Type

The Definition of Addiction Changes

, , , , ,

The American Society of Addiction Medicine has a developed a new way of classifying addiction. “The definition, a result of a four-year process involving more than 80 leading experts in addiction and neurology, emphasizes that addiction is a primary illness – in other words its not caused by mental health issues such as mood or personality disorders, putting to rest the popular notion that addictive behaviors are a form of “self-medication” to, say, ease the pain of depression or anxiety.”

This new definition refutes a great deal of research funded by predatory gambling operators that claim that gambling addicts are merely suffering from another form of mental illness and that they would simply substitute a gambling addiction with another addiction.

A Radical New Definition of Addiction Creates a Big Storm

CkirbyThe Definition of Addiction Changes
read more

NBA Hall of Famer Bill Bradley Speaks Out Against Sports Betting

,

NBA Hall of Famer and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley has been a consistent opponent of sports betting. In fact, he helped pass the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, which banned the practice in all 50 states, with a few exceptions.

It was an incident in his professional basketball career that helped shaped his view.

“We were ahead by five points or so, the opponent hit a basket to cut the lead to three points, and I heard cheering,” Bradley said of the seemingly meaningless basket as the game was ending. “I asked why, and someone said they were cheering because [the other team] covered the point spread…I know that when I was a player, I certainly didn’t like the idea of being a roulette chip.”

Man Behind Sports Betting Ban Stands His Ground

CkirbyNBA Hall of Famer Bill Bradley Speaks Out Against Sports Betting
read more

Poker Bots Taking Over Online Gambling

, ,

Kurt Eggert, a professor at Chapman University School of Law is concerned that consumer protection is becoming extremely difficult as cheaters use “poker robots,” advanced intelligence programs, to tilt the tables.

“I know of no way to prevent somebody from having a bot on one computer telling him what to play on another computer,” Eggert said. “This is a huge problem for the industry in that recreational gamblers don’t want to go on their poker sites and get killed by somebody using a bot, and that is going to happen more and more as bots get smarter and smarter.”

“There are international competitions now to design the best poker-playing bots and they are doing a darn good job,” Eggert said.

Chairwoman Says Go Slow On Legalizing Web Poker

CkirbyPoker Bots Taking Over Online Gambling
read more

Disney and Florida Chamber of Commerce Oppose Florida Gambling Expansion

, ,

The state of Florida often markets itself as a family friendly destination, attracting millions every year to Orlando’s Walt Disney World. That image could change if Florida lawmakers allow predatory gambling giants like Genting, Las Vegas Sands, and Wynn to bring commercial casinos to the state. The state’s tribal casinos oppose the idea because they don’t want the competition, but civic leaders and the Florida Chamber of Commerce fear the kind of economic development that casinos would bring. “The only reason they are even targeting Florida is that they are hopeful that desperate people will reach for desperate measures,” said Mark A. Wilson, the Chamber president. “There is never a good time to push a bad idea.”

In Florida Battle, Casino Cash v. Disney Image

CkirbyDisney and Florida Chamber of Commerce Oppose Florida Gambling Expansion
read more

Bad Odds for Youth Gamblers

, , , , , ,

A recent Johns Hopkins study found that gambling was considered to be normal behavior among a survey of adolescents, particularly among males. Even more troubling was that 12 percent of the participants had behavior considered to be “problem gambling” – much higher than the 1 to 3 percent that is normally attributed to U.S. adult populations.

Bad Odds for Youth Gamblers

CkirbyBad Odds for Youth Gamblers
read more

Government Study Reveals the Massive Cost of Problem Gambling

, , , , , , , ,

While government-sanctioned gambling is often trumpeted as a new source of revenue, a 2013 study shows shows the staggering cost of problem gambling. This national Australian report reveals that the social and economic cost of problem gambling could total up to $2.8 billion per year.

Cost of problem gambling could be as high as $2.8b- report

LesGovernment Study Reveals the Massive Cost of Problem Gambling
read more

Slot Machine Profits Jump 70% In a Decade

, , , ,

According to Nevada Gaming Control Board statistics, there were about 197,000 slot machines in that state that won roughly $4.8 billion from gamblers in 1997. By 2007, the number of slot machines increased just 2.5 percent to 202,000, but the amount they won from gamblers jumped 72.9 percent to about $8.3 billion. This is primarily because slot design became far more advanced in fleecing and exploiting users.

Back to School, Major in Slots

CkirbySlot Machine Profits Jump 70% In a Decade
read more

Casinos Wipe Out Local Music Theaters

, ,

Bringing casinos into a region severely hurts other cultural arts organizations. Unlike casinos, which thrive on gamblers, local arts and music theaters must make money on ticket sales. They sell tickets when they host popular shows. But popular musicians and comedians often end up playing at casinos, because casinos can pay them more. Casinos also set radius restrictions that ban performers from going to other nearby venues.

“It’s the fact that we can’t get the performer — that’s the problem,” said James D. O’Brien Jr., chairman of the Hanover Theater in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut — a 50-mile drive from Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun — provides a glimpse of what happens to theaters. The Bushnell used to attract dozens of pop and rock shows every year. Now, the theater is lucky to get six.

“When the casinos came, that really put the nail in our coffin,” said David Fay, the theater’s president and chief executive officer. “They absolutely take all of the major pop attractions. Luckily, we have not been challenged with Broadway products.”

The economic recession hit the Bushnell hard, eroding the theater’s endowment and leading to a loss of corporate donors. Those factors, combined with competition from casinos, have left the theater with a deficit of more than $1 million.

With casinos, theaters fear competition for big acts

 

LesCasinos Wipe Out Local Music Theaters
read more

The Effects of Video Poker in South Carolina

, , , , , ,

In 1997, Dr. Quinn founded the South Carolina Center for Gambling Studies and directed a statewide study of Video Poker’s impact on South Carolina. This study outlined the pattern of devastation Video Poker was having on average citizens and demonstrated the uniquely addictive nature of electronic gambling. Dr. Quinn’s study and a follow-up study with Dr. William Thompson of UNLV focusing on the economic impact of Video Poker in South Carolina, contributed greatly to demise of Video Poker in South Carolina.

Here are some key findings from the research:

1. The combination of electronic gambling and convenience venues is extremely addictive and destructive.
2. Minorities and women in particular appear disproportionately vulnerable to video poker.
3. People often gamble more often and/or longer when they are induced.
4. Sometimes people gamble and develop pathology because they have the opportunity.
5. The pathology associated with video poker, unlike other forms of gambling, may prove to be largely non-transferable.
6. The long term economic and social costs associated with gambling are often ignored by political processes obsessed with short term and visible financial gain.

Report of The Quinn-Pike Video Gaming Study

An Economic Analysis of Machine Gambling in South Carolina

CkirbyThe Effects of Video Poker in South Carolina
read more