Tribal Lobbying Matters [Investigative Report]

"Gimme Five" -- Investigation of Tribal Lobbying Matters is the final report before the Committee on Indian Affairs (2006, June 22). It probes the Abramoff and Scanlon lobbying scandal that involved overbilling Indian casino gambling interests millions of dollars.

Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke [report]

A massive 700+ page report entitled "The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General" has recently been published by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The report includes a few odds and ends about smoke in gambling-related establishments.

Gambling in Tasmania [report]

The Fourth Study into the Extent and Impact of Gambling in Tasmania with Particular Reference to Problem Gambling (2006, June) is a recently released gambling prevalence study that was undertaken in 2005. The survey instruments used included the SOGS and the CPGI.

Gaming Law Review, June 2006 [journal issue]

A new issue of Gaming Law Review (Volume 10, Issue 3, June 2006) is now accessible to subscribers. Original papers include:

• The "Tribal Loophole": Federal Campaign Finance Law and Tribal Political Participation After Jack Abramoff
  
• Do State Bans on Internet Gambling Violate the Dormant Commerce Clause?
  
• Casino Boats and Dram Shop Act Liability
  
• Gambling Blindfolded: The Case for a Regulated Domain for Gambling Web Sites
  
• Italy's New Rules Enforce the Prohibition of Online Casino Games
  
  

Impacts of New B.C. Gaming Venues [report]

The Blue Thorn Research and Analysis Group has submitted the report "Determining Socio-Economic Impacts of New Gaming Venues in Four Lower Mainland Communities: Socio-Economic Issues and Impacts: First Impact Measures Report" (2006, May) to the Government of British Columbia. It is one of a series of reports that are being undertaken over a period of several years.

Profile of the American Casino Gambler [survey report]

An interesting post over at Dave Schwartz's Die is Cast: Thoughts on a World of Chance weblog discusses the recently released Profile of the American Casino Gambler: Harrah’s Survey 2006 (2006, June). I found the casino visitation / casino markets / demographic profile information of greatest value... it is contained in the second half of the survey.

Gambling by Professional Athletes [forthcoming article]

A pre-print of a forthcoming journal article "The Beauty of Bets: Wagers as Compensation for Professional Athletes" (2006, April) is available from the Social Science Research Network. Note that this page leads to the abstract... links to the full paper are further down on that page.

Gambling and the Family [policy paper]

The Vanier Institute of the Family recently made available an interesting 24-page policy paper entitled "Gambling with our (Kids’) Futures: Gambling as a family policy issue" (2006, June). It examines some of the research surrounding gambling and the family and makes several recommendations.

Alberta Longitudinal Study [newspaper article]

The article "Gamblers wanted for university research" in today's (June 21st, 2006) issue of the Lethbridge Herald newspaper indicates that about half of the 2,000 participants for a detailed longitudinal study of gambling in Alberta have been recruited.

Tribal Gaming [research competition]

The research centre at the Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming (SITG) @ San Diego State University in California is focused on producing and disseminating unbiased research on tribal gaming issues. Their 2006-2007 research competition closes on July 31st, 2006. Grants range in size from $500-15,000 and the total research budget for this proposal cycle is $50,000.

EGMs Down Under [reports]

The Victorian Department of Justice in Australia has made available two detailed reports related to EGMs (Electronic Gaming Machines). They are:

1. The Changing Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) Industry and Technology: Final Report (2006, March), and;
   
2. Analysis of Gambler Pre-commitment Behaviour (2006?)

VLTs in Nova Scotia [online news article]

A web-exclusive article from the Globe & Mail newspaper entitled "Odds are it's time for a VLT vote in Nova Scotia" (2006, June 16) by Peter McKenna calls for a plebiscite or referendum on the machines. McKenna is an associate professor of political studies at the University of Prince Edward Island and is writing a book on the politics of VLTs in Atlantic Canada.

Gambling Research, November 2005 [print journal]

Volume 17, Issue 2 (November 2005) of the journal Gambling Research contains the following articles:

• Problem gambling: An exploration of the role of global personal hopefulness, short-term gambling hope, and illusion of control beliefs by Spiro Ginakis and Keis Ohtsuka
  
• Intoxication and decision aiding during computer blackjack: Preliminary analysis by James G. Philips, Thomas J. Triggs, Gregory J. Coman, and Rowlan P. Ogeil
  
• Gambling amongst gaming venue employees: Counsellors' perspectives on risk and protective factors in the workplace by Nerilee Hing and Helen Breen
  
• Logic or luck? - Some gamblers do win! by Allen Windross

New Jersey's Senior Gamblers [Poll Results]

"New Jersey Seniors Gamble Away" (2006, June 15) is the title of a web page describing the results of a poll jointly undertaken by Fairleigh Dickinson University and The Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey. It found that 75 percent of state residents aged 55 and older gamble, with one in four answering affirmatively to standard psychiatric questions about gambling.

Casinos / Economic Aspects [working papers]

Several recent gambling-related working papers have been added to the EconPapers repository. They are:

1. Casinos, Crime, & Community Costs* (2004) by Grinols & Mustard
   * NOTE: Published paper appears in The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2006, vol. 88, issue 1, pages 28-45
   
2. The Economics of Casino Taxation (2006) by Benar & Jenkins
   
3. Regulation and Taxation of Casinos under State-Monopoly, Private Monopoly and Casino Association Regimes (2006) by Benar & Jenkins

Gambling Research Journal [2 self-archived articles]

The journal Gambling Research is published by the National Association of Gambling Studies [NAGS] Australia. Permission was recently obtained to self-archive two papers published in the journal that were funded by the Alberta Gaming Research Institute. They are:

1. Williams, R. J., Connolly, D., Wood, R., Currie, S., & Davis, R. M. (2004). Program findings that inform curriculum development for the prevention of problem gambling. Gambling Research, 16(1), 47-69.
   
2. Walls, W. D., & Busche, K. (2004). The behaviour of Alberta gamblers: Evidence from the tote at Northlands Park. Gambling Research, 16(2), 67-75.
   

Las Vegas, Nevada Student Gamblers [newspaper article]

One somewhat controversial theory related to gambling is that some permanent residents of places where gambling is pervasive (e.g., Las Vegas) seem to become "innoculated" or "immune" to problem gambling over time. The University of Nevada - Las Vegas Rebel Yell student newspaper has a related article entitled "Gambling on their future" (2006, June 12) which investigates the vulnerability of university students to problem gambling.

Online Poker [syndicated study]

The Ipsos-Reid Canada has details available on their web site about a forthcoming syndicated study entitled "Online Poker in North America: A Syndicated Study" (2006). It appears to be more of a marketing-related report aimed at operators of gambling-related web sites but would likely provide some interesting insights for gambling researchers.

Food for Thought [Quotations]

British gambling site gamble.co.uk has a good selection of humorous gambling quotations from a variety of sources... examples include:

"A gambler with a system must be, to a greater or lesser extent, insane." George Augustus Sala (1828-95) English writer and journalist

"You cannot beat a roulette table unless you steal money from it." -Albert Einstein

They were burying a high-roller in Las Vegas and a few of his gambling cronies were gathered grave side when the minister said; "Gus is merely sleeping." His best friend was heard muttering: "I've got a hundred that says he's dead."

"Your best chance to get a Royal Flush in a casino is in the bathroom." -VP Pappy (A crusty old sage that still roams the Green Felt Jungles in Detroit)

"Fortune knocks at every man's door once in a lifetime, but in a good many cases the man is in a neighboring saloon and does not hear her." -Mark Twain

In Atlantic City, N.J., elderly gamblers got flu shots Monday at Bally's Park Place ballroom while slot machines jangled in the next room. Nurses said the shot could cause soreness in their arms, but many replied they would work it out by pulling the slot machine handle.

Sports Sponsorship and Gambling [open-access journal article]

The article "Patterns of sports sponsorship by gambling, alcohol and food companies: an Internet survey" appears in Volume 6 (2006) of the open-access journal BMC Public Health.

Article content includes the following observation in the Discussion section:

"In particular, the relatively high proportion of naming rights agreements by gambling trusts appears to be a problem warranting further investigation by policy makers."

International Pokies Impact [conference]

The International Pokies Impact Conference will take place on September 18th and 19th in Melbourne, Australia. Featured speaker is Rev Tim Costello who authored the book Wanna bet? : Winners and losers in gambling's luck myth (2000).

Socio-economic conference report [newsletter]

A comprehensive review of presentations featured at the 5th Annual Alberta Conference on Gambling Research is available in the June / July issue of the Alberta Gaming Research Institute's 'Research Reveals...' newsletter.

Two forthcoming books [ordering info]

A couple of new and seemingly interesting books are now available for order...

1) The Economics of Casino Gambling (2007) by Douglas M. Walker, and;
2) Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling (2006) by David G. Schwartz

Golden State Gambling From 1998 [report]

The California Research Bureau recently released a comprehensive study on gambling in California titled "Gambling in the Golden State 1998 Forward" (2006, May).

"This report was requested by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and provides an overview of gambling in California since 1998, including its social and economic impacts. The report considers each segment of the gambling industry in a separate chapter: Indian casinos, the state lottery, horse racing, card rooms and Internet gambling. The final two chapters broadly examine the literature on the social and economic impact of the gambling industry."

Study of Five Ontario First Nations [community research]

The research investigation "Examining Gambling and Problem Gambling in Ontario Aboriginal Communities" (2005, June) was funded by the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre and has resulted in two separate reports.

The Phase I report contains study details from each of five aboriginal community research groups (Moosonee, North Bay, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, & Welland). The Phase II report is a synthesis of the findings and conclusions from these five Aboriginal community research reports and was prepared by Drs. Wynne and McCready.