Poker Resources [Subject Guide & Bibliography]

With all of the media attention surrounding poker, I thought it was time to put together some information on the topic and some "recommended reading". See Poker - A Subject Guide & Bibliography (2005, April).

Discovery 2005 [Conference Presentations]

The Responsible Gambling Council's "Discovery 2005" conference took place April 17-20, 2005 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Presentations for many of the sessions are being posted as they are received.

Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation [Annual Report]

The Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation provides funding to community-based projects that support education, prevention, intervention, treatment or research into problemgambling and its effects. A joint 2003 & 2004 Annual Report has recently been made available online.

Meet the 9-5 Gamblers [News Article]

"A new breed of white-collar gambler is using statistics and the power of the internet to turn a profit. Welcome to gambling as a career option." For the full story on these British professional gamblers, see the BBC News story "Meet the 9-5 gamblers".

Nova Scotia Self-Exclusion Process Test [Report]

Focal Research has produced the "2004 NS VL Self Exclusion Program Process Test: Final Report" (2004, December) for the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation to "evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed program design in terms of retailer identification rates and program compliance".

Recent European Internet Gambling Poll

The April 14th, 2005 Nielsen/Net Ratings news release "More than 14 million Europeans fancy a flutter online" reports that 14% of those online from home visited a gambling and sweepstakes site in February.

Iowa Studies

Cummings Associates has produced two new reports for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. They are "Analysis of Current Markets for Casino Gaming In Iowa, with Projections for the Revenues And Impacts of Potential New Facilities: Update" (2005, April) and "The 'Density' of Casinos, Slot Machines And Table Games in Iowa Compared To Other States" (2005, April).

Online Gambling Goes Mainstream Financial [Report]

A report from the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation [U.K.] called "Betting on the future: Online gambling goes mainstream financial" (2004, December) takes a look at the emerging online gambling markets (e.g., betting exchanges) and forecasts some impacts on the financial services industry.

Economic Winners & Losers [Working Paper]

Working paper "The economic winners and losers of legalized gambling" (2005, March) by Melissa S. Kearney "reviews the government role in the legalized gambling sector and addresses some of the major issues relevant to any normative analysis of what the government role should be". It was prepared for the National Tax Journal Spring 2005 forum on gambling.

Crime & Problem Gambling [Report]

Study into the relationship between crime and problem gambling (2003, December) was produced for the Independent Gambling Authority [South Australia].

The Addictions Researchers Database

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse has created the "Addictions Researchers Database" which provides detailed information about addictions (including problem gambling) researchers working in Canada. The database has the potential to be an excellent resource but requires researchers to create / update their profile... what are you waiting for?

Two New VLT-Related Web Sites

Many people may be aware that the Nova Scotia government has just recently decided to officially reduce the number of video lottery terminals (VLTs) . The "Game Over VLTs" web site proposes that they go even further by entirely banning them in that province.

In a similar vein, the "Duty of Care" web site from Australia is seeking to protect the interests of gaming machines players in that country.

Two New OPGRC Reports

The Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre (OPGRC) has released numerous research reports in the past several months... by my reckoning, the latest two are:

1. Gambling and problem gambling in First Nations Communities (2004, October)
   
2. A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Naltrexone in the Treatment of Concurrent Alcohol Dependence and Pathological Gambling (2004, August)

Both can be accessed in their entirety from the OPGRC home page.

Miscellaneous Gambling-Related Reports

I've got more reports than days to post them so here's several at once...

1) The Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper is currently running an in-depth week long special report on casino gambling called "The Big Gamble".

2) Regulating Social Problems: The Pokies, the Productivity Commission and an Aboriginal Community (2004) from the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), Australian National University (ANU) .

3) Two reports from the Alabama Policy Institute -- "Casinos in Alabama: Are they worth the gamble? " (2004, February) and "The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and the Rights of States" (2005, April).

4) "VLTs — What are the odds Of Texas winning?" (2005, March) from the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Gambling Highlights from Annenberg Risk Survey of Youth

"Youth Betting on Cards Rising, National Annenberg Risk Survey Shows" (2005, March) is a short document that highlights some of the gambling-related findings from the National [United States]Annenberg Risk Survey of Youth (NARSY) which was conducted in 2003 and again in 2004.

Public Policy & Gambling Research

A small item included in the conference materials from the recently completed Alberta Gaming Research Institute conference was the short description and recommended sources realting to "Public Policy & Gambling Research" (2005, March).

Iowa Socio-economic Impacts of Casino Gambling

Although findings have only been reported as preliminary, the presentation "Socioeconomic Impact of Gambling on Iowans" (2005, March) should be of interest to those interested in reviewing gambling's cost-benefit analysis for that State.

Nova Scotia's 5-Year Plan

The Nova Scotia government has released the report "A Better Balance: Nova Scotia's First Gaming Strategy" (2005, April). The first paragraph on p.4 pretty much sets the tone for the report's content:

For too long, our discussion of gaming has centred around words like "financial returns," "social responsibility," "treatment options," and "prevention." While this is very appropriate in many respects, it is important to remember why government is in the business of gaming in the first place. The bottom line is to benefit and protect Nova Scotians.

The report includes a number of strategic goals, guiding principals, and detailed plans on how problem gambling will be reduced (e.g. reduction of total number of VLTs, etc.).

Winter 2004 / 2005 Issue of Newslink

The Responsible Gambling Council (Ontario) has released the latest version of their popular Newslink newsletter. It contains several articles -- including a guest editorial by noted gambling researcher and economist William R. Eadington on the risks involved with gaming devices and electronic money.

New Issue of Journal of Gambling Issues & Institute Conference Presentations (2005)

Issue 13 of the Journal of Gambling Issues is now available. It contains a variety of articles... interestingly, the article related to policy would have fit in well on the program for the Alberta Gaming Research Institute's 4th Annual conference which ended Friday... most presentations from the conference have been posted already.