LATEST NEWS ARTICLES

Research carried out by the GeoHealth Laboratory at the University of Canterbury shows people who live in neighbourhoods with good access to a gambling venue are more likely to develop gambling problems.

The Ministry of Health has released a report titled Raising the Odds? Gambling Behaviour and neighbourhood access to gambling venues in New Zealand which investigated links between people’s gambling behaviour and their local gambling environment. The study was a joint project between Public Health Intelligence, the epidemiology group of the Ministry of Health, and UC’s GeoHealth Laboratory.

Dr Jamie Pearce, the Co-director of the GeoHealth Laboratory, said the national study analysed the 2002/03 New Zealand Health Survey, and included information about neighbourhood access to non-casino gaming machine venues, casinos, and TABs. These types of gambling venues were chosen because gaming machines and racing have been found to be more often associated with harm due to the continuous nature of play.

New Zealanders spent $1.87 billion on gambling in 2003, the year of the survey, and the health study estimates about 1.2 per cent of Kiwis are problem gamblers. Problem gambling affects the physical, mental and social well-being of gamblers as well as their friends and family. Problem gambling is also closely related to various adverse health outcomes such as high levels of alcohol consumption, smoking, substance abuse, various psychiatric conditions and suicide.

Dr Pearce said opportunities to gamble were disproportionately located in more deprived neighbourhoods and in neighbourhoods that made the greatest use of them.

“Comparatively little research has been carried out on the link between accessibility to gambling facilities and gambling-related harm, despite researchers raising concerns about this link. This study found that gambling behaviour was significantly associated with gambling accessibility.

“The more gambling venues within 5km of your home, the more likely you are to have gambled and be a problem gambler,” Dr Pearce said. “People with some non-casino gaming machines within 800m of their neighbourhood centre were more likely to have played the pokies than people who did not.”

Dr Pearce said the results would be of interest to local authorities which were responsible for policies on Class 4 gambling venues (non-casino gaming machine venues) in their areas. The results of the study raise possibilities for area-based interventions to reduce gambling-related harm and the related health outcomes in New Zealand.

“These findings suggest that policies to reduce the public-health impact of problem gambling should focus on environmental modifications as well as individual behavioural change.”

MARCH 11, 2008

80% Percent of World Casino Gambling Takes Place in Europe and the U.S.

Online-Casinos.com

New survey expects world growth of 7.8 percent per annum

Land casinos represent the largest segment of the commercial gambling market worldwide, and casino revenues are expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of approximately 7.8 percent, according to a new report by the California-based Global Industry Analysts Inc.

Between them, the US and Europe account for 80 percent of world casino action worth $91 billion.

Casino revenues in United States are expected to be worth US $68 billion in 2010, the report predicts. Asia-Pacific, another gaming haven, is expected to emerge as the fastest growing casino market, with stringent regulatory environments at regional and global levels one of the major factors shaping the industry's fortunes.

The industry continues to battle high profile issues such as underage and problem gambling.

Major players in the marketplace include MGM Mirage, Harrah's Entertainment, Ameristar Casinos, Century Casinos, Isle of Capri Casinos, Ladbrokes Ltd, Station Casinos and Sun International.

"Casinos: A Global Strategic Business Report" provides a comprehensive review of market trends, major developments, mergers, acquisitions, profiles of major players and other strategic industry activities. Analysis is presented for major geographic markets such as US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, The Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Asia-Pacific (Macau, Australia), Latin America and rest of world.

Analytical estimates and projections are provided over the years 2000 through 2010. Long-term projections are presented over the years 2011 through 2015.

MARCH 10, 2008

Town Tackles Teen Gambling

Eyewitness News 3

MONROE, Conn. -- One Connecticut town has launched a program designed to curb the growing number of teens with gambling addictions.

Recent studies have found that today's teens are twice more likely to stumble into a gambling addiction than adults and that the Internet has made outlets for these addictions more prevalent.

The Monroe school system has offered the program, Gambling Awareness of Monroe Through Educating Students (G.A.M.E.S.,) to its high school students for the past eight years.

The program teaches students how dangerous gambling can be.

"I would have never thought that you could become addicted betting money and it was the same kind of addiction to drugs and alcohol," said student and program participant Laura James.

Money from the state lottery is helping to finance the G.A.M.E.S. program.

Susan McLaughlin, of the state Department of Mental Health, oversees the program and said that gambling addictions in teens have not increased in the town since the program's inception in 2000. She said that towns without the program have seen the number of young people with gambling problems skyrocket.

"We know that it's really an important thing that we work with young people and parents to let them know and educate them that gambling is not a risk-free activity," she said.

Students in the problem help educate their peers about the risks by holding awareness events and peer counseling. The lessons of the program are also worked into the high school's statistics class.

"They have to calculate in their heads what they've learned -- what is the possibility of getting a 10 on the next card, or a nine, or an eight?" said statistics teacher Paul Ballas.

Students and faculty told Eyewitness News that G.A.M.E.S. is not against gambling, but that it teaches students to be careful.

McLaughlin is now spearheading the effort to expand the program across the state.

She said that anyone who needs help battling a gambling addiction should call the Connecticut Problem Gambling Help Line by dialing 1-800-346-6238.

FEBRUARY 1, 2008

Rehab Pros Get Serious About the Super Bowl

PR-USA.net

February 1, 2008

Dr. Mitch Wallack will be the featured guest on the special edition of Recovery Radio Live (www.recoveryradiolive.com (http://www.recoveryradiolive.com)) on February 3rd, to celebrate good clean fun on Super Bowl Sunday and to discuss various topics in addiction treatment and gambling addiction (http://careflorida.com/gambling-addiction-rehab.html).

Some interesting facts that will be presented on the show include:

1) Super Bowl Sunday is a major contributor to Gambling Addiction and Gambling Addiction Relapse

2) Gambling Addiction itself can make up as much as 25% percent of the addiction treatment industry's business.

3) Dual-Diagnosis in Gambling. Gambling can many time be linked to an emotional or mental disorder like bi-polar disorder or depression.

4) More suicides are caused by Gambling Addiction than any other form of addiction.

5) Gambling can be more addictive than illicit drugs and is more readily available because it is legal.

6) Specific Gambling Addiction (http://careflorida.com/gambling-addiction-rehab.html) programs are offered at many clinics but CARE Florida specializes in treating the underlying roots of gambling addiction.

Dr. Wallick is currently a Director at CARE FLORIDA (www.careflorida.com (http://www.careflorida.com)), a facility that specializes in drug addiction treatment, drug rehab, gambling addiction treatment and eating disorder treatment (http://careflorida.com/eating-disorder.html). Dr. Wallick, holds Ph.D's in both Counseling and Addictions, is a fellow of the American College of Addictions Examiners, a Diplomat of the National Association of Forensic Examiners and an Oral Examiner for the Florida Certification Board. Dr. Wallick is a former faculty member of University of Miami School of Addictions Counseling, Assistant Professor of family and community Medicine at Hershey Medical School and is presently President of the Professional Training Association. Dr. Wallick is the author of numerous papers in the field of addictions and presents frequently at major conferences.

Although young to the scene as drug rehab programs go, CARE Florida has been lauded for its innovative techniques based on holistic healing and healthy living as a means to breaking the cycle of addiction. Under Dr. Wallick's direction the center has become one of the most well respected Florida Drug Rehab (http://www.careflorida.com) Centers and continues to work towards relapse prevention in all of its specialties.

JANUARY 29, 2008

CRACKING THE CASINOS' CODE Why people lose and keep gambling

The Niagara Falls Review

By jpellegrini@nfreview.com

January29, 2008

If you've gone to a casino, it's not a coincidence if you felt drawn in by the flashing lights, ringing bells and the maze of slot machines.

That's exactly how casino operators want it to be, said Karen Finlay, associate professor at the University of Guelph's school of Marketing and Consumer Studies.

"It's the design of the casino," said Finlay, who has studied the issue of problem gambling for several years.

Finlay and a team of researchers at the university recently unveiled a lab known as 'Virtual Vegas' - a 360-degree, 1,700 square foot composite of 17 of the Sin City's most famous gaming floors. It's aimed at helping researchers understand what compels people to keep playing even after they know it's time to go home.

She said there are two main layouts for gaming floors: A playground design created to mimic open spaces, with access to light and the appearance of the outside world; and the so-called gaming design, where slot machines are lined up in mazes and rows.

"In the playground design, people feel quite healthy psychologically," Finlay said. "There is often water and elements of nature.

"But in a gaming setting, you would only have the designs of the machines. It's far more overwhelming and there's a real feeling of anxiety."

Finlay said the playground environment allows people to have a clearer head and realize when they've reached their limit.

"That's the situation where you aren't in as much of a trance and can make a rational decision," she said.

Finlay said the updates to Casino Niagara completed in 2005 show some thought to adding the playground design.

But she would have liked to have seen more.

"There's definitely the hint of windows - it's very playgroundish," said Finlay of the casino's top floor. "But on that same floor where you have the slot machines is much more of a gaming design.

"And in the (Fallsview) casino, there are no playground elements at all. They really missed the mark there," Finlay said.

Based on research he's seen, physical environment has a lot to do with what compels players to plug money into machines or plop it onto gaming tables even after they've exceeded their limits, says Robert Simpson, chief executive officer of the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre.

The centre has provided $1.5 million to the University of Guelph for problem gambling research since 2000.

Everything from having a slot machine cash out a big win to changing the air and light conditions can affect a problem gambler's length of stay. Knowing what has the most negative effects can help researchers understand the problem and advocate for change.

"The virtual reality allows you to simulate being in a casino and manipulate things on the fly," he said. "What it is about the physical environment? What is it about the specific machines - and the player's interaction with the machines? What is it about the person?

"You see how quickly they play and how likely they are to play above their limit. It's not a single factor. This moves us a step ahead in understanding problem gambling."

That step, say Finlay and Simpson, is using the research to make players less vulnerable to gambling addiction when they're on the gaming floor.

"We find (design has) a very robust effect on a player's mental state, and we've found it repeatedly in our research," said Finlay. "The people we'd like to lobby are Ontario Lottery and Gaming (which designs gaming floors in slots facilities and Ontario's casinos).

Simpson agrees.

"The take-up isn't lightning quick, but it does happen," said Simpson. "Some (research) they listen to and make changes right away. Others not. As the research comes out, they'll have to listen more down the line."

Ontario Lottery and Gaming spokeswoman Teresa Roncon said the agency is listening.

With two per cent of gaming revenue in Ontario - about $37 million - allocated to the Responsible Gambling Council to create programs to help people who have become addicted to games of chance, Roncon said having researchers provide insight into the issue helps OLG help its customers.

"We're very pleased that the issue of responsible gaming has attracted the attention of a wide range of academic institutions, such as the one at the University of Guelph," she said. "We will look at this research very carefully when it comes out.

"We are always looking to improve our practices."

JULY 17, 2007

The Neuroscience of Gambling

ScienceBlogs - Jul 17, 2007

Category: Neuroscience

Posted on: July 17, 2007 10:21 AM, by Jonah Lehrer

This is just sad:

Harrah's New Orleans, the largest casino in the city, is on pace for its best year ever: gambling revenue is up 13.6 percent through the first five months of 2007 compared with the same period in 2005, pre-Katrina.

The casinos in this region are generating more revenue -- from significantly fewer players -- in large part because of the extra money that many area residents have in their pockets and fewer alternatives on where to spend it, casino executives and others in the region say.

I sometimes wonder if, one day, we'll view casinos as we currently view cigarettes: a dangerous consumer product that encourages addiction and self-destructive behavior. Sure, gambling is fun (and cigarettes taste great after a big meal), but the product dangerously manipulates our brain.

Why is gambling so seductive? Why do people flock to Vegas or New Orleans or the nearest Indian Reservation to lose money? The answer depends, in large part, on our dopamine neurons. Much of our understanding of the dopaminergic system comes from the pioneering research of Wolfram Schultz, a neuroscientist at Cambridge University. He has spent the last few decades measuring the firing rates of dopamine neurons in the brains of monkeys as they are receiving rewards of fruit juice. His experiments observe a simple protocol: Schultz sounds a loud tone, waits for a few seconds, and then squirts a few ounces of juice into the monkey's mouth. At first, the dopamine neurons don't fire until the juice is delivered. The cells are responding to the actual reward. However, once the animal learns that the tone precedes the arrival of juice - this only requires a few trials - the same neurons begin firing at the sound of the tone instead of the sweet reward. Schultz calls these cells "prediction neurons," since they are more concerned with predicting rewards than with the rewards themselves. (This process can be indefinitely extended: the dopamine neurons can be made to respond to a light that predicts the tone that predicts the juice, and so on.) Once this simple pattern is drilled into the monkey's dopamine neurons, it becomes exquisitely sensitive to variations on the pattern. If, for example, the pattern is violated - if the tone is played but the juice never arrives - then the monkey's dopamine neurons start to fire at a very low rate. This is known as the "error signal". However, if the monkey gets some unexpected juice, then the neurons fire with ecstatic enthusiasm. There is nothing better than a surprising reward.

Now back to gambling. Think of a slot machine.* You put in a coin and pull the lever. The reels start to whirr. Pictures of cherries and diamonds and sevens fly by. Eventually, the machine settles on its verdict. Since slot machines are programmed to return only about 90 percent of wagered money, chances are you lost money. Nobody beats the software code.

Think about the slot machine from the perspective of your dopamine neurons. The purpose of these cells is to predict future rewards. When you are gambling, your neurons are struggling to decipher the patterns inside the machine. They want to understand the game, to decode the logic of luck.

But here's the catch: slot machines can't be solved. They use random number generators to determine their payout. There are no patterns or algorithms or streaks to uncover. There is only a stupid little microchip, churning out arbitrary digits.

At this point, our dopamine neurons should just surrender. They should turn themselves off: the slot machine is a waste of mental energy. But this isn't what happens. Instead of getting bored by the haphazard payouts, our dopamine neurons become obsessed. When we pull the lever and get a reward, we experience a rush of pleasurable dopamine precisely because the reward was so unexpected. (The clanging coins are like a surprising squirt of juice. It's operant conditioning gone bezerk.) Because our dopamine neurons can't figure out the pattern, they can't adapt to the pattern. The end result is that we are transfixed by the slot machine, riveted by the fickle nature of its payouts.

This cellular mechanism helps explain why Parkinson's patients on dopamine agonists - a drug that imitates the activity of dopamine in the brain - are at serious risk for gambling addictions. For these people, the surprising rewards of the casino are simply too rewarding. Scientists have demonstrated that dopamine agonists strongly bind to the same brain regions ordinarily activated by gambling. As a result, each stroke of good fortune triggers a massive release of chemical bliss. These patients are blinded by the pleasure of winning, even as they slowly lose everything.

Obviously, there are other factors at work in the casino besides dopamine. (The free booze certainly helps.) But games of chance have been brilliantly designed to take advantage of this ancient cellular pathway in the brain. The evil genius of cigarettes is that they make us crave toxic smoke. The evil genius of the casinos is that they've figured out a way to make us want to lose money.

*Slot machines account for about 70 percent of the $48 billion spent in America on gambling each year, which means that the average American spends five times more on slot machines than on movie tickets. There are now twice as many slot machines in America as ATM's.

JUNE 19, 2007

Gambling Books - Fortune’s Formula and the Kelly Criterion

Bodog Beat, Antigua and Barbuda – June 19, 2007

"Never risk it all" is the message behind one of the better gambling books in recent years.

In his 2005 book, "Fortune’s Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street", author William Poundstone writes “You can be the world’s greatest poker player, backgammon player, or handicapper, but if you can’t manage your money, you’ll end up broke. The sad fact is, almost everyone who gambles goes broke in the long run.”

For those newbies who think the key to successful betting is simply picking winners, the Kelly criterion is a topic that demands attention.

Harvard Medical School Gambling Study Refutes Many Accepted Beliefs...By Hartley Henderson

MajorWager.com

henderson@majorwager.com

June-15-2007

Upon introducing the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, John Kyl stated the following:

"Harvard Medical School's Division of Addictive Studies likened the internet to new delivery forms for addictive narcotics. As smoking crack cocaine changed the cocaine experience, I think electronics is going to change the way gambling is experienced. And that is especially true with regard to youth, who are particularly at risk."

Kyl then went on to suggest that this is proof that internet gambling is more dangerous than brick and mortar gambling and thus online gambling must be prohibited.

That statement about the internet being likened to new delivery forms for addictive narcotics, attributed to Howard Schaeffer (the Director of Addiction Studies at Harvard Medical School ), has been quoted on numerous occasions by groups opposed to online gambling. In reality, however, Howard Schaeffer never made that statement. In a public meeting Dr. Schaeffer did state that changing the vehicle of transmission for an addictive behaviour can lead to greater addiction, but he never suggested this was the case for online gambling. Regardless, John Kyl, James Dobson and a few other anti gambling zealots took it upon themselves to make the inference.

To the credit of the Harvard Medical School researchers (HMS), they chose to institute a study to confirm or deny that assertion. The study was conducted by Richard A. LaBrie, the Associate Director for Research and Data Analysis at the Division on Addictions at the Harvard Medical School, affiliated with Cambridge Health Alliance in conjunction with Bwin.com Entertainment AG (a popular European sportsbook), to determine whether there was indeed a greater concern for addiction with online gambling. The study was limited to sports betting and looked at fixed odds betting as well as fixed odds in-play betting (eg. will the next pass be complete or incomplete). HMS intends to look at other forms of gambling in future studies, but this particular study was limited to sports betting. The sample consisted of all registered bettors at Bwin.com registered in February 2005 and looked at all bets made by the bettors (approximately 40,500) in the 8 months following. The data included information on 7.8 million bets made for a total of $61.6 million Euros. Unquestionably a sample of that magnitude is large enough to draw relevant conclusions.

HMS had no bias one way or the other and was simply trying to understand more about online betting. In particular there were 3 questions they wanted to address:

1) Who gambles on sports online?

2) What are the play patterns of online gamblers?

3) Is it possible to detect and isolate individuals with excessive patterns of play that can indicate problem gambling?

Answering those 3 questions would allow the researchers to determine whether the internet is truly more dangerous in terms of gambling addiction than is gambling in land based venues. HMS considered surveying online bettors, but actions speak far louder than words. Gamblers' self reports are often at odds with actual behaviour, including failing to remember bets, the desire to present findings they hope researchers would want to hear, etc.

The researchers looked at betting behaviour for people at Bwin.com consisting of the following variables:

- duration of betting

- frequency of bets

- number of bets per day

- total amount bet per day

- total amount wagered for the whole study

- net loss

- percentage loss

From those measures only 1% of the sample showed excessive gambling patterns and the other 99% from the sample bet far less. The median behaviour (i.e. the point where 1/2 bet more and 1/2 bet less, hence the midpoint of the sample) showed the typical bettor gambled about 23% of the time (approximately 2 days per week). They made 2.5 bets per day on the days they did gamble, with an average bet of 4 euros per bet. The net loss for the bettors over the period was 33 euros. The heavily involved bettors (i.e. the 1%) bet almost every day, wagering 42 euros per bet and lost over 3,914 euros over that time period.

The research data is available from HMS and was presented at the GIGSE conference, but the conclusion of the study is fairly straight forward.

The typical online sports bettor's wagering cost him/her approximately 1.2 euros per day or essentially the price of a cup of coffee. The fact they didn't wager every day indicated they weren't totally obsessed with betting and probably chose games they had an interest in (i.e. it was on TV or they were going to the sporting event). In fact, Dr. LaBrie contended that this was a relatively cheap form of entertainment, (far less than a movie or attending a sporting event) and hardly represented pathological behaviour. The heavy bettors could include some compulsive gamblers, but it was just as conceivable that they were players with a lot of disposable income and thus the bet amounts were not significant. It is also possible the larger bets were made by professional gamblers, those middling/scalping lines or players bearding for others. It must be noted that HMS is seen as an expert in identifying pathological tendencies, so the fact that they concluded the study doesn't necessarily indicate that is very significant. It should be noted, however, that Dr. LaBrie suggested more intensive study needs to be done to rule this out altogether.

So the question has to be asked: Did this study indicate that online gambling is "the crack cocaine of betting?" In better words: Did the study show that internet betting is more open to gambling addiction than other forms of gambling? It would seem unlikely. In that same year sports bettors gambled $2.1 billion in Nevada's 174 licensed sportsbooks with the books netting a profit of $112.5 million. And that is just what was bet legally in Nevada casinos. Given the number of people who visit Nevada sportsbooks in a year, it is safe to say the amounts bet in Nevada were comparable to those who bet at Bwin and no doubt 1% of those that bet regularly in Vegas are heavy gamblers that either have money to burn or are professional gamblers. As well, having spoken in the past to workers at William Hill Betting parlours in Britain it is clear that most bettors who prefer to bet there generally wager about 5 British pounds on their favourite teams 2 or 3 times a week, which is almost identical to the betting patterns for those in the Bwin study.

While it would certainly be interesting to see a similar study done with Las Vegas casinos to see if there is indeed a difference between betting patterns at a major online sportsbook versus betting at say the Las Vegas Hilton, it is almost certain that study will never occur. To do so may indeed invalidate all the rhetoric spewed by the likes of Kyl and Dobson and the last thing that the current Republican regime, Focus on the Family or other anti gambling groups want is for the public to find out that online gambling may not be as addictive as they have suggested. After all, why let the facts get in the way of an agenda? Without doubt gambling can be addictive and many families have been ruined by it. But those numbers are small indeed, far less than are those who have had their lives ruined by alcohol addiction, and no one (not even Focus on the Family) has suggested that the sale of alcohol online or at liquor stores should be stopped because of the small number that become addicted. America is a free country and laws are supposed to benefit the interests of the majority.

MajorWager.com will keep abreast of any other studies conducted by HMS, as well as any other findings or developments that arise as a result of this study.

Internet Gambling: Late Night Gambling A Risky Game

EOG.com, Canada - Jun 19, 2007

Blame boneheaded bets on your tired brain

Scientists pinpoint why late-night gamblers lose big time

Kim Carney / msnbc.com

The later Tim Harris stays up playing poker, the bolder — and more imprudent — he becomes. Hands that might have seemed hopeless early in the evening suddenly look like winners to the 56-year-old Bay Area grad student.

“I’ll think I have a better hand than I do and so I’ll tend to keep playing and pushing the hand when I probably should just fold,” Harris says. “At the end of the night, I’m broke and I realize I’ve made some bad decisions.”

As it turns out, it’s not just Harris choosing risky options when exhausted. Sleep experts point to disasters like the Exxon Valdez oil spill and Chernobyl as examples of what can happen when people don’t get enough sleep.

Gamblers, though, make really good lab rats for researchers who want to understand what happens to decision making when someone is sleep deprived. And the research goes a long way to explaining why a sleepy Harris might choose to keep betting when he’d otherwise toss in his cards.

Scientists set up experiments in which people have a choice between a high-risk gamble with the opportunity for a big payout and a low-risk option that offers the prospect of more moderate gain. They compared the decisions made by well-rested gamblers and those who’ve been up for hours on end.

Sure enough, the studies showed that when sleep is curtailed, people are drawn to risky, but high-paying, options.

And now, scientists think they understand why. Using brain scanners to peer into the heads of sleep-deprived gamblers, a group of Singapore researchers has shown why the mind may make poor choices when it’s tired.

When sleepy gamblers look at the high-risk, big-payout option, a region of the brain called the nucleus accumbens lights up much more than it would in well-rested people, says Dr. Michael Chee, co-author of the new research published in the journal Sleep.

“This is an area of the brain that activates in anticipation of receipt of reward,” explains Chee, a professor at the cognitive neuroscience laboratory at the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate School of Medicine.