Ontario Gambling News [media items]

The news release "Researchers Selected for Groundbreaking Study on Gambling" (2006, March 30) provides details on a 5-year longitudinal study on the impacts of a planned racetrack slot facility in Belleville, Ontario. The research team for the $3.1-million study will be led by Dr. Rob Williams of the University of Lethbridge and Robert Hann.

Another item making news in the Province of Ontario today is a revenue-sharing deal being proposed that will provide First Nations groups with 1.6 per cent of the province's total gambling revenues by 2011. For details, see "First Nations win big in casino revenue deal" (2006, March 30) from CBC Toronto.

Gambling Industry Cannibalization [working paper]

A working paper by Douglas Walker and John Jackson entitled "Do U.S. Gambling Industries Cannibalize Each Other?" (2006?) examines how the various U.S. gambling industries affect each other. Specifically, they analyze the following four industries from 1985-2000: casinos, greyhound racing, horse racing, and lotteries.

The Brain, Dopamine & Gambling [research report]

The report "A D2 Antagonist Enhances the Rewarding and Priming Effects of a Gambling Episode in Pathological Gamblers" has become available on the web site of the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre (OPGRC).

"In Gamblers, haloperidol [a dopamine antagonist that blocks a specific dopamine receptor, the D2 receptor] significantly increased self-reported rewarding effects of gambling, post-game priming of desire to gamble, facilitation of reading speed to Gambling words, and gambling-induced elevation in blood pressure. In Controls, haloperidol augmented gambling-induced elevation in blood pressure, but had no effect on other indices. The findings provide direct experimental evidence that the D2 substrate modulates gambling reinforcement in pathological gamblers."

New Substance Abuse Periodical [open-access journal]

There's a new substance abuse journal available through BioMed Central... it's called Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. You can read all current and future articles in this peer-reviewed publication at no cost due to it being an open-access publisher.

Older Adults & Substance Abuse Issues [resource booklet]

Today I came across a report from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) -- "Responding to Older Adults with Substance Use, Mental Health and Gambling Challenges: A Guide for Workers and Volunteers" (2006).

"This concise, easy-to-read booklet describes problems with alcohol, anxiety, dementia, depression, gambling and medications in older people, and identifies the signs of each problem.
Tips on talking with older adults with these problems are included, as are pointers on when to seek help."

International Casino Gambling [magazine article]

"Hottest Casinos" is the title of an article in the March 23rd issue of Forbes magazine... “It's called the gaming industry, but making money is serious business. The biggest winners aren't playing the poker tables or the slot machines, however. They're the casino owners and investors.”

Ontario Bill to Prohibit Internet Gambling Advertising [policy brief]

The policy brief "Ontario MP Introduces Internet Gambling Ad Ban" (2006, March) discusses a bill introduced by an Ontario member of parliament (MP) that would prohibit the advertising of unregulated Internet gambling. If enacted, Bill C-60 would amend the Consumer Protection Act.

Gambling & Homelessness [report]

The report "Safe as Houses? An exploration of the link between gambling and homelessness" (2005) was produced for the Department for Families and Communities in South Australia. It explores the link between homelessness and gambling, specifically the extent to which gambling is a causal factor in homelessness; and gambling patterns amongst homeless people.

New England Casinos [report]

The report "New England Casino Gaming Update" (2006, March) was produced by The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis. It updates its New England patron origin and fiscal impact analysis for Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun Casino for the calendar year 2005. It also includes data on Lincoln Park’s and Newport Grand’s video lottery terminals, and Hollywood Slots in Bangor, Maine.

Gambling & Alberta [magazine article]

The March 2006 issue of the magazine Alberta Views contains an informative feature article entitled "Upping the Ante" [print only] that dicusses gambling in the Province of Alberta. Also included in that same issue is the gambling-related editorial "How Much is Enough?" and the one-page item "Playing the Numbers".

Citizen Gambling Poll [article]

"Gambling USA: We are rolling the dice more than ever" (2006, March 16) discusses the answers to gambling-related questions that were included in a poll conducted by The Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University. You can also see the gambling questions themselves and the percentages of people who responded in various ways.

VLT Gaming in Canada [industry report]

The Canadian Gaming Association has made available the report "VLT Gaming in Canada" (2006, March) that was prepared for them by HLT Advisory. It reviews the VLT gaming activities, trends and programs in each of the Canadian provinces that have legalized the machines.

Journal of Gambling Studies Pre-prints [journal articles]

Pre-prints of articles that will appear in future issues of the Journal of Gambling Studies can be read online by subscribers in their entirety.

Queensland Gambling Survey [report]

The 2003-04 Queensland Household Gambling Survey (2005) was made available this month from the Queensland [Australia] Office of Gaming Regulation. There were 30,000 responses to the survey which makes it "one of the largest surveys of gambling activity undertaken anywhere in the world."

Fickle Iowans [news article] and TouchPlay Machines [report]

The newspaper article "Fickle Iowans gamble billions" (12 March, 2006) from the online version of the Des Moines Register register contains a good overview of the history of gambling in Iowa as well as the following lesser-known facts about the State:

• Iowa ranks fourth among states in the percentage of residents who are binge drinkers (18.9 percent had five or more drinks on the same occasion in the last month), according to the 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.
• Iowa topped the nation in per-capita readership of Playboy in 2004.
• As late as 1963, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that pinball machines were "illegal gambling devices" if free games could be won.Then-Iowa Attorney General Richard Turner began a crusade in the 1960s to close bingo halls.

Also entioned in the article is the recently-released "TouchPlay Task Force Report" (2006, March) which addresses concerns made about TouchPlay devices which closely resemble video lottery terminals.

Aboriginal casino gaming in Alberta [newsletter]

The February / March 2006 issue of the 'Research Reveals...' newsletter contains a feature article describing a November 2005 panel discussion related to the implications of Aboriginal casino gambling in Southern Alberta. The forum was held at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta and was sponsored by The Royal Society of Canada.

Additional information about the forum is available from the Society's web page Aboriginal casinos Who's cashing in?

National Problem Gambling Awareness Week [resource]

Did you know that March 6-12, 2006 is National Problem Gambling Awareness Week in the United States? There's a variety of useful and informative information provided in multimedia format on the site... aimed at treatment providers as well as the general public.

Underground Sports Gambling [issue brief]

The issue brief "Hidden Revenue: Regulating the Underground Economy of Sports Betting" (2005, February) is a resource recently featured by Bill Ursel in his Online Gambling and Problem Gambling Review. The short report contains some details on sports betting in the United States and efforts to legalize it in New York state.

Concurrent Gambling, Substanse Use, & Anger - Treatment [report]

The report "Concurrent Gambling, Substance Use and Anger: Development of a Brief Integrated Treatment" (2005) was funded by the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre. "This study evaluated an integrative skills-based treatment for concurrent problem gambling, substance use, and anger. Forty-two participants were randomly assigned to either a 14-week integrative Anger and Addiction treatment or to a gambling-only Treatment-As-Usual (TAU)."

Indiana Benefit-Cost Analysis [report]

A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Indiana’s Riverboat Casinos for FY 2005 (2006, January) just came out and was produced by Policy Analytics, LLC for the Indiana Legislative Council and the Indiana Gaming Commission. In estimating the contentious issue of social costs, "this report developed a range of economic valuation based on two experienced research entities: the National Opinion Research Center [NORC] and Dr. Earl Grinols, Baylor University, Waco, Texas."

New E-Gambling Institute [web site]

The newly formed Global Remote and E-Gambling Research Institute (GREGI) will be hosting a conference on e-gambling on August 31st and September 1st, 2006 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Institute bills itself this way: "...the first private, non-profit research organization focuses on

• The historical, economical, mathematical, legal, social and psychological aspects of remote gambling and e-gambling.
• The development, execution and evaluation of the regulation of remote gambling and e-gambling.
• Ethical marketing and management of gambling opportunities."

Effects of Regional Casinos in the UK [report]

The social and economic impacts of regional casinos in the UK (2006, February) is the name of a recent consultant report that "aims to identify and quantify the impact of regional casino development. It examines the assumption that such development is beneficial to local economies and communities, particularly in relation to anticipated regeneration benefits."

Of related interest is the report "Casinos in England’s Northwest: An Assessment of Market Demand: Final Report" (2005, June).

Gambling & County-Level Crime [thesis]

The Relationship between Gambling and County-Level Crime (2005) is a thesis authored by Sara Betsinger at the University of Maryland. In concluding, she notes that:

"The questions surrounding gambling venues and crime are far from answered. At
the same time, state governments are likely to continue to push to use gambling to solve
their economic crises without raising taxes. While groups with differing viewpoints
continue to argue about the implications of building new casinos or adding slots to
existing racetracks, researchers should refine their methods for examining the
relationship between gambling and crime. Significant findings may prove invaluable to
future policy decisions."

Problem Gambling in the Canadian North [Letter to Editor]

The February 2006 issue of The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry contains a Letter to the Editor entitled "Problem Gambling in the Canadian North Neglected." It contains some informative information about problem gambling on Baffin Island in the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut. Also in the same issue is a response entitled "Reply: Problem Gambling in the Canadian North Neglected."