The American Gaming Association (AGA), National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) and more than 100 casino and gaming companies across the country are mobilizing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the annual Responsible Gaming Education Week (RGEW), which begins today. The theme of this year's week, Responsible Gaming: In Your Own Words, focuses on how every member of the community has a role to play in promoting responsible gaming throughout the year.

A kick-off event on the casino floor at Caesars Atlantic City marked the official start of the week. Participants included Gary Loveman, chairman, president and CEO of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., and chairman of the AGA; Linda Kassekert, chairwoman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission; Frank Fahrenkopf, president and CEO of the AGA; and Kevin Mullally, general counsel and director of government affairs for Gaming Laboratories International and a member of the NCRG board of directors. Community leaders, property presidents and gaming employees from each of the city's casinos also were on hand to showcase Atlantic City's commitment to responsible gaming.

Atlantic City mayor Robert W. Levy, Sr. and New Jersey State Senator James McCollough also were on hand to unveil the winning entries in the AGA's nationwide employee responsible gaming poster and essay contest, held earlier this year to commemorate the 10th anniversary of RGEW. The four winning posters will be released throughout the year as part of an ongoing Responsible Gaming Education Poster Series.

The 15 winning employee essays are featured in a new publication from the NCRG titled In Their Own Words: Voices of Responsible Gaming that is being distributed nationally in conjunction with RGEW. The book also includes essays on responsible gaming from leading gaming executives, regulators, treatment providers, researchers and others.

In conjunction with the coordinated nationwide activities occurring during RGEW 2007, individual casinos and gaming companies are incorporating additional creative ways to provide education and training and increase awareness about responsible gaming (visit the AGA press room for more information on specific property activities).

Responsible Gaming Education Week runs from Aug. 6-10, 2007. The annual event was developed in 1998 as part of the Responsible Gaming National Education Campaign, a long-term, comprehensive program spearheaded by the AGA. RGEW is designed to heighten awareness of responsible gaming and disordered gambling among employees, patrons and the general public.