2006 California Prevalence Study [report]

The 2006 California Problem Gambling Prevalence Survey (2006, August) was just released online. The study team was led by eminent gambling research Dr. Rachel Volberg.

"In this report, respondents are classified as at-risk gamblers if they scored 1 or 2 on the lifetime NODS; as problem gamblers if they scored 3 or 4 on the lifetime NODS; and as pathological gamblers if they scored 5 or more on the lifetime NODS.

Based on the NODS, the lifetime prevalence of pathological gambling in California is 1.5% and the lifetime prevalence of problem gambling is 2.2%. The prevalence of lifetime at-risk gambling in California is 9.5%. The overall lifetime prevalence rate of problem and pathological gambling in California (3.7%) is at the higher end of the range of prevalence rates identified using this screen in other states and nationally."

For those of you who like gambling prevalence studies, be sure to look at the pages I've put together for studies from Canada, the U.S. & other international jurisdictions.

U.K. Casino Advisory Panel Recommendations [report]

And the winner of the "regional casino" competition is... the City of Manchester!

The U.K. casino advisory panel released a report entitled "Final report of the Casino Advisory Panel" (2007, January 30). The report lists the various cities that were selected to host a "regional casino" (1), "large casinos" (8) and "small casinos" (8). Much of this 180-page document is devoted to discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each of casino submission based on criteria related to social impact and ability to economically regenerate an area.

CPGI Index Review [report]

The report "Performance and enhancement of the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI): Report and recommendations" (2006, September) was produced by Healthy Horizons Consulting for a group of Canadian funding agencies interested in acquiring feedback on the instrument’s performance.

Included in the study are details about prevalence studies from around the world which have used the CPGI.

N.Z. Gambling Conference 2006 [presentations]

Abstracts and presentations from the "International Gambling Conference: Gambling and Its Impacts - Policy, Practice and Research Perspectives (Auckland, New Zealand)" which took place September 13-15, 2006 are available online courtesy of the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.

Mix and Match [3 reports]

The following three reports have been recently made available online...

1) Assessing the Contribution of Gambling Venue Design Elements to Problem Gambling Behaviour (2006, November) -- Funded by the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre (OPGRC).

2) 2006 Arizona Youth Survey: Arizona Gambling Profile Report (2007, January) -- A report from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission which provides one of the first glipses of gambling participation for that state's young people.

3) Survey on the Perceptions & Attitudes Towards Gambling Issues in Singapore (2006, September) -- For more information about gambling in Singapore, you might consider attending the Problem Gambling Conference 2007 in that country.

Internet Casino and Internet Poker Players [summary report]

The report "eCOGRA Global Online Gambler Report: An Exploratory Investigation into the Attitudes and Behaviours of Internet Casino and Poker Players [Media Summary]" (2007, Janary) is billed as perhaps the largest survey of online gamblers ever undertaken.

The summary report provides some useful demographic details about Internet gamblers but, unfortunately, doesn't delve much into problem gambling or get into the specifics of amount gambled online. I did, however, appreciate the details on poker playing and how players often participate in between 1 and 4 games simultaneously while playing online.

Journal of Gambling Issues, January 2007 [new issue]

Issue 19 of the Journal of Gambling Issues (2007, January) is now freely accessible online. Research articles included:

A study of differences in Canadian university students' gambling and proximity to a casino by Gerald R. Adams, Anne-Marie Sullivan, Keith D. Horton, Rosanne Menna, & Ann Marie Guilmette

The addictive potential of lottery gambling by Sabine M. Grüsser, Babett Plöntzke, Ulrike Albrecht, & Chantal Patricia Mörsen

An exploratory investigation into the erroneous cognitions of pathological and social fruit machine gamblers by Crawford Moodie

I. Adolescent problem gambling: Developing a gambling expectancy instrument by Meredith A. M. Gillespie, Jeffrey Derevensky, & Rina Gupta

II. The utility of outcome expectancies in the prediction of adolescent gambling behaviour by Meredith A. M. Gillespie, Jeffrey Derevensky, & Rina Gupta

Geist and Anti-Online Gambling Advertising Law [blog post]

Noted Internet legal commentator Michael Geist has a posting on his blog "Passes Anti-Online Gambling Advertising Law" (2006, December 15) which discusses Ontario's rather toothless new consumer protection legislation that contains provisions prohibiting the advertising of Internet gambling sites.

Dr. Michael Geist is the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa.

Internet Gambling @ Work [press release]

The January 15, 2007 news release "Online gambling costs GB businesses over £306 million per year in lost productivity" discusses a some research looking at how office workers in Britain are spending a portion of their time placing bets online at work.

Alberta Profile 2006 [Statistical Report]

The new seventh edition of AADAC's Alberta Profile: Social and Health Indicators of Addiction report (2006, November) is now available online.

"This 128-page report is a compilation of data from secondary sources that profile select indicators of harm caused by substance use and gambling in Alberta. The report provides ready-to-use data and is used by AADAC to assist with its policy and program planning."

The chapter on Gambling is on pages 61-73.

British Medical Assocation Treatment Guide [report]

Noted gambling scholar Mark Griffiths has produced the report "Gambling addiction and its treatment within the NHS: A guide for healthcare professionals" (2007, January) for the British Medical Association.

Gambling Research Reveals, Dec. 2006 / Jan. 2007 [Newsletter]

The December 2006 / January 2007 issue of Gambling Research Reveals has been posted to the Alberta Gaming Research Institute web site. Main articles in this issue relate to the Institute's 2007 conference in Banff, Alberta and an interview with doctoral student Nicole Peden about her CRAFT study.

Readiness to Seek Treatment Factors [report]

The report "Personal Luck, Outcome Expectancies, and Subjective Appraisals as Predictors of Health and Readiness to Seek Treatment among Young Adults" (2007?) by Wohl et al. for the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre (OPGRC) reports on the results of two studies.

"The first study comprised a broad survey (N = 407) to assess relations among expectancies, appraisals, coping strategies, and self-reported gambling and treatment-seeking behaviours. A 6-month follow-up was conducted to identify factors that predict alterations in gambling propensities. In the second study, using a virtual reality simulation, participants (N = 160) were exposed to a highly realistic gambling setting, enabling us to examine the effects of gambling anticipation on neuroendocrine responses among individuals with varying degrees of gambling interest (pathological, at-risk, and recreational gambler)."

Queensland Research Grants [reports]

The following two reports were funded by the Government of Queensland through its Responsible Gambling Research Grants Program.

1) Responsible Gambling Strategy for Older Queenslanders: Final Report (2006, July)

2) Early Life Course Determinants of Young Adults' Gambling Behaviour: An Australian Longitudinal Study (2006, June)

Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation [Annual Report]

A December 2006 press release from the Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation indicates that the combined Annual Report 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 can be accessed from their web site. The report contains a summary of their recent operational grants, research investigations, and conference highlights.

Alberta Casinos - 2007 Update [Directory]

I've finally got around to making use of some digitial images of Alberta casinos that I'd been collecting... take a look at various individual casino listings in my updated directory of Alberta Casinos (2007, Janaury).

If anyone has original (non-copyright) pictures of other Canadian casinos, feel free to forward them to me by email (rhys.stevens@uleth.ca) as I'm considering expanding this listing to all Canadian locations.

Issues in Gambling & Public Policy [seminar presentations]

"Gambling and Public Policy - Current Issues" (2006, January) was the title of a one-day seminar at the University of Salford in the U.K. Presentations were made by a number of well-known British gambling researchers (including Professor Peter Collins & Professor Leighton Vaughan Williams).

Gambling Research, May 2006 [print journal]

I recently received Volume 18, Issue 1 (May 2006) of Gambling Research: Journal of the National Association for Gambling Studies (Australia). Contents include:

Do EGMs and problem gambling go together like a horse and carriage? By Max Abbott

A structured clinical interview for pathological gambling By Michael Walker, Fadi Anjoul, Simon Milton and Kirsten Shannon

The effect of near wins on the choice of a video lottery terminal By Isabelle Giroux and Robert Ladouceur

A psychosocial profile of adolescents involved in high-risk behaviours in South Australia: A comparison of gambling and substance use By Paul H. Delfabbro, Anthony Winefield, Maureen Dollard, Jacques Metzer, Sarah Anderson and Sarah Trainor

Introduction to slots and video gaming [trade publication]

International Game Technology (IGT) is a major player in the manufacture of slot machines. The publication "Introduction to slots and video gaming" (2005) is available from their web site and provides some interesting details about how slot machines work as well as other assorted details relating to casino design.

I came across this item as a result of a recommendation in the article "Shedding Some Light on the Truth About Slots" by John G. Brokopp, one of the "Gaming Gurus" at the Casino City Times web site.

Internet Gambling and Addiction [opinion paper]

Dr. Howard J. Shaffer of the Harvard Medical School's Division on Addictions was asked several years ago to provide answers for the following two questions:

(1) Is the nature of addiction meaningfully different for different objects of addiction,
specifically Internet-related versus “local” gambling?; and

(2) Are the risk factors associated with gambling disorders in general significantly different from the risk factors that are associated with Internet gambling in particular.

You can read his comments in the paper "Internet Gambling & Addiction" (2004, January).