In this web video, Stanford Neurology Professor Robert Sapolsky discusses how dopamine affects human behavior: the anticipation of a particular reward is more important than actually getting the reward. He singles out Las Vegas as a place where human beings are manipulated to believe they can win money, even though they have a slim chance of doing so. It is a great explanation about dopamine and how, why, and when our levels rise. Casinos and lotteries design their experience to blatantly exploit these traits.
Studies
Survey Reveals Only 6% of Problem and Pathological Gambers Seek Help
In this Ontario population survey, researchers discovered that only 6% of problem and pathological gamblers sought treatment for gambling addiction (including attending self-help meetings or accessing self-help resources.) They also acknowledge that more research needs to be done on “the barriers to seeking treatment, both objective and perceived, encountered by gamblers at different levels of problem severity, as well as the triggers that motivate them to take the step of actually seeking help.” Interestingly, the researchers also found that while the use of lifetime gambling treatment services was higher than in other North American gambling surveys, for Ontarians with a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol abuse or dependence, the rate of treatment seeking was much lower. They speculate that this may be partially due to the fact that “gamblers may be struggling with more, different, or in some cases, more daunting obstacles to seeking treatment compared with people with alcohol problems.”
Treatment Seeking Among Ontario Problem Gamblers: Results of a Population Survey
More Access to Gambling Leads to More Suicides, Study Finds
A study by Dr. David Phillips, of the University of California in San Diego, has found that cities with increased gambling have higher suicide rates, and according to Dr. Phillips, this is no coincidence. It is already known that gambling losses can drive people to do things they normally wouldn’t, for example, embezzle large amounts of money to pay for their debts. However this study shows that gambling losses also causes an increased risk for suicide, which is seriously troubling news considering how much gambling has expanded in the US in recent years. Below is a copy of the study, as well as a New York Times article summarizing its findings.
By Misleading Players, Slot Machine Design Spurs Problem Gambling
This article explains how reel electronic gambling machines (EGMs) have been designed to mislead players and have directly contributed to the high rate of problem gambling: “Unbalanced reel design must be a major factor, if not the major factor, in the maintenance of problem gambling principally because the gambler unconsciously believes he or she cannot lose.” Unlike table games, EGMs offer widely different odds of winning, which the authors compare to loaded dice or rigged carnival games. “The fact that the players do not know the rules makes the reel gambling machine unique amongst gaming devices. Not only are the players ignorant of the rules but the rules vary from machine to machine and neither the gaming industry nor the regulators disclose them. As far as transparency is concerned, the standards applicable to reel gaming machines are totally out of step with all other forms of gaming.” The authors make a strong case for establishing uniform standards, banning biased, “virtually-mapped” reels on EGMs and providing more transparency regarding the player’s chances of winning.
Problem Gamblers Can’t Judge the Cost of Electronic Gambling Machines
According to the Australian Productivity Commission, people often underestimate how much people spend on various items, like transportation, clothing, etc. “For gambling, if we say we have spent $100, on average we have really spent $735. Then there are the pokies [electronic gambling machines]. On average, if pokie players say they have spent $100, they have actually spent $3448. That’s not a misprint: they are apparently aware of just 2.9 per cent of what they are losing.” Would receipts or a record of spending help people become more aware of how much they spend? Absolutely.
Problem Gamblers Can’t Judge Cost of Electronic Gambling Machines
Kefauver Committee, Gambling, and Organized Crime
In 1950 and 1951, Senator Estes Kefauver chaired the U.S. Senate’s Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce and discovered vast corruption and crime rings involving gambling and narcotics throughout the United States. The committee became popularly known as the Kefauver Committee.
National Gambling Impact Study Commission Report
In June 1999, the National Gambling Impact Study Commission concluded its two-year exploration into the social and economic impact of legalized gambling in the United States. In fulfillment of their responsibilities, the Commission submitted a detailed report of their findings to the President, Congress, Governors, and tribal leaders. Please read the contents of the report below.
Chapter 1 Overview – The expansion of legalized gambling; impact and controversy (a moving target), the role of government (no master plan); the lack of information (time for a pause).
Chapter 2 Gambling in the United States – Lotteries (growth of lotteries, types of lottery games, the contradictory role of state governments); convenience gambling and stand-alone electronic gambling devices (issues); casinos; riverboat casinos; Native American tribal gambling; pari-mutuel wagering (the horse-racing industry, the greyhound industry, jai alai, issues, egd’s and the pari-mutuel industry, simulcasting and account wagering); sports wagering (issues); internet.
Chapter 3 Gambling Regulation – Governments set the rules; gambling and the public interest; regulating gambling (the federal role); the state role (lotteries); The administrative structure of casinos and pari-mutuel gambling; sports wagering; convenience gambling and stand-alone electronic gambling devices; advertising (supporting a restriction of advertising, the foundation for the ban: the Federal Communications Act, is the ban an indirect gambling regulation?; This chapter looks at gambling in New Orleans; general guidelines; underage guidelines.
Chapter 4 Problem and Pathological Gambling – The research (risk factors for problem and pathological gambling); estimating the prevalence (the commission’s research findings); characteristics of pathological gamblers; under-age problem gambling; the costs of problem gamblers (the costs to problem and pathological gamblers, the costs to society); treating the problem (private sector efforts, casino questionnaire, non-profit and other efforts, government response); conclusion; recommendations.
Chapter 5 Internet Gambling – The emergence of internet gambling; types of internet gambling sites; candidates for prohibition (youth gambling, pathological gamblers, criminal use); state of the law: the applicability of 18 U.S.C. § 1084; regulation or prohibition (state efforts, Native American internet gambling); an enhanced federal role at state request (federal efforts); obstacles to regulation; recommendations.
Chapter 6 Native American Tribal Gambling – Growth of tribal gambling; tribal sovereignty and Indian gambling (federal policy: failure of the “trust responsibility” and alternative revenue source to Indian gambling, the move toward self-determination, review of regulations, state criticism if IGRA, mechanism for handling impasse between tribes and states, other mechanisms); local community impacts; economic development; employment laws and Indian tribal governments; other issues for consideration (taxation, exclusivity payments, off-reservation gambling); recommendations.
Chapter 7 Gambling’s Impacts on People and Places – Determining the impact of gambling; growth and employment (pari-mutuel, Native American tribal government gambling, other gambling industries); a careful look at economic benefits (crime, financial and credit issues, other economic impacts, local effects); the social impact of gambling (problem and pathological gambling, adolescent gambling, responding to adolescent gambling, suicide, divorce, homelessness, abuse and neglect, local effects); conclusion; recommendations.
Chapter 8 Future Research Recommendations
Appendix 1 Commission Member’s Statements
Appendix 2 Commission Members
Appendix 3 Acknowledgments
Appendix 4 National Gambling Impact Study Commission Act
Appendix 5 List of References
Appendix 6 Sources of Information and Resources on Gambling
Appendix 7 Glossary
Appendix 8 Catalog of Gambling Laws, Regulations, and Ordinances
Casinos Will Lead to Net Job Loss in Ohio
In the fall of 2009, Ohio voters were faced with a referendum to allow casino gambling in the state. Prior to the election, the Public Policy Analysis Group at Hiram College studied the social and economic effects that this form of predatory gambling would bring to the state. These researchers discovered that there would be a net loss of area jobs in the new casino locations. This would be due to the significant loss of non-casino jobs in these areas. Further, the policy analysts characterized the industry’s claim of creating 34,000 new jobs as “misleading.”
Report on Ohio Gaming Initiative – Statewide Economic and Social Factors
The Effects of Predatory Gambling in Maryland
This May 2011 report from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County studied how Maryland residents have been affected by the many forms of predatory gambling now available in the state including slots, the lottery, and horse racing. The most significant finding was that individuals in the 18 to 29 age group appear most at risk of developing gambling problems. In addition, researchers found that “being male, single, African-American or other races (primarily Hispanic) are associated with an increase in the odds of being at risk for problem/pathological gambling. Most problem/pathological gamblers travel 6 to 15 miles to gamble, typically spend over 6 hours gambling during a single session, and generally gamble with others not related to them.”
Predatory Gambling Negatively Affects Families
A 2010 article from the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada details the evidence linking gambling addiction to negative socio-economic consequences for Canadian families as the government attempts to “chase after increasing revenue.”
Government Gambling and Broken Families: How Problem Gambling Affects Families