LEVITTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Most Pennsylvania gamblers aren’t betting on their self-restraint. Just 52 people have signed up so far for a new state program that allows compulsive gamblers to ban themselves from casinos.

Those who participate in the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s self-exclusion program could be ejected from casinos or have their winnings forfeited.

An estimated 124,000 people in Pennsylvania, or 1 percent of the state’s population, are “pathological gamblers,” according to the National Council on Problem Gambling. The group estimates that 3 percent of the state’s residents are “problem gamblers.”

Pennsylvania’s program began last year with the opening of the Philadelphia Park Casino and the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs near Scranton.

It is similar to a six-year-old program in New Jersey, where the state’s Casino Control Commission said there are 580 people signed up.

Pennsylvania could become one of the nation’s largest gambling states soon, with five casinos slated to open by the end of next year.