Revenues & Smoking in Ontario Casinos [article]

An industry-funded lobby group for smokers' rights called Mychoice.ca has posted a news release entitled "Smoking-ban could cost province half a billion dollars a year – government study" (2006, January 31). It contains confidential information that was obtained from internal Ontario government sources via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

BBC Documentary [radio programme / podcast]

BBC Radio produced an in-depth four-part documentary on various aspects of gambling called "Place Your Bets" that was originally aired in August 2005.

Massachusetts Gambling Behavior [survey report]

The Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has posted the 15-page report "A survey of gambling behavior in southcoast Massachusetts" (2006, January) on their web site. It describes a random sample telephone survey of SouthCoast residents asking them if they support the authorization of a resort casino in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Prevalence and Proximity of Gambling Venues [online report]

A report produced for the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre entitled "Assessing the Geo-Spatial Association in Ontario between the Prevalence of Problem Gambling, Treatment Availability and Help Seeking" (2005, September) is interesting as it partially examines the question of how the proximity of gambling venues relates to the risk of gambling. From the report abstract (p.4):

"Proximity to gambling venues was marginally statistically significant in predicting risk of problem gambling, but much less important than these other factors, particularly substance abuse comorbidity. In an analysis predicting help-seeking for problem gamblers, seeking treatment was associated with having some post-secondary education and with age (in a non-linear fashion). Results also showed that a problem gambler living in close proximity to a gambling venue was less likely to be in treatment if the nearest treatment program was comparatively far away."

Election Gambling [Media Article]

Canada had an election for a new government on Monday, January 23rd. As with sporting events, Internet betting (trading) exchanges that deal with election results have become popular.

This topic was covered in the Bloomberg News Service article "Canada's Gamblers Predict Conservatives Will Win 125 Seats" on January 20th. Predictions from that date from the University of British Columbia's Election Stock Market betting exchange were as follows:

Convervatives - 125 seats
Liberals - 102
Bloc Quebecois - 53
New Democratic Party - 27

Actual results from the election were as follows:

Conservatives - 124
Liberals - 103
Bloc Quebecois - 51
New Democratic Party - 29
Independent - 1

Final predictions from the betting exchange weren't quite as good as traders slightly underestimated support for the Liberals.

Screening Tools [Online Resource]

The Arizona Office of Problem Gambling has a Screening Tools web page that contains downloadable PDF versions of the following tools:

• South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS);
• NODS;
• NODS 2003 Lifetime;
• NODS CLiP;
• Gamblers Anonymous 20 Questions, and;
• Gam-Anon 20 Questions.

Underground Video Gambling Industry [Online Report]

The Abell Foundation of Baltimore, Maryland, USA has recently published the report "Underground Video Gambling Industry Costing Maryland More Than $15 Million Annually In Uncollected Taxes" (2006, January). "Though slot machine gambling is illegal in Maryland, Baltimore's slots industry operates with the sanction of local government--under the guise that the machines are for 'amusement only.'"

A couple interesting articles [Media]

The media article Sports betting binge eats up Kampalans (2006, January) reports on a surge in the popularity among Ugandans of betting on British professional soccer games.

According to the CBC News [New Brunswick] article "Charities want poker fundraising to be legal" (2006, January 17th), some charitable organizations in that province would like to see the legalization of poker tournaments.

Gambling Research Unit Items [Online Reports]

The Gambling Research Unit at the University of Sydney has produced a number of studies for the New South Wales [Australia] Department of Gaming and Racing. Five that have been recently posted online are:

1. Explaining the Attraction of Poker Machines: Cognition or Conditioning? (2004, March)
   
2. Comparing Changes in Erroneous Beliefs/Perceptions, Subjective Arousal and Heart Rate between Cognitive Therapy and Imaginal Desensitisation in the Treatment of Pathological Gambling (n.d.)
   
3. The Identification of Near Misses in Electronic Gaming Machines and its Effect on Gambling Behaviour (n.d.)
   
4. Withdrawal and Tolerance Phenomenon in Problem Gambling (n.d.)
   
5. Attention Deficit Disorder as a Risk Factor for Problem Gambling in Adolescents (n.d.)

European Casinos [Online Paper]

Bill Eadington has made available a short document that explores "The Future of Casinos in Europe" (2005, November).

He says, "the casino industry is booming in many parts of the world, with the notable exception of Europe. For the most part, European casino industries today are not much different than they were a quarter of a century ago. "

Analysis of Proposed California Tribal Casino [Online Report]

A report entitled "A Casino For San Pablo: A Losing Proposition: An Analysis of Revenues and Expenditures for a Proposed Casino for San Pablo, California" (2005) was produced for the East Bay Coalition Against Urban Casinos.

The California legislature is considering whether or not to allow a card room currently operating at this location to transform into a casino. Several studies have been comissioned by groups supprting or opposing this initiative.

EGM Entitlements [Online Report]

The Independent Gambling Authority of South Australia has released their "Inquiry into gaming machine entitlements" (2006). It describes the "operation of the trading system for gaming machine entitlements and the effects on the gambling industry." This scheme relates to the recommendation that the State reduce gaming machine numbers by 3,000.

Tex-Mex Casinos [Newspaper Article]

Rightly or wrongly, the Province of Alberta is sometime likened to the State of Texas. They differ, however, with respect to their available gambling formats. Texans don't have access to VLTs or casinos... but according to the San Antonio Express newsmedia article "Mexico's casinos up the ante for Texas" (2006, January 16), they're completely "surrounded" by jurisdictions that do offer them.

Youth Gambling in B.C. [online PhD thesis]

"Youth Gambling in British Columbia" (2003, August) is the title of a PhD thesis by Jennifer Deanne Gregg from Trinity Western University. It examines the prevalence of gambling among high school students in Langley, British Columbia.

British Columbia Baseline Report [Online Report]

In the report "Determining Socio-Economic Impacts of New Gaming Venues in Four Lower Mainland Communities: Socio-Economic Issues and Impacts Final Baseline Report - November 2005", the project authors obtain a series of social and economic "baseline" indicators. They intend to compare this baseline data to data obtained once several new casino venues have been running for a period of time.

On a related note, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) is now offering an online keno game.

VLT Features Evaluation & California Tribal Gambling [Online Reports]

A couple of reports were just released in the past day or two:

1) Evaluating VLT Responsible Gaming Features and Interventions in Alberta – Phase I Final Report (2004, April)... "In summary, it may be concluded that the new VLT responsible gaming features, while noticed by the players, do not appear to cause them to reduce or limit their duration of play or the amount of money they spend on VLTs during a session. With the exception of the money counter, players did not find the RGFs to be effective at helping them keep track of time and money spent playing the VLTs. Furthermore, players were rarely influenced to stop play altogether due to these RGFs. In view of this conclusion, it would be enlightening in Phase II to explore why these RGFs were not effective and to ask players what RGFs, if any, they believe would be more effective." (p.35-36).

2) An Impact Analysis of Tribal Government Gaming in California (2006, January).

Three More Items [Online Reports]

A few miscellaneous reports:

1) A decade of gambling research in Australia and New Zealand (1992- 2002): Implications for policy, regulation and harm minimisation (2003, November)

2) The Paradox of Internet Wagering: Increased Risk for Problem Gambling but More Potential for Responsible Gaming? (2005, December)

3) Community Impacts of Electronic Gaming Machine Gambling (Part A): Final Report (2005, December)

Social & Economic Aspects of Gambling [Conference Announcement]

The 5th Annual Alberta Conference on Gambling Research "Social and economic costs and benefits of gambling" will take place on Friday, April 21 & Saturday, April 22, 2006 at the Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta.

This international conference will feature presentations from prominent economists and social scientists who have studied the social and economic impacts of gambling. It has three themes.

1. The first is concerned with the METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES associated with Cost/Benefit Analyses (e.g., difficulties in quantifying social costs; degree to which impacts are specific to the form of gambling, etc.).

2. The second addresses JURISDICTIONAL STUDIES OF COSTS/BENEFITS that have been done from around the world (e.g., Canada, U.S., Australia, etc.).

3. The third presents research that has studied the IMPACTS ON SPECIFIC SECTORS (e.g., Aboriginals, Government, Societal Values, Individual Communities, NonProfit Sector, Crime, etc.).

The conference will be of interest to government regulators, commercial gambling operators, economists, social scientists, treatment providers and gambling researchers.

Adolescent Instrument for Qualitative Assessment [Online Report]

"The Development of an Instrument to Assess the Role of Gambling Outcome Expectancies for Adolescents: A Qualitative Analysis of Perceived Risks and Benefits of Adolescent Gambling" (2005, August) is available from the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre.

A Definition of Problem Gambling [Online Report]

Problem Gambling and Harm: Towards a National Definition (2005, December) is a report commissioned by Gambling Research Australia for the Ministerial Council on Gambling.

Innovation Alberta [Audio Clips]

Two radio interviews relating to the Alberta Gaming Research Institute which originally aired on December 20th, 2005 are accessible from the Innovations Alberta web site. They are:

1) #186 AGRI: First Nations Casinos and Gambling Research -- Interview with Dr. Rob Williams, U. of Lethbridge.

2) #186 Alberta Gaming Research Institute Library -- Interview with Librarian Rhys Stevens, U. of Lethbridge.