, and you know,
through the years him and my mom sort of them
sort of came up and settled in Boston.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
How do you like it here?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I mean I was born here and I you know,
the city is a great city. It has its challenges,
but you know it's a city that I was born around.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
So where did you go to school?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I went to school to Boston Latin School, Original, I
went Nice. I had some difficulties in my childhood regards
to education. I had a maybe a little bit of
a trouble past, which I did.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
And which makes you human, It makes me human, yes.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And so then I sort of transitioned from different high
schools and then I went to college. I went to
Anna Maria College and then I finished my master's work
at Simmons College School social Work. So I always been
I've always been passionate about social work and social justice,
even when I was a kid and a young person.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
So I love that about you.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
So I came here twenty five years ago, believe it
or not, it's in a.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
While my age.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
And when I got here, the Latinos were not as
represented as we are today. How was it for you
being in Boston? So I should you know, not as
diverse ay as it shows today.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
How was it growing up?
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Well, first of all, it was definitely an experience because
when I was as growing up as a kid, I
lived in specific in Boston, I lived in Dorchester and
Roxbury on Dudley Street, which was predominantly a Puerto Rican neighborhood,
and so I sort of obviously was born there and
(03:37):
raised there things that nature. That was fine, But it
was until I went to school that you started to
see the difference. Yes, you started to see that sort
of racial divide. And I and my father took me
to the first Red Sox game when I was a kid,
and I think was like eighty three, I believe, and
the first conversation he had with me when we were
going into the Frameway Park was to say, there's gonna
be people that don't look like us. And he that
(04:00):
had the race conversation with me, and that always stuck
to me, right, And so it was always challenging in Boston.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Because I feel now that you go to a Red
Sox game and Alex Korda manager, Hey, he's Puerto Rican,
that's a big representation of where you were.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Just check that story.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
You come from a place where your father actually had
to say be careful because it's not going to be relatable.
And now you go to a Red Sox game and
it's mostly Latino players, and now our manager is.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Alex Corda, who's Boriqua as well. I love that story.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
It is Alex go Boricua. But my father's last name
is Korda as well.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
So I'm going to ask for your autograph.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
So there might be some familial element there in the
trees somewhere. So it's it's you know, obviously, you know,
looking back at it as a kid coming all the way,
you know, moving fifty something years. You know, as Latinos,
we've made a lot of progress in the city. And
we see a lot of stuff that we still need
to address, but we made a lot of progress.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
How did you get into the government role?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Like, how was your career? Where did you start?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Well, I've always I've always been passionate about social justice, yes,
and I came across the issue of gambling by accident,
and and I've always spent my entire career focusing on
addiction and mental health and it and but in the
core of everything I've done has always been about promoting
equity and about promoting social justice. And it was about
(05:27):
fifteen years ago someone pulled me in as a consultant
to say, hey, we need to do some work around
consulting around some work around social justice and equity. And
I said, what's the topic And the person said gambling.
I said gambling really? And it was not known, not
talked about, and I said wow. But then as I
started to get into it, I became fascinated about how
(05:48):
interconnected it is to so many other social issues. Yes,
and the fact that Latinos and people of color disproportioning
impacted in regards to problem gambling and totally not aware
about the risk relating to gambling. So I started to say, well,
this is a really thing that we need to get
behind and educate our community around. And then as that
(06:09):
started to evolve, the legislation came about around casino and expansion,
and then there was opportunities at the state level regards
to the government, and I was asked to, hey, we
need to support because at the time I was the
only one doing education around this topic.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
So I'm gonna I'm very intrigued with this because maybe
in Mexican and my daughters half Dominican, I've lived in
this you know state with a lot of Caribbean background.
In the Caribbean background brings you to dominoes.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
O see Okay, yes, yes, so when.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
You're playing dominoes, you're gambling.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yes, So most people do not acknowledge the fact that
when you're playing a game and you're actually betting, that's
an issue. Right, Well, it's not an issue. So it's
cultural for us. It's cultural. It doesn't go beyond that. Dominoes,
but nowadays we were also dealing with online gambling. So
it's not just they're going to the casino betting on
(07:08):
the slot machines, that blackjacks and the roulettes and whatnot,
but it's also, you know, dealing within the family, like
oh now I'm playing dominoes and people get into.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Real big d like god, be cool.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
You know, I grew up as a kid. I grew
up in social clubs. Yes, and you know because my
father and I are really close and I spent as
a kid growing up. I was always in social clubs.
So where you where I witnessed the gambling would happen,
but there was a social element associated with it. So
why people were gambling, there's a socialization that happens with it.
(07:42):
And then my father loved the horse track, so I now,
they grew up in Boston, but I spent a lot
of time myselfing downs as a kid with my dad,
and so my first orientation around this topic is really
around my father and my experience with my dad and
just seeing the gambling in the community. But there was
a lot of socialization, and now what you see is
(08:03):
a totally different element because now with the whole technology
and you know, these smartphones and things of that nature.
You just start to see it at a different level
than what I'm accustomed to seeing as a kid when
I was growing up. So I always tell people I'm
not against the and not against gambling. People do participate,
and they do it socially, which is fine. But what
(08:25):
we're trying to do is to raise awareness that there
is risk and to be aware of your risk.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Victor.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
I used to work for the liquor industry for many,
many years, and one of the calls that I used
to make to the liquor stores or the chains, I
remember seeing women men the paycheck day or pay day
making life like in line to buy scratch tickets.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
That's gambling.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yes, that's definitely gambling.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
How can we prevent that?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
How can you make some awareness of Like, guys, you're
just receiving your money and it's going out the door
as like it was eight o'clock in the morning, and
that people were already waiting for the stores to be
open to spend that money.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
It is the dark side. This is why you know,
when we talk about gambling, especially when it gets to
a problematic state, it's called problem gambling. It's what it's
called the hidden addiction, right that no one sees it.
And when you start to dig deeper to why people
are so involving gambling, is that what we do know
is that over ninety eight percent of people who have
(09:32):
a problem with gambling will have a significant distress with
gambling had a pre existing mental health or substance use issue. See,
So it's not in isolation. So the question becomes why
are people gambling at so intensively? And it might be
other things that are going on in their lives.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
So it's not the hope of like solving your problems financially,
because I can see a lot of people saying like, oh,
whenever I win the lottery or my scratch ticket is
going to make you know the different and for these
month's rent spill or whatever it is.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
I mean, there is some element to that, right, There
is some association to that. Because we also know that
the two leading risk factors for people that you know
are sort of go from like social gambling to more
problematic is low education attainment and low economic status. So
the element of poverty cannot be dismissed. Right, People have
a you know this desire, right, about make you know,
(10:26):
income and money and what that can do to solve
my stressors and my issues and things of that nature.
So there's some realness to that. I mean, I deal
with it all the time, right I'm in the community,
I'm talking to people, and how many conversations I had
with people say, man, victim, when I hit the mega
the mega million, this is what I'm gonna do. Because
people are always in that fantasy about what they can
do with the money. But at the end, at the
same time, what we also know is that people are
(10:48):
dealing with major problematic issues, whether it's mental health.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
When you say mental health, people get scared. Because I
have to remind our audience, especially Latinos, we are very
prone to say no, esta's loco, you're not crazy. So
I remember, like my parents and you know, if you
have mental health or depression or you name it, they
(11:15):
will say, like, you don't need a psychologist because you're
not crazy.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
And it's a taboo. Right. So now, when you have.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
That cultural you know, it's like a fight against you,
you know, within when you're trying to establish that you
have an issue. But then you have your parents or
your grandparents or the people around you telling you that no,
you don't have to go to a psychologist or book
or look for help or resources. How do you educate
(11:47):
you know, that segment of audience saying like, it's okay
to look for help. Yeah, you're not crazy, you're just
you know, division in seratonin, or maybe you're just dealing
with some pece or whatever. How can we assure our
community that they can look for help and make sure
that they're feeling worth it and that it's okay.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
To look for that help, you know people, And it's
a great point. And one of the things that we
try to do through our work is to say, let's
just have the conversation. Let's just start there. Yes, let's
just stimulate conversation. If we can stimulate conversations among community members,
then awareness starts because then people can connect with you
because we have a profound trust to the people that
(12:33):
we are in relationship with.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
How do you do that when you have draft kings
and all these advertising all over the place, Because this
is a consumer basis, you know, type of environment.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
So wherever I turn around, I see gambling.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Everywhere, whether it is the lottery, the billion whatever, the
scratch tickets, and like how do you deal with it?
Even going to South Station. I remember back in the day,
you know, DraftKings had everything around that just branded. How
do you get away from that and how do you
start a conversation saying like it's okay.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Well, the thing that's first of all in regards to
what we see in regards to the media and the advertisement,
we have been under a tsunami of advertisement through the
various different entities that are that are promoting sports betting.
But it still have our responsibility at the Department of
Public Health to say, okay, in light of the tsunami
that's happening, we have a responsibility to lead the public
(13:31):
health response. And so how do we do that? And
one of the things that I am so grateful for
that that's who I am at the cous of person,
is that I believe in communities and I believe that
if we put the faith in communities and put the
resources in people, then they can be able to be
able to lead and resolve and really build their own communities.
(13:52):
And this is what we've done. And so you know,
since twenty sixteen, we've engaged over three thousand resident with
over twenty three programs, and we've invested over sixty six
million dollars in communities, and so we are proud of
that work right in the context of putting that putting
the faith in communities. And so even though the tsunami
(14:14):
of advertisement is real, we have a responsibility to say,
let's continue to make sure that we work with our
community partners, work with like minds, work with people to
continue to raise awareness that problem.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Let's go to the core, Victor, how can I identify
that I have a problem or that you have a problem,
because I'm obviously going to say, like I don't have
a problem, Like I just enjoy it. I'm going there
because it would be like going to the theater, Like
I'm spending two hundred dollars here, but it would be
my entertainment. How do I know that I am a gambler?
Speaker 3 (14:51):
You know, as I mentioned earlier, it's a hidden addiction.
And I always tell people we are not against gambling.
If people who want to gamble and gamble social and
that is a choice that they've made. That's a choice
that a person has a right to make. But know
your risk. If you are a person who has a
history of mental health and or substance abuse issues, you
(15:14):
should be alert that you could potentially develop a problem
with gambling.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Usually you don't, but if.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
You have that history, if you're you know, because most
there's a lot of group of people that I know
that are recovery from substance abuse that are unaware that
gambling is an addiction. Gotcha, do you see what I'm saying?
So they in recovery from subst abuse but have no
idea that gambling is an addiction. They're like, oh, victim
going to the casino. I'm like, you're in recovery. Do
you know that this is a risk before you make
the joys? Also, if you are gambling, like you said,
(15:43):
if you're in the middle gambling and you realize I
no longer want to attend family events, I'm no longer
interested in things that used to give me pleasure and
activities and things of that nature. If I no longer
you know, going to work or whatever the case may be,
or pursuing those things, or are you experiencing a lot
of anxieties or preocy patient with gambling, then it might
be time just taped.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
To reach out all all of a sudden, I lost
my home. I have a problem.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I always tell people I always say, you don't wait
to have you know, you can always call a helpline,
which is one hundred three two seven five five old.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Repeat that, one hundred three two.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Seven five oh five Oh. That is our helpline. And
that helpline is there for various different purposes. If you're
just concerned and just have some questions, call the help.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Can I call for a friend.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Exactly if you're a family member friend, if you're a
family member or a loved one who you feel like, hey,
I got I got somebody who I'm concerned about. It's
there to be a resource for the comonwalth of Massachusetts.
It's a central resource for education, awareness, support, and whatever
people may need. That is the number to call, and
that's one eight hundred three two seven five oh five O.
(16:50):
Just call the helpline.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Victor.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
When you're talking about community, because you mentioned your social justice,
where does that start and where does that end?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Right?
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Because obviously companies and the casinos and all these businesses
also are providing some sort of stability, financial stability for
the state. Where is the line where you say, like, yeah,
you're allowed to work in this segment or industry and
at the same time, you know, you have to be
(17:22):
responsible with others and then tell them you know that
they have an issue or at some point. You know,
if I were a manager of a place like that,
I would feel some sort of responsibility too. Where do
they have, you know, a way of telling some of
their clients like you shouldn't be here, like like alcohol right,
(17:43):
that's call and this is it, or I'm not serving
you again?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
What happens with gambling?
Speaker 3 (17:48):
You know. One of the things about this work in Massachusetts,
it's sort of divided in different segments, and so the
mass Gaming Commission is the regulatory body who provides the
regulation oversight with the industry about the dudes and the
don'ts in regards to what happens in regards to the
industry itself, and we have a great relationship working with them.
(18:08):
Our role at the Department of Public Health is to
lead the public health response. Is to make sure that
outside of those doors of the casino, that the community
is aware about the risk, that people are aware that
if you need help and if you're struggling with gambling,
that treatment is available for people. Is to be able
to put resources in community so that community programming can
(18:29):
happen for young people. For example, we spent a lot
of money and resources for young people to be empowered
and to have education and awareness and to do various
different things that raises awareness around this issue. So our
job is really and our focus it's outside the walls
of those casinos and working with our regulators to if
there are things that we see that we feel like
(18:50):
it's that they should consider think about. We have always
have an open Something that.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Called my attention is that even though your research says
that men of color are at the higher risk of
becoming an addict or a gambling addict, I mean I
see women all over the place and for me visually,
and what I've noticed is that women actually have more
(19:17):
in my personal opinion on my perspective, Is that true?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Is it just the men of care?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Well, no, We're seen over the last maybe over the
last ten to fifteen years, there's been a rise in
the number of women who are now engaged in gambling,
and they actually engage in gambling and develop problems with
gambling later in a later that's later, in years later
and years than men. But we're starting to see more
(19:46):
of that and specifically what we're seeing now because of
sports betting is we're seeing a lot of young men
engaged and really young men engaged in gambling.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Wow, how do we prevent that?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
I think, to me, I think we're in this. I
think I always I've shared with people that we are
in a really in a space and time in regards
to gaming that we've never.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Experienced, and I imagine now with AI and chat, GPT
and all of that is even worse. Right because you
probably can ask that question is like where should I
be betting? What is the opportunity that I have a
higher advantage or whatnot?
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Have you seen an increase on that?
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Well, what we've seen is that the technology and the
advancement of technology has made the gamling experience really different
than what it used to be ten years ago, even fifteen,
twenty years ago. And because of that is the reason
why we say that problem gambling is a public health issue,
and that as we think about moving forward, we have
(20:50):
to continue only to raise awareness, but really work with
our policy makers and many of our stakeholders to say
we need to continue to wrap our hands around this
issue because it is growing, it is manifesting, and it's
becoming more of a problem than ever before. When we
think about sports betting, I mean it used to be
that you can watch a game right and consume that
(21:10):
and just watch any game that you would like whatever. Nowadays,
the conversation is not just about the game and who's
pitching or whatever. It's about what the odds are and
what the bet is. And so the whole culture sports
is changing, right, and so what's and odds.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Being such a sports state, like you have the majority
of the teams that are so well known around the world,
and now you have these sports betting they go here
in Massachusetts, that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
So it becomes more of a challenge. But ultimately our
role is to raise a witness to let people know
that this can become a problem. That if people choose
to participate, they can participate, but know your risk. Know
your risk. And if you or a loved one or
someone is experiencing some level of distress with gambling or
just concern that maybe you're too engaged or maybe hey,
(21:57):
there's something that is not right, please reach out for help.
Call the helpline. It's one in one hundred three two
seventy five O five. Oh call the helpline and get
some information so that you can be able to get
some support.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Victor, I appreciate so much you being here. It's a
pleasure learning about your social justice commitment, especially with US Latinos,
and having you on a on a top job like
you have as an executive running this gambling pursuit of
health and public safety.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
It's really impressive.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
So thank you so much for being here with us,
yellow Saba Mihinte Accordon said the Bahar just download that
I Heart app and pre select Capasa.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Poston as your favorite podcast.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Will hear from you If you have a gambling problem,
you know what to do. If you know of somebody,
you know where to call, and you know that Pasa
Poston is bringing you the resources to make you a
better person and a better community here in Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Talk to you soon.
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