tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/gambling-addiction-6330/articlesGambling addiction – The Conversation2023-11-16T13:20:24Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2044342023-11-16T13:20:24Z2023-11-16T13:20:24ZColleges face gambling addiction among students as sports betting spreads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549155/original/file-20230919-23-xg2xb1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=144%2C202%2C4672%2C3408&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Around 6% of college students have a gambling problem. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/photo/stadium-crowd-cheering-one-man-looking-at-mobile-royalty-free-image/200244684-001?phrase=students+watching+college+football+on+their+phones&adppopup=true">John Rowley/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Three out of four college students have <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/files/NPGAWcollegefactsheet.pdf">gambled in the past year</a>, whether legally or illegally, according to the <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/">National Council on Problem Gambling</a>.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/faq/">estimated 2% to 3% of U.S. adults</a> have a gambling problem. The portion of college students with a problem, however, is potentially twice that number – <a href="https://www.beforeyoubet.org/college-students-gambling/">up to 6%</a>.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://sites.miamioh.edu/jason-w-osborne/">educational psychologist</a> who follows gambling in America, I foresee the potential for gambling on campus to become an even bigger problem. <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-boon-for-sports-fandom-or-a-looming-mental-health-crisis-5-essential-reads-on-the-effects-of-legal-sports-betting-199657">Sports betting continues to expand</a>, including on college campuses, since a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/14/politics/sports-betting-ncaa-supreme-court/index.html">2018 Supreme Court ruling allowing states to make it legal</a>.</p>
<p>As a faculty fellow at an <a href="https://miamioh.edu/aspire/muirgls/index.html">institute that promotes responsible gaming</a>, I know that colleges can take steps to curtail problem gambling among students. It is all the more urgent given that adolescents in general, including college students, are often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.05.003">uniquely susceptible to gambling problems</a>, both because of their exposure to video games – which often have hallmarks of gambling behavior – and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106386">stress and anxiety of college life</a>, which can lead to using gambling as a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-3588.2004.00092.x">coping strategy</a>.</p>
<h2>The spread of legal sports betting</h2>
<p>As of November 2023, <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/sportsbetting-bill-tracker/">sports betting is legal</a> in some form in 38 states and Washington, D.C. Further, 26 states allow sports betting online. Bills have been introduced – and some recently passed – in more states. These states include <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/vermont/">Vermont</a>, <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/missouri/">Missouri</a> and <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/nc/">North Carolina</a>. Thanks to technology, sports betting is now accessible beyond casinos. Anyone can access it online and on their smartphone.</p>
<p>More than <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/sports-betting/revenue/">US$268 billion has been gambled legally</a> on sports betting between June 2018 and November 2023. Revenue in all U.S. gaming sectors has increased significantly, with sports betting growing the fastest, at <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/the-explosive-growth-of-sports-betting/">an estimated 75% annually</a>. It has generated about <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/sports-betting/revenue/">$3.9 billion in tax revenue</a> to date.</p>
<p>Sports betting is also becoming more accessible on college campuses. A New York Times investigation found that sports betting companies and universities have essentially <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/business/caesars-sports-betting-universities-colleges.html">“Caesarized” college life</a>. That is to say, they’ve made campuses resemble elements of the world famous casinos by introducing online gambling to students.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u3v7LHYST6o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">College betting scandals shine light on campus wagering.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These profits have driven increased advertising. Some estimate that total advertising through all media channels could <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2022/09/15/sports-betting-is-revving-up-ad-spending-for-fourth-quarter/?sh=64c692c05dff">approach $3 billion annually</a>. This includes social media platforms like TikTok, where young adults are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/14/sportsbet-is-targeting-young-women-on-tiktok-to-diversify-male-client-base-experts-say">more likely to see ads for gambling</a>. A study in the United Kingdom found that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40429-022-00457-0">72% of 18- to 24-year-olds</a> have seen gambling ads through social media. </p>
<p>While advertisers reportedly focus on young adults of legal age, research suggests that children under 18 are also being <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.11.019">exposed to advertising</a> related to gambling. The intensity of advertising activity on social media has raised concerns and brought scrutiny. Earlier this year, for example, prosecutors in the <a href="https://www.masslive.com/politics/2023/03/are-you-and-your-kids-overwhelmed-by-mass-sports-betting-ads-youre-not-alone.html">Massachusetts attorney general’s office</a> expressed concern that sports betting and other gambling might spread quickly through college campuses as a result of advertising. </p>
<h2>Why college students are at greater risk of gambling addiction</h2>
<p>Gambling addiction affects people from all backgrounds and across all ages, but it is an even bigger threat to college students. Adolescents of college age are uniquely likely to engage in impulsive or risky behaviors because of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20442">variety of developmental factors</a>, leaving them more susceptible to take bigger risks and experience adverse consequences.</p>
<p>It’s no secret that drinking alcohol is prevalent on college campuses, and this can increase the likelihood of other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813125-1.00054-4">risk-taking behaviors such as gambling</a>. Like other addictive behaviors, gambling can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12378">stimulate the reward centers of the brain</a>, which makes it more difficult to stop even if someone is building up losses. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of friends watch a game on a phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sports betting has become more accessible on college campuses with the rise of gambling apps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/photo/group-of-friends-watching-their-favorite-match-on-a-royalty-free-image/964387178?phrase=students+gambling&adppopup=true">GCShutter/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What colleges and universities can do to help</h2>
<p>If you’re worried a student in your life might have a gambling problem, the Mayo Clinic describes <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/compulsive-gambling/symptoms-causes/syc-20355178">signs to look for</a>. These include restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop or reduce gambling, gambling more when feeling distressed, and lying to hide gambling or financial losses from it. Gamblers Anonymous provides a <a href="http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga/content/20-questions">20-question, self-diagnostic questionnaire</a> to help people identify problems or compulsive gambling.</p>
<p>For more resources, organizations like the <a href="https://www.gatewayfoundation.org/addiction-blog/how-to-help-someone-that-has-gambling-problem/">Gateway Foundation</a> offer information and support to help someone with a gambling problem. Immediate help is available at the national problem gambling helpline, <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/national-helpline-1-800-522-4700/">1-800-GAMBLER</a>. The National Council on Problem Gaming has <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/help-by-state/">lists of resources within each state</a> that can provide more local support and assistance. </p>
<p>At the Miami University Institute for Responsible Gaming, Lottery and Sport, my colleagues and I are working to ensure that the recent dramatic expansion of legalized gaming is matched by effective guidance for policymakers and leaders within higher education. Many institutions, like the <a href="https://dos.uoregon.edu/gambling-support">University of Oregon</a>, have begun to acknowledge that widespread legalized sports betting and gambling can affect their students. A comprehensive and coordinated approach is required to protect them from harm. </p>
<p>There are resources available to help institutions, such as the “get set before you bet” initiative adopted by the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/health/blog/gambling">University of Colorado, Boulder</a> and others. This gives students practical tips to follow if they are going to gamble, such as setting time and money limits before they start.</p>
<p>Colleges and universities could do even more. According to the <a href="https://www.icrg.org/cg-information/task-force-on-college-gambling-policies-and-recommendations">International Center for Responsible Gaming</a>, institutions can address gambling risks to students by:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Ensuring there are clear policies on gambling and making sure they align with alcohol policies. <a href="https://www.ue.org/risk-management/health-and-well-being/student-gambling-policies/">United Educators</a> provides examples of how institutions can create effective policies and support student wellness, like <a href="https://ogc.asu.edu/gambling-raffles">Arizona State’s policy</a>. Theirs prohibits legal and illegal gambling at any event related to ASU and reinforces that alcohol possession, consumption or inebriation is illegal for all students under 21.</p></li>
<li><p>Promoting awareness of addiction as a mental health disorder and making resources for getting help available to students.</p></li>
<li><p>Ensuring those who work in campus counseling and health services are familiar with gambling addiction and prepared to support students struggling with addiction or problem behavior. Providers should also be aware that multiple addictions can be present, enhancing the challenges to management and recovery.</p></li>
<li><p>Surveying student attitudes toward gambling to track changes in attitudes, behaviors and norms.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>With various sports championships, including in baseball, football and college basketball, taking place throughout the academic year, there’s no shortage of occasions for universities to check in with students about sports betting on campus. Gambling addiction is treatable, but preventing it from the start is the best solution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204434/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason W. Osborne works for Miami University</span></em></p>The rise of sports betting has made gambling addiction a bigger issue on college campuses, but there are steps universities can take to address it.Jason W. Osborne, Professor of Statistics, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2127482023-09-25T12:30:23Z2023-09-25T12:30:23ZHow AI and AR could increase the risk of problem gambling for online sports betting<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548329/original/file-20230914-4201-fye76e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C10%2C950%2C655&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-using-online-sports-betting-services-1118068061">Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sometimes <a href="https://features.propublica.org/the-bad-bet/video-gambling-addiction-illinois/">referred to</a> as the “<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2005.00962.x?casa_token=PmOh6ayRJSIAAAAA:1nk6oodUvcH1n6R44hO0y_9jAnAcT63AALXLrhjxBrBmjZl68msFlJPS40LbDMJqUeJRlM5bMBX86w">crack cocaine of gambling</a>”, electronic gaming machines (EGMs) such as slot machines allow bets to be placed as quickly as <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1173441/Online_Slots_Stake_Limit_Impact_Assessment.pdf">once every 2.5 seconds</a>, delivering a <a href="https://researchmgt.monash.edu/ws/portalfiles/portal/41513137/40136523_oa.pdf">rapid and immersive</a> gambling experience. Similar features are now being used to transform online sports betting, significantly increasing the risk of problem gambling.</p>
<p>Sports betting is one the UK’s <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/publication/statistics-on-participation-and-problem-gambling-for-the-year-to-march-2023">most popular</a> forms of gambling. Traditionally, people have placed sports bets in the same way they play the national lottery: betting on the final result of a match or race during the week and often waiting until the weekend to discover the outcome of the event. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16066359.2023.2241350">our recent research</a> indicates that the online environment has massively transformed sports betting. It has now become instantly accessible, offering a multitude of features and betting options that pose a significantly greater risk of addiction than in the past. </p>
<p>And with technology rapidly advancing, the future of sports betting could be even more worrying as gambling companies look to artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) to enhance their offerings.</p>
<p>More harmful sports betting has been linked to <a href="https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/10/3/article-p371.xml">new features</a> that are similar to those found in EGMs. Countless “in-play” and “micro” sports bets can now be placed on the shortest intervals within a sporting event, such as a bet on the next free kick in football. Although not quite as fast as EGMs, the increased speed at which in-play sports bets can now be placed is linked to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-018-9810-y">problem gambling</a>. </p>
<p>Another similarity between EGMs and online sports betting involves “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-017-9688-0">losses disguised as wins</a>”. This is when a player receives a payout that is less than their original wager but is still celebrated with visual and auditory feedback, making it <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-022-10184-w">feel like a win</a>. </p>
<p>The “cash-out” feature also allows players to settle bets early, often for less than the original stake, to minimise potential losses. This is particularly profitable for bookmakers when large sums are involved and could also disguise overall losses as wins. Using the cash-out feature is also associated with <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-018-9876-x">problem gambling</a>.</p>
<h2>Sports betting in the near future</h2>
<p>It’s possible to see how sports betting products that incorporate AI and AR could evolve before they are commercially available by analysing patents. This is a useful strategy for researchers like us because potential areas of harm can be identified before new products hit the market. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16066359.2023.2241350">Our recent research</a> identified three patents that aim to add <a href="http://pire.fiu.edu/publications/Augmented.pdf">augmented reality</a> (AR) to the sports betting experience. AR typically uses goggles or mobile phones to overlap computer-generated imagery onto a player’s view of the real world. Big tech firms such as Apple (Apple Vision) and Samsung (Galaxy Glass) are currently racing to assimilate augmented reality into many aspects of our daily lives, with the potential for very positive results such as when used to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13304-018-0567-8">provide information to surgeons during operations</a>, for example, or to maintenance staff <a href="https://www.inc.com/james-paine/10-real-use-cases-for-augmented-reality.html">fixing complex equipment</a>.</p>
<p>But integrating AR with sports betting could have disastrous consequences. In a sports betting context, this would probably involve aiming the goggles or phone at a live sporting event both on TV or at the stadium and having <a href="https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/e4/5d/82/6fde65850e9db0/US20220092913A1.pdf">real-time betting opportunities</a> shown in your field of vision as the event unfolds. Research shows <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-021-10027-0">immersion</a> is pivotal in fuelling problematic gambling behaviour and disengaging from an AR sports betting session could be very challenging. </p>
<p>We also identified three patents that seek to introduce competitive in-play sports bets between players rather than against bookmakers. These patents involve people <a href="https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/96/b7/ac/3bc9d46fea2f89/US10198910.pdf">joining online tournaments</a>, and competing for rewards based on entry fees and wager pools. Leaderboards track bettor rankings, and players can communicate with each other in a similar fashion to poker. </p>
<p>However, introducing such competition in online sports betting might exacerbate “<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0264000">tilting</a>” – when a person makes poor betting decisions in response to loss or pressure. This may be made worse when gamblers can chat and taunt each other. The companies involved in the above patents did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>Bookmakers are <a href="https://boardroom.tv/artificial-intelligence-sports-betting-ai-technology/#:%7E:text=The%20core%20of%20sports%20betting,both%20bettors%20and%20sportsbooks%20alike.">already using AI</a> to improve predictions and odds-setting processes. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-sets-out-ai-safety-summit-ambitions">UK government</a> is aware of the risks associated with AI, but regulating this rapidly growing technology will continue to be challenging. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man standing up and using a virtual reality headset and handheld controls in a living room." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Augmented and virtual reality headsets and goggles offer an immersive experience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-using-virtual-reality-headset-metaverse-2301455323">Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Regulation and policy</h2>
<p>Gambling regulation is notorious for its lack of foresight. The 2005 Gambling Act was only <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-stakes-gambling-reform-for-the-digital-age/high-stakes-gambling-reform-for-the-digital-age">revised this year</a> to recognise the growth of online gambling, which has existed for nearly 20 years. So while more forward-looking regulation and policy is needed to protect consumers from the harmful evolution of sports betting, the uncertainty and complexity surrounding new sports betting technologies only adds to the challenge of regulating this industry.</p>
<p>But there are current harms that researchers and policymakers do understand. Our research shows that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.16028">reducing the speed and ease</a> of online sports betting makes most sense. </p>
<p>Regulatory measures should not impede the freedoms of those who do gamble safely, however. Australia provides a good example: regulations there allow in-play bets, but legally require them to be made <a href="https://theconversation.com/40-years-of-legal-sports-betting-in-australia-points-to-risks-for-us-gamblers-and-tips-for-regulators-194993#:%7E:text=In%20Australia%2C%20live%20sports%20betting%20can%20be%20done%2C%20but%20not%20online.%20They%20must%20be%20placed%20by%20telephone%20call%20or%20at%20a%20venue%2C%20such%20as%20a%20bar%2C%20casino%20or%20betting%20shop%2C%20which%20is%20a%20storefront%20where%20people%20can%20place%20bets.">via telephone call</a> rather than instantly via apps or websites. This provides friction for the good of public health, rather than complete restriction. </p>
<p>Thanks to new technology such as AI and AR, this industry is already evolving at a faster pace than regulation can keep up with. As a result, sports betting could be dominated by a growing web of harms that are currently unforeseen and difficult to comprehend.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212748/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Newall is a member of the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling – an advisory group of the Gambling Commission in Great Britain, and in 2020 was a special advisor to the House of Lords Select Committee Enquiry on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry. In the last three years, Philip Newall has contributed to research projects funded by the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling, Clean Up Gambling, Gambling Research Australia, NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. Philip Newall has received travel and accommodation funding from Alberta Gambling Research Institute, and received open access fee funding from Gambling Research Exchange Ontario. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>In the last three years, Jamie Torrance has received: PhD funding from GambleAware, Open access publication funding from Gambling Research Exchange Ontario (GREO), Paid consultancy fees from Channel 4, Conference travel and accommodation funding from the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling (AFSG), and an exploratory research grant from the ASFG and GREO.</span></em></p>Artificial intelligence and augmented reality tools are upping the stakes when it comes to online sports betting.Philip Newall, Lecturer in the School of Psychological Science, University of BristolJamie Torrance, Lecturer and Researcher in Psychology, University of ChesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2065802023-08-24T20:20:46Z2023-08-24T20:20:46ZFriday essay: ‘black bile’, malaria therapy and insulin comas – a brief history of mental illness<p>Possibly the earliest account of a disturbed mind is recorded in a 3,500-year-old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas">Hindu text</a> that describes a man who is “gluttonous, filthy, walks naked, has lost his memory and moves about in an uneasy manner”.</p>
<p>In the Bible’s Old Testament, in the first <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Books-of-Samuel">Book of Samuel</a>, we read that King David simulated madness to gain safety: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>And he changed his behaviour … and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Book-of-Daniel-Old-Testament">Book of Daniel</a>, we find a vivid description of King Nebuchadnezzar’s mental state: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>And he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The ancient Greeks made early attempts to explain madness. In the 5th century BC, <a href="https://fherehab.com/learning/humors-ancient-mental-health">Hippocrates</a> viewed it as seated in the brain and influenced by four bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. </p>
<p>The Greek physician Galen, who practised in Rome 600 years later, argued that depression was caused by an excess of black bile (hence the term “melancholia”, from <em>melan</em>, black, and <em>khole</em>, bile). </p>
<p>His contemporary, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aretaeus-of-Cappadocia">Aretaeus of Cappadocia</a>, colourfully described how, if black bile moves upwards in the body, “it forms melancholy; for it produces flatulence and eructations [or, belches] of a fetid and fishy nature, and it sends rumbling wind downwards, and disturbs the understanding”. </p>
<h2>A troubled mind, possessed</h2>
<p>During the Middle Ages, monasteries preserved the view of madness as an illness, and of those afflicted as sick rather than sinful. At the same time, the more sinister belief that the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25208453/">principal cause</a> of the troubled mind was possession by spirits or the devil prevailed.</p>
<p>Sufferers were taken to sanctioned healers for <a href="https://theconversation.com/exorcisms-have-been-part-of-christianity-for-centuries-107932">exorcisms</a>, a practice still carried out today in some cultures. People who failed to respond to such treatment might then seek out a celebrated expert. </p>
<p>Consider Hwaetred, a young man living in what is now England in the 7th century, who became tormented by an “evil spirit”. So terrible was his madness that he attacked others with his teeth and killed three men with an axe when they tried to restrain him. Taken to several sacred shrines, he obtained no relief. His despairing parents then heard of Guthlac, a monk who lived a hermit life north of Cambridge. After three days of prayer and fasting, Hwaetred was purportedly cured.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">St Francis Borgia Helping a Dying Impenitent – Goya (1788)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over time, the role of religious authorities in mental illness dwindled, and the medical profession claimed the exclusive practice of the healing arts. Insanity once more came to be seen more as a physical malady than a spiritual taint. Even so, life for the mentally ill could be appalling. </p>
<p>During the 17th century, religiously inspired persecution of the mentally ill was justified by the clerical hierarchy, and treatment was often some combination of neglect and bestial restraint. </p>
<p>Psychiatrists Martin Roth and Jerome Kroll <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Reality_of_Mental_Illness.html?id=pCQ4AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">describe</a> the insane in this period as “miserable individuals, wandering around in village and in forest, taken from shrine to shrine, sometimes tied up when they became too violent”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-invention-of-satanic-witchcraft-by-medieval-authorities-was-initially-met-with-skepticism-140809">The invention of satanic witchcraft by medieval authorities was initially met with skepticism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A watershed: asylums</h2>
<p>The late 18th century was a watershed in the history of psychiatry. The insanity of England’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22122407">King George III</a> revealed society’s ambivalence to the mentally ill (vividly captured in the 1994 film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110428/">The Madness of King George</a>). </p>
<p>In France, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Philippe-Pinel">Philippe Pinel</a> released the chains that had fettered the “lunatic” for centuries, ushering in an unprecedented phase of benevolent institutional care. </p>
<p><a href="https://dictionary.apa.org/moral-therapy">Moral therapy</a>, a form of individualised care in small hospital settings, was promoted by English Quakers at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Retreat">York Retreat</a> and gradually supplanted inhumane physical treatments such as purging, bleeding and dunking in cold water.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BHNSAK8d3qc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">English society’s ambivalence to the mentally ill in the 18th century is depicted in the 1994 film, The Madness of King George.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As populations grew and urbanised, the sheer numbers of mentally ill people in burgeoning city slums demanded action. An institutional solution emerged. </p>
<p>Asylums (from the Greek word meaning “refuge”) were built in rural settings with the best of intentions, planned to be havens in which patients would receive humane care. In the serenity of the countryside, and through carrying out undemanding tasks, they could be distracted from their internal torment and find dignity far from the bustling crowd. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Daniel-Defoe">Daniel Defoe</a>, the English writer, remained unconvinced: “This is the height of barbarity and injustice in a Christian country; it is a clandestine Inquisition, nay worse.”</p>
<p>Although conceived in a spirit of optimism, asylums tended to deteriorate into centres of hopelessness and demoralisation. They soon became overcrowded dumps. Institutions built for a few hundred people were soon holding thousands. Very few residents were discharged; many stayed for decades. Brutal oppression replaced anything that might have resembled treatment; malnutrition and infectious disease became rife.</p>
<p>In the grim environment, people were shut away and forgotten. With them out of sight and out of mind, a loss of public interest and political neglect became the norm.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Asylums were conceived optimistically, but more often housed oppression than treatment. Picture: The Hospital of Bethlehem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wellcome Collection</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The brooding building on the hill came to symbolise the stigma and fear attached to mental illness. By the mid-19th century, critics were voicing concerns that asylums had become human warehouses that entrenched mental illness rather than curing it. </p>
<p>The combination of powerless patients, hospitals run more for the convenience of staff than for the benefit of the sick, inadequate inspection by state bodies, and lack of resources led at times to quite disgraceful conditions. Unwittingly, the spread of asylums also triggered the movement of psychiatry away from the mainstream of medicine.</p>
<p>The conditions of the asylums are evocatively described in Henry Handel Richardson’s Australian novel <a href="https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/the-fortunes-of-richard-mahony">The Fortunes of Richard Mahony</a>. We read of Richard’s decline, probably from syphilis affecting the brain, which at that time afflicted a large proportion of mental patients.</p>
<p>Towards the end of the novel, his wife comes to visit him in the asylum:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>She hung her head … while the warder told the tale of Richard’s misdeeds. 97B was, he declared, not only disobedient and disorderly, he was extremely abusive, dirty in his habits … he refused to wash himself, or to eat his food … she had to keep a grip on her mind to hinder it from following the picture up: Richard, forced by this burly brute to grope on the floor for his spilt food, to scrape it together, and either eat it or have it thrust down his throat … There was not only feeding by force, the straitjacket, the padded cell. There were drugs and injections, given to keep a patient quiet and ensure his warders their freedom.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-case-for-the-fortunes-of-richard-mahony-by-henry-handel-richardson-24474">The case for The Fortunes of Richard Mahony by Henry Handel Richardson</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Great and desperate cures</h2>
<p>In the asylum, psychiatry turned into a modern medical discipline. The
accumulation of thousands of patients provided the first opportunity
to study mental illness systematically and to develop theories about its
causes. </p>
<p>The idea that these conditions were due to brain alterations, and especially degenerative processes, became dominant, encouraged by the discovery of the cerebral pathology associated with <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/neurosyphilis">neurosyphilis</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-causes-alzheimers-disease-what-we-know-dont-know-and-suspect-75847">Alzheimer’s disease</a>. A similar degenerative process was proposed by the great German psychiatrist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emil-Kraepelin">Emil Kraepelin</a> to cause <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/dementia-praecox">dementia praecox</a> – later renamed “schizophrenia” – leading to pessimism about the possibility of recovery.</p>
<p>But the priority for asylums was to relieve the suffering of overwhelming numbers of disturbed patients. Psychiatrists grasped for “great and desperate cures”. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_R._Rollin">Henry Rollin</a>, an English psychiatrist and medical historian, captures the intense zeal:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The physical treatment of the frankly psychotic during these centuries makes spine-chilling reading. Evacuation by vomiting, purgatives, sweating, blisters, and bleeding were considered essential […] There was indeed no insult to the human body, no trauma, no indignity which was not at one time or other piously prescribed for the unfortunate victim.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Treatments were sometimes based on rational grounds. Malaria therapy, for instance, was launched as a treatment for neurosyphilis by the Viennese psychiatrist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julius-Wagner-Jauregg">Julius Wagner-Jauregg</a> in 1917, earning him a Nobel Prize ten years later. </p>
<p>The high fever caused by the malarial parasite disabled the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/spirochete">spirochete</a> that caused neurosyphilis, but the hope that it would be equally effective for other forms of psychosis was soon dashed. The wished-for panacea was not to be.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Malaria therapy, a treatment for neurosyphilis, earned its inventor a Nobel Prize.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jimmy Chan/Pexels</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/insulin-shock-therapy">Insulin-coma therapy</a> was introduced by Manfred Sakel in the 1930s in Vienna and was soon being used in many countries to treat schizophrenia. An insulin injection was administered six days a week for several weeks, producing a state of light coma lasting about an hour, because of reduced glucose reaching the brain. </p>
<p>Many years later, an investigation carried out in the Institute of Psychiatry in London, a leading research centre at the time, showed conclusively that the coma itself was of no therapeutic value. Any positive change was probably due to the staff’s painstaking care.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/girl-interrupted-interrogates-how-women-are-mad-when-they-refuse-to-conform-30-years-on-this-memoir-is-still-important-199211">Girl, Interrupted interrogates how women are 'mad' when they refuse to conform – 30 years on, this memoir is still important</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>ECT and lithium</h2>
<p>The first widely available and effective biological treatments for mental illness were developed in the asylum. The discovery in 1938 of <a href="https://theconversation.com/electroconvulsive-therapy-a-history-of-controversy-but-also-of-help-70938">electroconvulsive therapy</a> (ECT) by <a href="https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/ugo-cerletti">Ugo Cerletti</a> and Lucio Bini, two Italian psychiatrists, led to a dramatically effective treatment for people with severe depression. </p>
<p>ECT was eagerly adopted in practice, but its history illustrates a typical pattern of treatment in psychiatry: unbridled early enthusiasm is later tempered by a protracted process of scientific evaluation. </p>
<p>The same can be said of the use of brain surgery to modify psychiatric symptoms. This was pioneered in 1936 by Portuguese neurologist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antonio-Egas-Moniz">António Egas Moniz</a> (another Nobel Prize winner in the field of psychiatry) and surgeon Almeida Lima, and remains controversial in psychiatry to this day.</p>
<p>A momentous breakthrough was the discovery in 1949 by <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02480-0">John Cade</a>, an Australian psychiatrist, of lithium as a treatment for manic excitement. The lithium story reveals how the incorporation of a new medication into psychiatric practice is not always smooth. </p>
<p>Several US and Danish psychiatrists had experimented with lithium in the 1870s and 1890s, only to have their work ignored until Cade’s rediscovery. It was another 18 years before lithium was shown to prevent the recurrence of severe changes of mood, its primary clinical use now.</p>
<p>Major tranquillisers were added to the growing range of psychiatric medications after being discovered fortuitously in 1953. An antihistamine used to calm patients undergoing surgery was shown to reduce the torment of psychotic patients, but without making them sleepy. </p>
<p>Shortly after this, the US psychiatrist <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/14/obituaries/nathan-kline-developer-of-antidepressants-dies.html">Nathan Kline</a> discovered that a drug being tested for its effect in patients with tuberculosis had antidepressant properties — the forerunner of medications for depression. All these drugs radically transformed the practice of psychiatry. </p>
<h2>Freud, ‘talking cures’ and shell shock</h2>
<p>A very different aspect of mental health care arose in the 1890s, outside
the asylum. Concerned with neurotic conditions, the new treatment grew chiefly out of neurology but was also influenced by a scientific interest in hypnosis and the unconscious. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sigmund Freud.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Max Halberstadt/Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sigmund Freud conceived a dynamic model of the mind in which, through the mechanism of repression, painful or threatening emotions, memories and impulses are prevented from escaping into conscious awareness. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/a-dangerous-method-in-defence-of-freuds-psychoanalysis-5989">Psychoanalysis</a> grew to become an integrated set of concepts about normal and abnormal mental functioning and personality development, and spawned a new method of psychologically based treatment. Psychoanalysis emerged as a major theoretical underpinning of contemporary “talking cures” (psychotherapies), and its influence spread far beyond treating mental ill-health.</p>
<p>Both world wars profoundly influenced the field. The high incidence of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/shell-shock-treatments-reveal-the-conflict-in-psychiatrys-heart-29822">shell shock</a>” in World War I drove home the lesson that mental illness could affect not only those genetically predisposed, but even the supposedly robust. It soon emerged that anyone exposed to traumatic experiences was vulnerable. </p>
<p>A positive outcome from World War II was the development of techniques for screening large numbers of recruits, which revealed the substantial prevalence of emotional problems among young adults. </p>
<p>The need to treat numerous psychiatric casualties led to the development of group therapies. These paved the way for the so-called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_community">therapeutic community</a>, based on the idea that an entire ward of patients could be an integral part of treatment.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ehPcYibzUKc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Group therapy, as depicted in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The idea of deinstitutionalisation began to gather pace in the 1960s, driven by a burgeoning civil-rights movement. <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/asylums-9780241548004">Asylums</a>, an influential book at the time by sociologist Erving Goffman, containing his minute observations of the sense of oppression experienced by patients in these “total institutions”, was one catalyst for their closure. </p>
<p>Hundreds of thousands of long-stay patients began to be transferred to alternative accommodation and specialist care in the community, a process that is still in progress.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-body-keeps-the-score-how-a-bestselling-book-helps-us-understand-trauma-but-inflates-the-definition-of-it-184735">The Body Keeps the Score: how a bestselling book helps us understand trauma – but inflates the definition of it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is mental illness?</h2>
<p>It is challenging to define what makes a pattern of behaviour and experience a mental disorder. Generally, such a pattern – or “syndrome” – is considered to be a disorder if it is associated with psychological distress, such as intense and prolonged anxiety or sadness, or significant dysfunction, such as a serious impairment in functioning in one or more key areas of daily life. </p>
<p>If the pattern is short-lived, relatively mild, or entirely understandable in light of the trials and tribulations of the person’s life, it should be seen as a problem in living rather than a mental disorder. Such problems may still benefit from consultation with a mental health professional despite not being diagnosable disorders.</p>
<p>This definition of what counts as a mental disorder also clarifies what is not a mental disorder. Merely being unusual or violating social norms does not mean a person has a disorder. </p>
<p>It is difficult sometimes to decide whether a new kind of behaviour is a mental disorder. For instance, should <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-youre-probably-not-addicted-to-your-smartphone-but-you-might-use-it-too-much-89853">excessive smartphone use</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/gambling-on-pokies-is-like-tobacco-no-amount-of-it-is-safe-51037">compulsive gambling</a> be counted as diagnosable addictions?</p>
<h2>Troubling cases</h2>
<p>These decisions about what to include under the umbrella of mental illness are fraught, and there have been some troubling historical cases when disturbing decisions were made or proposed. </p>
<p>In the 1850s, for example, Samuel Cartwright, a physician from Alabama, proposed a new diagnosis called “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/15/arts/bigotry-as-mental-illness-or-just-another-norm.html">drapetomania</a>” to explain why African-American slaves would wish to escape their servitude. </p>
<p>He recommended slaves should be treated kindly and humanely to prevent the disorder, but whipped if this treatment failed. A more patent abuse of the concept of mental illness would be hard to imagine, and it should be noted that other physicians ridiculed Cartwright’s proposal at the time.</p>
<p>Two other controversial cases date to the last century. In the early 1970s, one of us (Sidney) stumbled across disturbing media reports that many political and religious dissenters and human-rights activists in the Soviet Union were being labelled as mentally ill and detained in mental hospitals indefinitely or until they renounced their “disturbed ideas”. </p>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petro_Grigorenko">General Pyotr Grigorenko</a> criticised the privileges of the Soviet elite and publicly espoused the rights of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Tatars">Crimean Tatar</a> ethnic minority group. He was diagnosed with paranoid tendencies, one symptom being his “reformist ideas”, and forcibly committed to a psychiatric facility. </p>
<p>In effect, Soviet psychiatry’s definition of mental illness, and psychosis in particular, was so broad that political beliefs about the desirability of social change were recast as delusions.</p>
<p>The second case comes from the US. <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/how-lgbtq-activists-got-homosexuality-out-of-the-dsm/">Until 1973</a>, homosexuality was defined as a sexual deviation and included in the set of recognised mental disorders. Under pressure from civil, women’s and gay rights activists, it was removed from the diagnostic manual.</p>
<p>Noting such cases, whenever the boundary of a mental illness is expanded to include new diagnoses or loosen old ones, some critics will worry we are treating normal behaviour as a pathology and that we will harm people by labelling them. And whenever the boundary contracts, others will worry that people with psychological troubles are being excluded from clinical care. </p>
<p>Deciding what is and isn’t a mental illness is difficult, but has marked consequences.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is an edited extract from <a href="https://scribepublications.com.au/books-authors/books/troubled-mindSees-9781922585875">Troubled Minds: Understanding and treating mental illness</a> by Sidney Bloch and Nick Haslam (Scribe Publications), published 29 August 2023.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206580/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Haslam receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sidney Bloch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Humans have attempted to understand and treat mental illness for centuries – from ancient Greek medicine, Middle Ages exorcisms and the rise of asylums, to modern medical breakthroughs.Sidney Bloch, Emeritus Professor in Psychiatry, The University of MelbourneNick Haslam, Professor of Psychology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2050392023-05-05T17:08:11Z2023-05-05T17:08:11ZCryptocasinos are evolving worryingly fast – here’s how to get to grips with them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524596/original/file-20230505-25-9mlqb8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Place your bits. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/gold-physical-bitcoin-coin-on-casino-1179867643">Cronislaw</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-stakes-gambling-reform-for-the-digital-age/high-stakes-gambling-reform-for-the-digital-age">New gambling rules</a> are being proposed by the UK government for the first time since the invention of the smartphone. But these “reforms for the digital age” are silent on cryptocasinos, where you can bet online using cryptocurrencies. These platforms have seen remarkable and potentially dangerous developments since the government’s consultation for its reforms began in late 2020. </p>
<p>The first <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0240693">peer-reviewed paper</a> on cryptocasinos was only published in October 2020. The gambling games discussed were laughably simple, such as bets on virtual coin flips or dice rolls. Such activities that might appeal to bored friends on a long journey must have seemed benign compared to the world of in-play sports betting and online slots available using conventional currencies. </p>
<p>But fast-forward a year and cryptocasinos had evolved substantially. In April 2021, Premier League football team Southampton signed a <a href="https://theathletic.com/4217895/2021/04/08/southampton-tie-up-record-breaking-three-year-sponsorship-deal-with-sportsbet-io/">£7.5 million a year</a> sponsorship deal with sportsbet.io, which specialises in allowing gamblers to make sports bets during matches with cryptocurrencies. </p>
<p>Shortly afterwards, the rapper Drake <a href="https://ftw.usatoday.com/2022/03/drake-crypto-betting-stake-partnership-inevitable">announced a partnership</a> with Stake.com, another major cryptocasino, which would see him livestreaming six-figure wagers across sports and online casino games. Stake.com then became Everton FC’s new shirt sponsor in June 2022, causing a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/29/stakecom-told-not-to-use-everton-branding-in-5000-betting-offer">significant backlash</a> among football fans and gambling harm advocates.</p>
<p>However, most of this opposition focused on the rise of gambling shirt sponsors in football, which will be addressed by the Premier League’s <a href="https://www.espn.co.uk/football/english-premier-league/story/4922969/premier-league-clubs-to-drop-gambling-sponsors-from-shirts">recent announcement</a> banning them from the 2026–27 season onwards. Yet it’s not enough to just think of cryptocasinos in the same way as any other online gambling operator; they pose unique risks that have mostly gone unnoticed. </p>
<h2>The risks</h2>
<p>First, cryptocurrencies carry inherent risks. Becoming <a href="https://fee.org/articles/meet-the-teenage-dropout-who-became-a-bitcoin-millionaire/">a crypto millionaire</a> is now a common get-rich-quick dream, but some people get so obsessed with the high-stakes trading that they <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-64245669">end up seeking treatment</a>, just like with gambling addiction. It is also easy for crypto assets to disappear, such as via the collapse of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_of_FTX">crypto exchange FTX</a> in November 2022. </p>
<p>It may be that people are more willing to gamble with crypto than with more tangible forms of money. This would be analagous to the fact that digital deposits at online casinos <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1461444814521140">are thought</a> to encourage gambling more than casino chips. </p>
<p>In addition, cryptocasinos tend to be lightly regulated. They often obtain licences from the <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/fgxrb/">Caribbean island of Curaçao</a>, which has a more lax approach than, for example, Great Britain’s Gambling Commission. Platforms operating within Great Britain still have to abide by Gambling Commission rules, but there are workarounds. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524599/original/file-20230505-25-vgybjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Street sign saying Curacao in big yellow letters" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524599/original/file-20230505-25-vgybjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524599/original/file-20230505-25-vgybjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524599/original/file-20230505-25-vgybjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524599/original/file-20230505-25-vgybjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524599/original/file-20230505-25-vgybjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524599/original/file-20230505-25-vgybjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524599/original/file-20230505-25-vgybjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Caribbean island offers a light-touch regime for gambling operators.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/YaDcufLo7mo">Dave Drury/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For instance, the Gambling Commission does not allow platforms to accept crypto deposits. As a result, cryptocasinos like Stake.com redirect mainland British visitors to a “white label” version of the site that only allows deposits in conventional currencies. </p>
<p>But UK users can easily reach the crypto version of Stake.com (licensed in Curaçao) by using a virtual private network (VPN) to make it appear that they are from a different country, as demonstrated by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/oct/01/uk-gambling-safeguards-no-match-for-online-bookie-stake-com">investigative reporters</a>. Stake.com responded that all operators in the sector experienced users trying to bypass such restrictions using VPNs, and pointed to an example of one user that it had shut down. </p>
<p>We also contributed to <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/fgxrb/">research that</a> found that 22 frequently visited cryptocasinos did not even require a VPN for British users to evade such site restrictions. These sites were also part of a wider group of 37 cryptocasinos (out of 40 surveyed) that didn’t require proof of ID before allowing crypto deposits. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, cryptocasinos are often accessible from <a href="https://dealerslounge.com/bitcoin-casinos-china">countries such as China</a> where online gambling is illegal. The fundamental anonymity of cryptocurrencies makes it harder for law enforcement to intervene in these situations. </p>
<p>The lax regulation in this area is also apparent when you look at the safer gambling messaging. The messaging used by conventional online gambling operators is <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/n5d9h">bad enough</a> – many introduced a very weak “take time to think” message a couple of years ago, for example. But the cryptocasinos are worse, using wholly inappropriate messages emphasising potentially huge winnings. For instance, BetBigDollar.com tells its customers: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Yes, there is a chance of winning vast amounts of money, but, if not treated as entertainment only and nothing more, irresponsible gaming can have dire consequences for the player.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What would help</h2>
<p>Cryptocasinos demonstrate how online gambling will continue to evolve rapidly. The British regulatory approach is much too slow, insisting on evidence that researchers simply don’t have the tools to deliver. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-stakes-gambling-reform-for-the-digital-age/high-stakes-gambling-reform-for-the-digital-age">new proposals</a> give the following rationale for not recommending any substantive new restrictions on gambling marketing:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The limited high-quality evidence we received shows a link between exposure to advertising and gambling participation, but there was little evidence of a causal link with gambling harms or the development of gambling disorder.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A government that makes policies based on only what is known for certain, and which takes two years to react to evidence, is doomed to repeat the policy failures of the 2000s. Gambling was liberalised at that time, but few realised that smartphones would soon give people access to a casino in their pocket.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524601/original/file-20230505-21-372ed3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A smartphone with dice and cards coming out of it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524601/original/file-20230505-21-372ed3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524601/original/file-20230505-21-372ed3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524601/original/file-20230505-21-372ed3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524601/original/file-20230505-21-372ed3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524601/original/file-20230505-21-372ed3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524601/original/file-20230505-21-372ed3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524601/original/file-20230505-21-372ed3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">So the UK liberalised gambling and then this happened.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/creative-background-online-casino-male-hand-2028773756">Marko Aliaksandr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The truth is that cryptocasinos are too new, and their future evolution too uncertain, to know for sure how policymakers should respond. Cryptocasinos may ultimately require too great a degree of technical knowledge to become a widespread public health concern. But some danger signals are there. </p>
<p>For example, Gamstop is a service that UK-based gamblers can use to self-exclude from online gambling. Some self-excluded gamblers have <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/problemgambling/comments/11w0qiu/guys_i_need_help_i_relapsed_bad_today_and_its/">posted on social media</a> that cryptocasinos have allowed them to evade Gamstop and continue gambling again, with terrible consequences.</p>
<p>For now, some broad principles could be used. The trick is not to make decisions based solely on the information available, but to anticipate how things may evolve. New gambling operators are going to use all available tools to gain gamblers’ attention and increase their perceived legitimacy. That will always include marketing, not just on Premier League shirts, but via influencers and social media, so it would make sense to restrict this avenue. </p>
<p>The Gambling Commission’s approach to giving cryptocasinos access to UK markets via white labelling should also be reconsidered. Without question, it is much easier to use cryptocurrencies to gamble than it should be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205039/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Newall is a member of the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling – an advisory group of the Gambling Commission in Great Britain, and in 2020 was a special advisor to the House of Lords Select Committee Enquiry on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry. In the last three years, Philip has contributed to research projects funded by the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling, Clean Up Gambling, Gambling Research Australia, NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. Philip has received travel and accommodation funding from Alberta Gambling Research Institute, and received open access fee funding from Gambling Research Exchange Ontario.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maira Andrade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The new UK white paper reforming the gambling laws for the digital age says nothing about one of the most concerning new developments in this field in the past 20 years.Philip Newall, Lecturer in the School of Psychological Science, University of BristolMaira Andrade, PhD Researcher, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1993542023-02-14T21:54:27Z2023-02-14T21:54:27ZGambling Act review: how EU countries are tightening restrictions on ads and why the UK should too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508437/original/file-20230206-13-ysb1s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C13%2C940%2C622&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The UK is currently review its gambling regulations.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marko Aliaksandr/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the 2005 Gambling Act was drafted the world was very different. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube didn’t exist. Gambling was often seen as a shady activity typically conducted in smoky high-street betting shops. You certainly couldn’t use a smartphone to gamble 24/7 with a couple of clicks.</p>
<p>Aware of these changes, in 2019 the UK government announced a review to ensure that the Gambling Act was “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-gambling-act-2005-terms-of-reference-and-call-for-evidence/review-of-the-gambling-act-2005-terms-of-reference-and-call-for-evidence">fit for the digital age</a>”. The government recently <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-government-deliver-for-the-british-people/making-government-deliver-for-the-british-people-html">called the review a priority</a> but has not announced a new date for its publication <a href="https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/football-news/wife-nottingham-forest-legend-slams-8130442">after announcing a delay in July 2022</a>.</p>
<p>As the government contemplates how to regulate this industry, new rules are needed to cover, not just sports betting, but the rise of online casinos, poker matches and virtual slot machines in the internet age.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/esports-could-be-quietly-spawning-a-whole-new-generation-of-problem-gamblers-147124">Esports could be quietly spawning a whole new generation of problem gamblers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In particular, reform of gambling advertising is sorely needed. It has morphed out of all recognition in the last 18 years. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/05/gambling-logos-feature-700-times-in-football-match-says-ch4-documentary">Gambling logos</a> can be seen 700 times during major football matches on TV, while the social media accounts of big betting companies post <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0743915621999674">over 28,000 ads per year</a>. </p>
<p>Research shows that gambling ads on Twitter are <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/management/documents/what-are-the-odds-rossi-nairn-2021.pdf">particularly appealing to children and young people</a>. So it is perhaps no surprise that as many as 30,000 young people aged 11 to 16 may suffer from <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/publication/young-people-and-gambling-2022">harmful gambling habits</a>. Gambling harms include financial, emotional and social difficulties.</p>
<p>Another recent study indicated a link between exposure to gambling ads <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350622003420">and suffering from such harms</a> for all age groups. This is particularly worrying since there are already <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gambling-related-harms-evidence-review/gambling-related-harms-evidence-review-summary--2">400 gambling-related suicides every year</a> in the UK.</p>
<p>But the UK is actually at the global forefront of gambling <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40429-022-00457-0">advertising deregulation</a>, while other European countries have been tightening these rules. From changes announced in Italy four years ago to more recent reforms in Germany, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands over the last few months, the UK could learn a lot from these regulatory approaches.</p>
<h2>Italy: a complete ban on all gambling advertising</h2>
<p>At the start of 2019, Italy banned almost all gambling marketing. The Decreto Dignità (Dignity Decree) prohibited all TV, radio, press and internet gambling marketing. This blanket ban was brought in shortly after a study highlighted that 3% of the Italian population was <a href="https://www.minervamedica.it/en/journals/minerva-forensic-medicine/article.php?cod=R11Y2021N02A0029&acquista=1">suffering from gambling harms</a>. </p>
<p>The gambling industry said <a href="https://www.gamblinginsider.com/magazine/114/did-the-industry-cry-wolf-over-italy">such a ban would be ineffective</a> at addressing betting in settings such as shops or casinos. And that it would encourage customers to use illegal gambling sites such as unregulated online casinos. </p>
<p>It also complained that industry revenue dropped <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1063911/players-losses-of-money-in-the-gambling-market-in-italy/">from €19 billion in 2018 to €15 billion in 2021</a>. But since gambling revenue remained consistent until February 2020, it is <a href="https://www.gamblinginsider.com/magazine/114/did-the-industry-cry-wolf-over-italy">generally accepted</a> that this drop resulted from the COVID lockdowns, when sports events came to an almost total halt.</p>
<p><strong>Different approaches to gambling regulation</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Produced by the authors.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany: one step at a time</h2>
<p>Other EU countries have taken a more piecemeal approach to recent reforms than Italy.</p>
<p>In 2018 Belgium <a href="https://www.finsmes.com/2018/09/belgium-toughens-up-on-gambling-advertising.html">banned</a> the broadcasting of gambling adverts 15 minutes before or after children’s programming, public posters for gambling, and direct advertising to named individuals in any form. Even these moves were deemed inadequate, with the Belgian Justice Minister <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/223595/gambling-is-the-new-smoking-belgium-to-ban-nearly-all-betting-ads">arguing last year</a>: “Gambling advertising is fired at us from all sides every day and encourages these addictions, including among young people.” </p>
<p>Subsequently, the Belgian government <a href="https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2022/12/19/65456-belgium-approves-draft-royal-decree-to-restrict-gambling-advertising-as-of-june-2023">approved new legislation</a> in December 2022 to ban gambling advertising almost entirely as of July 2023. </p>
<p>The Netherlands has focused on restricting <a href="https://fd.nl/bedrijfsleven/1444902/kabinet-legt-gokreclames-verder-aan-banden">mass marketing</a> on television, radio, internet search engines and public spaces. This approach aims to prevent a <a href="https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-compliance/regulation/holding-back-tide/">“bombardment” of gambling ads</a>, particularly to children and young people.</p>
<p>Germany’s June 2021 <a href="https://www.cliffordchance.com/content/dam/cliffordchance/briefings/2021/07/new-german-interstate-treaty-on-gambling-entered-into-effect.pdf">State Treaty on Gambling</a> is the least restrictive measure of the four EU countries that have made the most recent changes to gambling regulations.</p>
<p>It includes a ban on advertising to minors or at-risk groups (such as people likely to suffer from certain mental health conditions, or who previously suffered from a gambling addiction). But most interesting is Germany’s “watershed” approach to licensed online casinos, poker and virtual slot operators. Gambling adverts for these providers are prohibited on radio, TV and the internet between 6am and 9pm. </p>
<p>While the UK also has a watershed approach, this only applies to TV adverts during live sporting events. In the digital era, this seems insufficient.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man using online sports betting services on phone and laptop" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There have also been calls for online sports betting restrictions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A senior commissioner in Germany’s ministry for health <a href="https://www.bundesdrogenbeauftragter.de/presse/detail/sucht-und-drogenbeauftragter-stellt-schwerpunkte-vor/">championed</a> this measure and also wants to expand it to sports betting.</p>
<p>Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany all have restrictions around sports betting given the close relationship between sport (particularly football) and gambling. In Germany, advertising with active athletes and officials is prohibited. <a href="https://thelawreviews.co.uk/title/the-gambling-law-review/belgium">Belgium</a>, the Netherlands and Italy have strong restrictions on most sports betting marketing including betting ads during football matches and full sponsorship bans.</p>
<p>A number of UK campaigners have called for a similar approach, including <a href="https://the-bigstep.com/">the Big Step</a> initiative, whose supporters include former England football star Peter Shilton.</p>
<h2>Reviewing the UK Gambling Act</h2>
<p>These four EU countries’ recent gambling reforms have been quite different, but they all have one thing in common: substantial legislative reforms. </p>
<p>For the UK, our research shows that the safest option, particularly for children and people at risk, is a full advertising and sponsorship ban such as Italy and Belgium have executed.</p>
<p>The UK gambling industry and its lobbying group, the Betting and Gaming Council, has <a href="https://sbcnews.co.uk/sportsbook/2022/02/18/bgc-points-to-european-black-markets-as-warning-to-ministers/">argued</a> that such measures would drive people into black market gambling. But we can find no credible evidence for such claims. It has also argued that there is no evidence to link gambling advertising to gambling harms. But research <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350622003420">has shown this link</a>.</p>
<p>The UK government has emphasised that the current gambling act review needs to “get the balance right” while “following the evidence”. So now is the time to listen, not only to public opinion, but also to mounting evidence about the links between gambling advertising and gambling harms and tighten the regulation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199354/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raffaello Rossi currently receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and the charity Action Against Gambling Harms. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Agnes Nairn works for the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research at the University of Bristol. The Hub is funded by a grant awarded by the charity GambleAware (this charity receives donations from the gambling industry).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Ford works for the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research at the University of Bristol. The Hub is funded by a grant awarded by the charity GambleAware (this charity receives donations from the gambling industry).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Wheaton works for the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research at the University of Bristol. The Hub is funded by a grant awarded by the charity GambleAware (this charity receives donations from the gambling industry).</span></em></p>The UK has a gambling problem but some of its neighbours could provide inspiration on how to prevent gambling harms.Raffaello Rossi, Lecturer in Marketing, University of BristolAgnes Nairn, Professor of Marketing, University of BristolBen Ford, Research Associate, University of BristolJamie Wheaton, Research Associate, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1806782022-04-29T02:08:24Z2022-04-29T02:08:24ZBingo seems like harmless fun – but higher stakes and new technology are making it more dangerous<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459703/original/file-20220426-16-un1vss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C11%2C3955%2C2632&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/multicolored-bingo-balls-cage-sitting-600w-1372778951.jpg">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bingo, with its familiar rules, novelty number calls (“legs 11”, “two ducks swimming”) and social setting, has long had a reputation as harmless and friendly. </p>
<p>Also called “<a href="https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/community-gaming/charity-housie">housie</a>”, bingo is a game in which players mark numbers on a grid as a caller reads them out. The first person whose numbers are all called out cries “bingo” and wins. The game of chance is played in many different venues: from licensed bingo centres, to clubs like RSLs, in churches and nursing homes and, increasingly, online. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0033350622000452?via%3Dihub">new research</a> shows technological developments, large jackpots, and locating bingo in the same venue as pokies or other gambling products bring new risks to players. Bingo’s innocuous reputation is due for a rethink.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/were-told-to-gamble-responsibly-but-what-does-that-actually-mean-130949">We're told to 'gamble responsibly'. But what does that actually mean?</a>
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</p>
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<h2>A different crowd</h2>
<p>Around <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/study-of-gambling-and-health-in-victoria-findings-from-the-victorian-prevalence-study-2014-72/">18,000 Victorian adults</a> play bingo at least once a year. </p>
<p>The game attracts a different demographic to other forms of gambling. Bingo players are often <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14747731.2016.1164981">women</a>, <a href="https://jgi.camh.net/index.php/jgi/article/view/3829">older</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-018-9779-6">Indigenous</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-006-9030-8">poorer</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://aifs.gov.au/agrc/sites/default/files/publication-documents/rr-gambling_activity_in_australia_0.pdf">Almost a third</a> of Australian bingo players have gambling problems, although it is unclear if these problems relate to bingo or to other games. </p>
<p>A US study found <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-08822-2">more than a quarter</a> of bingo players were classified as problem gamblers. But bingo has generally been overlooked by <a href="https://criticalgamblingstudies.com/index.php/cgs/article/view/89">researchers</a>, <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/lucky-for-some-bingo-in-victoria-975/">policy makers and regulators</a>. </p>
<p>We conducted the first <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/lucky-for-some-bingo-in-victoria-975/">major study of bingo</a> in Australia. We spoke with Aboriginal and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/14695405211022082">Pacific Islander</a> people in regional Victoria, older people on fixed incomes in Melbourne, and experts. We also attended bingo sessions across Victoria. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gambling-what-happens-in-the-brain-when-we-get-hooked-and-how-to-regain-control-176901">Gambling: what happens in the brain when we get hooked – and how to regain control</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>‘I get lonely and bored’</h2>
<p>People told us they liked bingo’s <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10548400902976513">social connection</a>, its relative cheapness and predictability. </p>
<p>As one participant said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ve got no one at home […] I get lonely and bored and I just go to bingo. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01639620050184645">chance of winning money</a>, escape from responsibilities and stress, and cognitive stimulation were also appealing. An older research participant told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You’re in another world when you’re at bingo. You have to concentrate. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>A minority of study participants described harms from playing bingo, but they were significant for those experiencing them. One player noted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think (bingo) has a more negative effect because, just as an Indigenous community […] we have less income, we’re from poor socio-economic backgrounds.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Increased dangers</h2>
<p>Risks associated with bingo have increased over time. </p>
<p>Historically, the game has been played with paper books and pens. Playing multiple games at a time requires great concentration, but experienced players can manage up to six “books” (grids) at a time. </p>
<p>Now, personal electronic tablets (PETs) are available in bingo centres and some RSLs. These tablets can be loaded with up to 200 games at once and automatically cross off numbers for players. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-015-9557-y">Canadian research</a> suggests tablets offer a similar gaming experience to electronic gambling machines, otherwise known as “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/26/australia-gambling-addiction/">pokies</a>”. Fast play and flashing lights captivate players. </p>
<p>Tablets let people purchase and play many more games than they could on paper. One expert told us they’d seen venues where 48 “books” could be purchased via tablet, at a total cost of $600.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459705/original/file-20220426-18-utki8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="bingo sheets" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459705/original/file-20220426-18-utki8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459705/original/file-20220426-18-utki8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459705/original/file-20220426-18-utki8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459705/original/file-20220426-18-utki8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459705/original/file-20220426-18-utki8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459705/original/file-20220426-18-utki8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459705/original/file-20220426-18-utki8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Old school bingo grids made it challenging to play multiple games at once. New technology makes it easier.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/business-concept-top-view-pile-600w-1255858021.jpg">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sports-betting-how-in-play-betting-features-could-be-leading-to-harmful-gambling-new-research-177872">Sports betting: how in-play betting features could be leading to harmful gambling – new research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Rules vary</h2>
<p>Regulation of bingo varies across Australia. In some places, including <a href="https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/gambling-regulation-act-2003/084">Victoria</a>, bingo at licensed centres must generate funds for charities.</p>
<p>Rule changes in Victoria have created more expensive bingo games and larger prizes. These changes include abolishing bans on rolling jackpots, removing caps on the cost of books, and allowing more people to play each session. </p>
<p>Licensed bingo centres now offer jackpots of up to $450,000, which may be rolling (accrued across games in one centre) or linked (merged across different centres). Large jackpots mean fewer people win and more people lose.</p>
<p>Several participants in our study spoke of people spending up to $1,200 to attend a “package” or multiple-game session. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-08822-2">more forms of gambling a person engages in</a>, the greater their chance of having problems. Bingo can’t legally be offered alongside pokies in licensed bingo centres in Victoria, but this is allowed in clubs and hotels. </p>
<p>Our research suggests that in pokie venues, bingo is a “loss leader” – to draw players in, then encourage them to move on to other forms of gambling. One person told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I got trouble, you know, from going to bingo because sometimes when I go to bingo […] and then I win money, and then I’m thinking of like, you know, not only the bingo. I go across to the gamble machine and I keep playing there. So instead of like, save the money to take back to the family.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In Victoria, Crown Casino stopped offering bingo under the spotlight of a <a href="https://www.rccol.vic.gov.au/">Royal Commission</a>, but previously provided free bingo with breaks where players <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/lucky-for-some-bingo-in-victoria-975/">moved</a> to pokie machines and gaming tables. </p>
<p>In February, Tabcorp and Lottoland were awarded Victorian licences to operate Keno live lottery gambling until 2042, <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/tabcorp-and-lottoland-awarded-victorias-keno-licences">including in bingo centres</a>. This expands the range of commercial gambling products sold in bingo venues.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459707/original/file-20220426-14-82ld8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="RSL club with lots of pokie machines" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459707/original/file-20220426-14-82ld8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459707/original/file-20220426-14-82ld8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459707/original/file-20220426-14-82ld8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459707/original/file-20220426-14-82ld8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459707/original/file-20220426-14-82ld8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459707/original/file-20220426-14-82ld8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459707/original/file-20220426-14-82ld8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bingo co-located with pokies in RSL clubs make for tempting combinations for gamblers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/interior-photography-bar-pokies-room-600w-1717091413.jpg">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lesser of gambling evils</h2>
<p>Bingo causes less grief than other forms of gambling. Some people describe playing bingo for hours for $20–30, making it a cheap outing. </p>
<p>Capping costs for games and jackpots, limiting the games that can be played on tablets and keeping bingo separate from other gambling opportunities would help retain the benefits it offers – and stop people from spending money they don’t have.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Gamblers help can be found <a href="https://www.gamblinghelponline.org.au/">online</a> or by calling 1800 858 858.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors would like to thank the organisations that partnered in this research: Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative (GEGAC), Sunraysia Mallee Ethnic Communities Council (SMECC) and COTA Victoria. John Cox, Annalyss Thompson and Jasmine Kirirua worked as researchers on the project. We are also grateful to the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation and particularly Lindsay Shaw.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180678/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah J MacLean is a member of the Australian Greens. She receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Lee has received funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation and the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathleen Maltzahn has received funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. She is a member of the Australian Greens Victoria. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Whiteside has received funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation </span></em></p>New technology, big jackpots and rubbery regulation means bingo’s friendly reputation is due for a rethink.Sarah J MacLean, Associate professor, La Trobe UniversityHelen Lee, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, La Trobe UniversityKathleen Maltzahn, La Trobe UniversityMary Whiteside, Adjunct Associate Professor, Social Work and Social Policy, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1653872021-08-04T23:35:16Z2021-08-04T23:35:16Z4 gambling reform ideas from overseas to save Australia from gambling loss and harm<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414093/original/file-20210802-18-leu1kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C6006%2C3980&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s now well recognised gambling can cause <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30289-9/fulltext">significant</a> <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341046047_Gambling_and_gambling-related_harm_Recent_World_Health_Organisation_initiatives">harm</a>. However, many countries have done much more to reduce gambling-related harm than we have in Australia. </p>
<p>Here’s four examples of how other countries have responded to the challenge of growing gambling-related harm, drawn from my <a href="https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellow/angela-rintoul-vic-2018/">research</a> on the topic.</p>
<h2>Setting loss limits for everyone</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8278013/">Norway</a> replaced harmful high-intensity slot machines — similar to poker machines seen in many clubs, pubs and casinos in Australia — with machines that require users to register their <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-009-9127-y">gambling</a>. </p>
<p>For example, every <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/add.13172">Norwegian</a> using one of these machines has to create a registered account, with maximum limits set on how much you can lose per day and per month, and the capacity to set a lower limit than the universal maximum.</p>
<p>These kind of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319480788_Pre-commitment_systems_for_electronic_gambling_machines_Preventing_harm_and_improving_consumer_protection">pre-commitment systems</a> help prevent harm, and help people keep track of their losses.</p>
<p>Finland also has <a href="https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellow/angela-rintoul-vic-2018/">universal loss limits</a> (meaning limits on how much can be bet per day or per month) to prevent “catastrophic” losses for online gambling. </p>
<p>There’s no reason Australia couldn’t follow suit, if it wanted to.</p>
<p>Victoria already offers a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319480788_Pre-commitment_systems_for_electronic_gambling_machines_Preventing_harm_and_improving_consumer_protection">voluntary pre-commitment scheme</a>, which allows people to opt-in if they want to set a loss limit. It’s been <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2020-02/apo-nid277096.pdf">shown</a> to be ineffective, partly because it is optional. A universal scheme that applied to all would work much better to reduce gambling-related harm.</p>
<h2>Reducing the stakes</h2>
<p>In 2019, the British government responded to reports of a surge in harms related to slot machines known as “<a href="https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745340395/vicious-games/">fixed odds betting terminals</a>” (FOBTs). This is a kind of electronic roulette game that sits in betting stores in the UK. </p>
<p>Despite the gambling industry, as one <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06946/SN06946.pdf">report</a> put it, “disputing a causal link between FOBTs and problem gambling”, harm-reduction <a href="https://tribunemag.co.uk/2019/01/fixed-odds-betting-terminals-fobts?fbclid=IwAR34lnRbyLtjrVAeNRgMiGMMZNCyobBMk-XANcLYLABVXvxr08oAMMldf6U">campaigners</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/17/killing-machines-tracey-crouch-on-why-she-resigned-as-minister-over-fobts">publicised</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-48804945">stories</a> of people bereaved by gambling-related suicide. </p>
<p>In response to subsequent public concern, the government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/14/government-u-turn-expected-on-fobt-maximum-stake">reduced stakes</a> on FOBTs from £100 to £2. </p>
<p>In other words, the maximum amount you could lose per spin shrank from £100 to £2. </p>
<p>By contrast, in Australia in 2010, the Productivity Commission <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/gambling-2010/report">recommended</a> a reduction in the maximum stake on poker machines in clubs and hotels from $10 to $1. </p>
<p>A decade later, this has yet to be tried, although most Australian states (other than NSW and the ACT) have reduced the maximum loss per spin to <a href="https://www.vcglr.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/Australian_New_Zealand_Gaming_Machine_National_Standard_2016.PDF">$5</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman contemplates credit card debt." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Other countries have shown reforms that reduce gambling-related harm are possible.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reducing reliance on gambling revenues</h2>
<p>The gambling industry often <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-pokie-operators-are-not-nearly-as-charitable-as-they-claim-124085">argues</a> harms from gambling are offset by its <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14459795.2016.1263353?casa_token=lxxYVjtVpn4AAAAA%3ACgLYv9J37ag8AFybPO_QzaJHz3XzpePdtqo9Y3Bb9VPIfLp-kM9xGZ4vGrUKH2cNIlruqZhKzBY_1eI">donations to good causes</a>.</p>
<p>Many Nordic countries also divert gambling revenue to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/16066359.2019.1663834?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=iart20">good causes</a> such as not-for-profit organisations providing child protection services or <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/norway-won-winter-olympics/">Olympic</a> teams.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/finlands_gambling_problem_a_robin_hood_system_in_reverse/10329304">Finland</a>, over 69% of gambling revenue goes to good causes (though even this is coming under <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1455072520968024">scrutiny</a>).</p>
<p>In Australia, donations to good causes are around <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16066359.2019.1663834">2% of revenues</a>. The community benefits from gambling are tiny. </p>
<p>Australian state and territory governments rely on gambling taxes for around 6% of their <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/government/taxation-revenue-australia/latest-release#data-download">state tax revenue</a>.</p>
<p>This may pose a challenge to reform; any significant reduction in harm will <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/setting-limits-9780198817321?cc=jp&lang=en&">reduce revenues</a>. </p>
<p>Finland is achieving <a href="https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/finland">reform</a> by introducing it <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1455072520968024">incrementally</a>, allowing the reduction in revenue to be managed over time.</p>
<h2>A national regulator</h2>
<p>Australia’s fragmented system, where gambling is regulated at state and territory levels, is another challenge.</p>
<p>National strategies to prioritise action and coordinate efforts can help align responses. A <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/communities-and-vulnerable-people-programs-services-gambling/national-consumer-protection-framework-for-online-wagering">national regulator</a> could assist in implementing and strengthening existing responses. </p>
<p>The standardised system of regulation in the countries I researched was a feature that could be adopted in Australia, which has a relatively small population.</p>
<h2>An opportunity for reform</h2>
<p>The recent <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/what-we-learned-about-crown-from-the-nsw-inquiry-20210222-p574sr.html">Bergin inquiry</a> into whether Crown was fit to hold a license in a new casino in Barangaroo and ongoing royal commissions in <a href="https://theconversation.com/illegal-improper-unacceptable-revelations-about-crowns-casino-culture-just-get-worse-164084">Victoria</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-26/regulator-may-seek-to-cancel-crown-perth-casino-licence/100323118">Western Australia</a> continue to expose flaws in the provision of gambling with Australia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/responsible-gambling-a-bright-shining-lie-crown-resorts-and-others-can-no-longer-hide-behind-162089">largest casino operator</a>. </p>
<p>These overseas examples show there are many effective ways to reduce gambling harm in casinos, clubs, pubs and suburban communities. </p>
<p>We are fortunate at least in Australia that online gambling has been limited to wagering and lotteries; in many countries slot machines and casino table games are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8278013/">available</a> online 24/7. </p>
<p>Australia has an opportunity now to reduce harm by considering approaches implemented elsewhere.</p>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone
you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela does not accept funding from the gambling industry. She has been employed on grants funded by the Australian Research Council and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. She has contributed to studies funded by Australian Institute of Family Studies, Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, and the Australian Commonwealth Department of Social Services. Angela has received travel funding from the Turkish Green Crescent Society, Monash University and the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.</span></em></p>Many countries have done much more to reduce gambling-related harm than we have in Australia.Angela Rintoul, Senior Research Fellow, Federation University AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1309492020-02-07T02:21:25Z2020-02-07T02:21:25ZWe’re told to ‘gamble responsibly’. But what does that actually mean?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313915/original/file-20200206-43123-oyhnf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C5%2C995%2C660&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/betting-bet-sport-phone-gamble-laptop-526821550">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Advertisements for gambling and online betting tell us to “gamble responsibly”. But what does this mean in reality? And how can you gamble responsibly online when another bet is just a click or swipe away?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gambling-in-australian-culture-more-than-just-a-day-at-the-races-1706">Gambling in Australian culture: more than just a day at the races</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://aifs.gov.au/agrc/publications/gambling-activity-australia/1-introduction">A total of 64%</a> of Australian adults gamble at least once a year, with <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/agrc/publications/gambling-activity-australia/2-gambling-participation">one third</a> of gamblers participating in multiple forms of gambling. <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/agrc/publications/gambling-activity-australia/2-gambling-participation">Lottery is the most common form of gambling</a> among those who gamble regularly (76%), followed by instant scratch tickets (22%) and electronic gaming machines (or “pokies”, almost 21%).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.problemgambling.net.au/ausgambling.html">Up to 160,000 Australians</a> experience significant problems from gambling, and up to a further 350,000 experience moderate risks that make them vulnerable to developing a gambling problem.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/education-not-restriction-is-key-to-reducing-harm-from-offshore-gambling-100516">Education, not restriction, is key to reducing harm from offshore gambling</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In about the past 15 years, there’s been a <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/insight/tvepisode/online-gambling">rise in online gambling</a>. While rates of online gambling for Australians <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/agrc/publications/gambling-activity-australia">are low</a> compared to traditional forms of gambling, participation in online gambling appears to be increasing rapidly. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/online-gambling-market">If this continues</a>, online gambling may soon replace traditional, in-venue gambling, particularly for young people.</p>
<p><a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/gen-bet-has-gambling-gatecrashed-our-teens-16/">About one young person</a> in every 25 has a problem with gambling, which is an average of one in every high school classroom. Up to one in five bet on sports matches <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/gen-bet-has-gambling-gatecrashed-our-teens-16/">and</a> one in ten gamble online.</p>
<h2>Young people exposed to gambling when watching sport</h2>
<p>Advertisements for gambling and online betting are particularly common in Australian sport. While there has been a <a href="https://adstandards.com.au/issues/gambling-advertising">recent shift to regulate</a> when and how gambling is advertised during sporting matches, there is still a heavy presence. </p>
<p>In fact, three in four children aged eight to 16 who watch sports <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/reducing-harm/parents/teenagers-and-gambling/">can name at least one</a> betting company.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9DnC2DF1SSM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The campaign ‘Love the Game, not the Odds’ aims to disrupt the idea that gambling is a normal part of sport.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The public health campaign, “<a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/reducing-harm/love-the-game-program/">Love the Game, Not the Odds</a>”, was released addressing the issue of reducing the exposure of young people to sport betting. </p>
<p>It aims to disrupt the notion that gambling is a normal part of sport and being a spectator. And it aims to help start and facilitate conversations with children and adolescents about gambling not needing to be an integral part of gaming.</p>
<h2>How to ‘gamble responsibly’?</h2>
<p>The phrase “gamble responsibly” on advertisements and websites was used for years before researchers and public health advocates looked at the types of behaviours that underpin it.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bpj46f2Z9BA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">This video from Ladbrokes tells us to ‘gamble responsibly’, but what does this mean in practice?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Responsible gambling is <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/behavioural-indicators-of-responsible-gambling-consumption-64/">defined</a> as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Exercising control and informed choice to ensure that gambling is kept within affordable limits of money and time, is enjoyable, in balance with other activities and responsibilities, and avoids gambling-related harm.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ways of achieving this <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/behavioural-indicators-of-responsible-gambling-consumption-64/">include</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>ensuring gambling is affordable by not gambling with money needed for necessities (such as bills or food)</li>
<li>ensuring gambling doesn’t dominate your leisure time, and you are engaging in other social and leisure activities </li>
<li>avoiding borrowing money or using a credit card to gamble</li>
<li>avoiding gambling when under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, or as a way to manage emotions when you are bored, depressed or anxious</li>
<li>setting limits around how much and long you with gamble for, setting a limit on your maximum bet size, and avoiding increasing bets when winning or losing.</li>
</ul>
<p>Additional tips for people gambling online include:</p>
<ul>
<li>setting limits on how much you can gamble by only using websites with a daily limit spend</li>
<li>avoiding having multiple online gambling accounts. </li>
</ul>
<h2>How do I know if I have a gambling problem?</h2>
<p>There are clear signs when gambling moves from being a hobby to becoming a mental health concern. <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gambling-disorder/what-is-gambling-disorder">These include</a>: </p>
<ul>
<li>needing to gamble with increasing amounts of money to achieve the desired excitement</li>
<li>feeling restless or irritable when trying to stop gambling</li>
<li>trying to stop or cut back gambling unsuccessfully</li>
<li>spending a lot of time thinking about gambling</li>
<li>gambling when you’re feeling anxious or upset</li>
<li>chasing losses (by trying to make up losses with more gambling)</li>
<li>lying to others to conceal the extent of your gambling</li>
<li>relying on others for money</li>
<li>jeopardising relationships, job or opportunities because of gambling. </li>
</ul>
<p>If you are concerned about your gambling, seek professional help and exclude yourself from gambling venues and websites.</p>
<p>In practice, for online gambling, this might mean disabling automatic logins and deleting accounts.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article raises concerns for you or someone you know, gambling support is available via <a href="https://www.lifeline.org.au/get-help/topics/problem-gambling">Lifeline</a> (13 11 14), or via <a href="https://www.gamblinghelponline.org.au/">Gambling Help Online</a>, which lists services in your <a href="https://www.gamblinghelponline.org.au/services-in-your-state">state or territory</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130949/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anastasia Hronis is an author on a report produced for the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation on responsible gambling.</span></em></p>It is possible to ‘gamble responsibly’, with these handy tips. But if you can’t, there’s help.Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1186482019-06-13T14:41:35Z2019-06-13T14:41:35ZNew gambling tax is moving up the agenda – here’s how it needs to work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279325/original/file-20190613-32361-t70zh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Feeling lucky?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/q661yH-ewRg">tiny_packages</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gambling has become a talking point in the UK Conservative Party leadership election after the health secretary Matt Hancock <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9265028/matt-hancock-tax-bookies-gambling/">called for</a> a £100m-plus annual levy on betting companies. If chosen as the next prime minister, Hancock said he intends to impose a 1% tax on these companies’ profits to pay for treatment and research into this area. </p>
<p>Labour have also called for this policy and a radical overhaul of the UK Gambling Act. The party <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/campaigncountdown/pages/2214/attachments/original/1537438117/11519_18_Gambling_addiction_Paper-_Tom_Watson_v7_%28ELECTRONIC%29%28WEB%29.pdf?1537438117">has described</a> gambling as a “hidden epidemic”, and deputy leader Tom Watson <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/26/labour-betting-firms-levy-gambling-addiction">has promised</a> that it would introduce a mandatory levy on the industry if elected to government. </p>
<p>It is certainly good to see this issue being addressed by frontline politicians. But imposing a levy is one thing, spending it wisely another – for the swathes of people affected by gambling harms, it is vital that we get this right. </p>
<h2>The ripple effect</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1807">There are</a> around 340,000 problem gamblers in the UK, and over half a million more people at moderate risk of harm from an expanding <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Addictive-Consumption-Capitalism-Modernity-and-Excess/Reith/p/book/9780415268271">commercial landscape</a> of products, particularly electronic gaming machines and games on online platforms. </p>
<p>The impacts from problem gambling spread out to families, communities and society as a whole. As well as financial problems, <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Measuring-gambling-related-harms.pdf">they include</a> relationships breaking down, the abuse or neglect of partners and children and, in extreme cases, suicide – with all the corresponding burdens on social and health services that this involves. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279324/original/file-20190613-32373-c6vrs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279324/original/file-20190613-32373-c6vrs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279324/original/file-20190613-32373-c6vrs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279324/original/file-20190613-32373-c6vrs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279324/original/file-20190613-32373-c6vrs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279324/original/file-20190613-32373-c6vrs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279324/original/file-20190613-32373-c6vrs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279324/original/file-20190613-32373-c6vrs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eyes down.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/q661yH-ewRg">Jordan Bauer</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For every one person with problems, it is <a href="http://stoppredatorygambling.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Australias-Gambling-Industries-1999-Report-Vol.-1-.pdf">estimated that</a> five to ten other people end up being affected. Cost <a href="https://www.ippr.org/publications/cards-on-the-table">estimates</a> to the UK alone range from £200m to £1.2 billion per year. The Faculty of Public Health has <a href="https://www.fph.org.uk/media/1810/fph-gambling-position-statement-june-2018.pdf">called this</a> a “serious and worsening public health issue”. </p>
<p>In Australia, where the evidence base is more fully developed, the burden of harms on health and well-being is <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/documents/69/Research-report-assessing-gambling-related-harm-in-vic.pdf">estimated</a> to be comparable to alcohol misuse. From an economic perspective, it actually costs societies more if they ignore these harms than if they address them. </p>
<p>Several years ago in Australia’s state of Victoria, <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/the-social-cost-of-gambling-to-victoria-121/">for example</a>, total tax revenue from gambling was AU$1.6 billion (£874m) while estimated social costs were AU$7 billion, a net deficit of AU$5.4 billion. </p>
<h2>The funding gap</h2>
<p>In the UK, the current system of funding for research, education and treatment of gambling harms relies on voluntary industry donations to a charitable organisation, GambleAware. Too often, GambleAware <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/03/gambling-industry-fails-to-meet-target-donation-to-addiction-charity">struggles</a> to meet its target contributions of just 0.1% of the money that industry retains once bets have been paid out – known as the gross gambling yield. That’s about £10m in donations for an industry whose gross gambling yield <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/survey-data/Gambling-industry-statistics.pdf">exceeds</a> £14 billion. In this context, a £100m annual levy could clearly make an enormous difference.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/online-gambling-children-among-easy-prey-for-advertisers-who-face-few-sanctions-117480">Online gambling: children among easy prey for advertisers who face few sanctions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Yet while Hancock’s promises to fund treatment and research are welcome, he makes no mention of prevention. This is disappointing, since any attempt to reduce gambling harms <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1807">must address</a> causes and not simply consequences. That prevention is better than cure is well recognised across other areas of public health. It is also a matter of <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1807">social justice</a>, since those who suffer from gambling are <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1807">disproportionately</a> likely to be poorer people from the poorest areas. </p>
<p>In the UK in 2017-18, the <a href="https://about.gambleaware.org/media/1836/gamble-aware-annual-review-2017-18.pdf">total spending</a> via GambleAware on prevention was less than £1.5m, which amounts to approximately 2p per capita. Compare this to a jurisdiction that treats gambling as a public health issue – in New Zealand, for instance, where harm reduction is a legislative requirement, the <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/strategy-prevent-minimise-gambling-harm-2016-17-2018-19-may16.pdf">annual budget</a> for prevention is more than NZ$18m (£9.3m) for a population of 4.7 million. That’s 99 times more per capita than the UK. </p>
<p>Prevention would involve using legislation to curtail advertising, particularly the <a href="https://www.gamingintelligence.com/blog/44151-opinion-the-future-is-now-for-personalisation">personalised marketing</a> that we see all over social media. We should be stricter about promotions and inducements, such as special offers and “free” bets, and stop the use of online credit. </p>
<p>We need tougher regulations on the design and placement of gambling products: this was <a href="https://www.gambling.com/news/uk-government-confirms-fobt-change-now-set-for-april-2019-1674400">done recently</a> with high-stakes machines, but betting companies <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/apr/01/bookmakers-bet-on-roulette-style-games-to-bypass-new-fobt-rules">are already</a> finding ways around these rules with different machines. </p>
<p>Prevention also means targeting people who are at risk. This sort of approach is under developed in gambling, so we need to invest in research to understand what works, for whom and under what circumstances. This also needs to be supported by public health campaigns to increase awareness. </p>
<h2>Optimising the system</h2>
<p>There are several other critical considerations. The first is that funds from a levy need to be ringfenced. Experience from other jurisdictions such as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/gambling-research-exchange-ontario-cut-1.5123316">Ontario, Canada</a> shows that if funding is not ringfenced, monies can become swallowed by national healthcare budgets. There are precedents for doing this in the UK: all monies from the sugar tax <a href="https://www.funding4sport.co.uk/2017/01/16/ministers-confirm-sugar-tax-will-ringfenced-school-sports/">go to</a> school sports, for instance, while from next year the majority of the Highways England budget <a href="https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2018/10/29/autumn-budget-2018-pothole-cash-and-ved-to-be-ring-fenced-for-roads-funding">will be</a> ringfenced funds from vehicle road duty. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279219/original/file-20190612-32361-1rib82s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279219/original/file-20190612-32361-1rib82s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279219/original/file-20190612-32361-1rib82s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279219/original/file-20190612-32361-1rib82s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279219/original/file-20190612-32361-1rib82s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279219/original/file-20190612-32361-1rib82s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279219/original/file-20190612-32361-1rib82s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279219/original/file-20190612-32361-1rib82s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Machine learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blurred-image-slots-machines-cruise-liner-767552770?src=EXvmSCFxiOZawkS5wGQZ-A-1-70&studio=1">Igor_Koptilin</a></span>
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<p>Prevention, education and treatment all <a href="https://www.gold.ac.uk/media/documents-by-section/departments/anthropology/Fair-Game-Web-Final.pdf">need to be</a> grounded in robust and trusted evidence. One option involves channelling funding through the infrastructure and expertise of independent academic research councils such as the Economic and Social Research Council and the Medical Research Council. </p>
<p>Another would be to adopt the Department of Health and Social Care’s highly successful model of <a href="https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/how-we-are-managed/our-structure/research/policy-research-units.htm">policy research units</a>. This could help to produce timely evidence that keeps up with the speed at which gambling technologies are changing.</p>
<p>Finally, we need to <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1807">overhaul the system</a> in which commercial gambling is regulated. This would involve a new gambling act that is focused on protecting public health rather than promoting gambling as a leisure activity. This new approach is long overdue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118648/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerda Reith has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, the National Institute of Health Research, the Medical Research Council, the Australian Research Council, the Danish Research Council, the Scottish Government, the Gambling Commission and GambleAware. She has received honorarium from the Gambling Research Exchange Ontario and Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI). She has had travel and accommodation expenses paid by GambleAware, government departments and universities. She is a member of the Howard League for Penal Reform's Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling, and receives reimbursement for travel expenses from them. The research paper on which much of this article is based was co-written by Professor Robert D Rogers of Bangor University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erika Langham has received research funds from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, Gambling Research Australia, Department of Human Services, New Zealand Ministry of Health, Menzies School of Health, Education Queensland, Lowitja Institute, Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety and the National Health and Medical Research Council. She has received honoraria from Gambling Research Exchange Ontario; and had travel expenses paid by Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, Gambling Impact Society, Gamble Aware and the Gambling Research Exchange Ontario.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather Wardle receives funding from Wellcome, GambleAware and the Gambling Commission. She has also received funding from the Department of Health, the ESRC and MRC and various Local Authorities. She runs an independent research consultancy which provides research services for public and third sector organisations. She does not and has not provided research or consultancy services to industry. She is Head of the Gambling & Place Research Hub at Geofutures which receives funding from local government. She has received travel bursaries from the Alberta Gambling Research Institute, Ontario Responsible Gambling Council and British Columbia Lottery Corporation. She is Deputy Chair of the Advisory Board on Safer Gambling, a group providing independent advice to the Gambling Commission on gambling policy and practice. This is funded by the Gambling Commission. </span></em></p>Matt Hancock wants a new levy to tackle gambling harms, but it’s a lost opportunity unless you spend it the right way.Gerda Reith, Professor of Social Science, University of GlasgowErika Langham, Lecturer in Health Promotion, CQUniversity AustraliaHeather Wardle, Assistant Professor in Gambling Behaviour, London School of Hygiene & Tropical MedicineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1062492018-11-14T19:01:48Z2018-11-14T19:01:48ZMicro-betting: a dangerous form of gambling luring in vulnerable Australians<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244211/original/file-20181106-74754-1pfc37n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An alarmingly high proportion of problem gamblers are using off-shore betting firms for 'micro-betting' on sports.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Any sports fan is all too familiar with micro-bets, and the problems they cause. A micro-bet is when bookies offer odds that a particular ball in a cricket match will be a no-ball, for example, or a given serve in tennis will be a fault.</p>
<p>These bets on small events during live play have been linked to sporting corruption - those in the know make hefty profits in betting markets because a player agrees to bowl that no-ball or serve that fault at a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-15573463">pre-determined point in play</a>. </p>
<p>Now, we have found evidence that more than a third of regular Australian sports gamblers are making micro-bets using offshore operators - and worse, this dangerous type of betting is very strongly linked to problem gambling.</p>
<p>Don’t be fooled into thinking micro-betting means small bets. The “micro” refers to a small event within play - but the sum wagered can be huge.</p>
<p>The findings come as legislators in various countries and regions, including the United States - where sports betting has been is illegal or restricted - are under pressure to make sports betting more accessible.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/with-sports-betting-on-the-rise-can-we-avoid-a-tsunami-of-gambling-harm-46192">With sports betting on the rise, can we avoid a tsunami of gambling harm?</a>
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<p>Micro-betting is technically legal for Australian licensed operators. But <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/04_2016/review_of_illegal_offshore_wagering_18_december_2015.pdf">sporting bodies have not approved it</a>, owing to the difficulty of policing the integrity of their sport given the notorious instances of corruption. </p>
<p>Despite calls for micro-betting to be outlawed completely, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1461444817738783?journalCode=nmsa">we found</a> that Australians are using many offshore operators to engage in micro-betting - operators who are not supposed to offer services to Australian punters but do anyway. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-018-9810-y">most recent paper</a>, in a sample of 1,813 regular sports bettors, we found 667 (36.8%) had bet on micro events in the past 12 months.</p>
<p>Of those, an alarming 78% were <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/for-professionals/health-and-community-professionals/problem-gambling-severity-index-pgsi/">classified as problem gamblers</a>.</p>
<p>Only 5% of those making micro-bets were non-problem gamblers, with the rest at some risk of developing gambling-related problems. And when we looked at only those who bet on micro events, those classified as problem gamblers were also likely to place a higher proportion of their bets on micro events. It’s important to note we recruited many regular (rather than occasional) sports bettors, leading to a higher representation of problem gamblers in the sample (46.8%). Nevertheless, the relationship between problem gambling and betting on micro events is striking.</p>
<p>Because micro-betting markets open and close fast, usually over just minutes, this betting needs to be impulsive, and those classified as problem gamblers <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39233">tend to be</a> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29557545">impulsive</a>. Also, this is yet another way to bet, and people classified as problem gamblers tend to gamble in many ways - sports, races, pokies - at venues, by telephone, and online.</p>
<h2>A dangerous, impulsive form of betting</h2>
<p>In Australia, sports betting in general is <a href="http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/products/reports/aus-gambling-stats/aus-gambling-stats-34th-edn-summary-tables.pdf">increasing</a> each year. We cannot watch a sporting event without being bombarded with gambling advertising, and this <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/effects-of-wagering-marketing-on-vulnerable-adults-408/">advertising works</a>. </p>
<p>Because sports betting is so common in Australia, many may be surprised to learn sports betting is not offered in some <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/16822/ontario-sports-betting/">parts of the world</a>, including many states of the <a href="http://www.espn.com.au/chalk/story/_/id/19740480/gambling-sports-betting-bill-tracker-all-50-states">US</a>. However, legislators in many jurisdictions are legalising or decreasing restrictions on sports betting, and face questions about what should be allowed.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/advantage-gambling-but-corruption-risk-surely-isnt-worth-it-for-tennis-53378">Advantage gambling, but corruption risk surely isn't worth it for tennis</a>
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<p>Micro-betting is the most extreme example of in-play or live betting, itself an evolution from the time sports betting was simply on which player or team would win the match - with bets on match outcomes placed hours or even days before the result is known. </p>
<p>Micro-bets reduce the gap between placing a bet and the outcome to minutes or even seconds - essentially allowing bettors to bet continuously. This is concerning, because continuous forms of betting are <a href="https://psychology.org.au/getmedia/422d3add-d12a-4427-af57-bf259b056d8d/APS-gambling-paper.pdf">strongly associated</a> with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14459795.2017.1360928">gambling-related problems</a> – think <a href="https://www.problemgambling.ca/gambling-help/gambling-information/about-slot-machines.aspx">pokies</a>.</p>
<p>When the Australian government originally <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00607">legislated</a> Internet gambling, it allowed sports betting because it was <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/sites/g/files/net301/f/Final_Report_-_Review_of_the_Interactive_Gambling_Act_2001.pdf">not a continuous forms of gambling</a>, and was therefore seen as relatively benign. However, live/in-play sports betting (including microbets) cannot be offered online by Australian-licensed operators. Instead, bettors must place a telephone call to the operator or bet in a venue.</p>
<p>In fact, betting on micro events is a particularly dangerous form of gambling because it is continuous, requires impulsive decisions (impairing the ability to reflect on recent gambling), and offers variety. All of these factors appeal to people at risk of problem gambling.</p>
<h2>Calls to ban micro-betting</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/communities-and-vulnerable-people/programmes-services/gambling/review-of-illegal-offshore-wagering">Two</a> <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/sites/g/files/net301/f/Final_Report_-_Review_of_the_Interactive_Gambling_Act_2001.pdf">reviews</a> of the gambling legislation recommended that betting on micro events should be specifically outlawed, even if bets are placed via telephone (or in-venue), because of the high risk of gambling-related harm. When the Interactive Gambling Act was <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017A00085">amended in 2017</a>, no such change was made, partly because it was difficult to legislate against betting on micro events without unintended restrictions on other forms of betting.</p>
<p>Betting on micro events has also been linked to spot fixing, where a player purposefully stages an event (for example, loses a particular point) so that others in-the-know can bet on it. This has been observed in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/oct/21/english-players-26-spot-fixing-international-matches-al-jazeera-cricket">many</a> <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/southampton/6130280/Matthew-Le-Tissier-admits-being-part-of-attempted-betting-scam-at-Southampton.html">sports</a>, and is a key reason that Australian sporting bodies don’t endorse betting on micro events. It is far easier to get a single player to lose a point, than it is for a player or team to <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cbe0/e5de14506e9475fdc7a077ab7e574bed682e.pdf">lose an entire match</a>.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sporting-codes-deals-with-gambling-companies-force-them-into-a-faustian-bargain-73968">Sporting codes' deals with gambling companies force them into a Faustian bargain</a>
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<p>So while micro-betting is not currently offered in Australia, Australian bettors can place micro-bets with overseas bookies, despite the federal government’s efforts to stop this. Given that betting on micro events is so clearly related to problem gambling, and corruption in sports, legislators worldwide should strongly consider whether this form of gambling should be offered as they shape the laws for their jurisdictions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106249/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Russell has received research funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation; Queensland
Justice and Attorney-General; Gambling Research Australia; National Association for Gambling Studies;
Australian Communications and Media Authority and the Alberta Gambling Research Institute. He has previously received industry funding for consultation on a project evaluating gambling and problem gambling amongst casino employees from Echo/Star Entertainment, but no longer accepts industry funding. He is also affiliated with the University of Sydney.</span></em></p>New research has found that more than a third of Australian sports gamblers are making micro-bets using offshore operators. And this type of betting is strongly linked to problem gambling.Alex Russell, Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/910522018-08-13T10:33:29Z2018-08-13T10:33:29ZDesigned to deceive: How gambling distorts reality and hooks your brain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231111/original/file-20180808-142251-u75psh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=240%2C7%2C4415%2C3437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The longer they keep you plugged in to a game, the better it is for the house.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Catskills-Casino/676f83651f1f49c19876f7e5db5f90f3/8/0">AP Photo/Seth Wenig</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>To call gambling a “game of chance” evokes fun, random luck and a sense of collective engagement. These playful connotations may be part of why almost 80 percent of American adults <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291708002900">gamble at some point</a> in their lifetime. When I ask my psychology students why they think people gamble, the most frequent suggestions are for pleasure, money or the thrill.</p>
<p>While these might be reasons why people gamble initially, psychologists don’t definitely know why, for some, gambling stops being an enjoyable diversion and becomes compulsive. What keeps people playing even when it stops being fun? Why stick with games people know are designed for them to lose? Are some people just more unlucky than the rest of us, or simply worse at calculating the odds?</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PGE3iuMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">As an addiction researcher</a> for the past 15 years, I look to the brain to understand the hooks that make gambling so compelling. I’ve found that many are intentionally hidden in how the games are designed. And these hooks work on casual casino-goers just as well as they do on problem gamblers.</p>
<h2>Uncertainty as its own reward in the brain</h2>
<p>One of the hallmarks of gambling is <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/uncertainty-games">its uncertainty</a> – whether it’s the size of a jackpot or the probability of winning at all. And reward uncertainty plays a crucial role in gambling’s attraction.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine">Dopamine</a>, the neurotransmitter the brain releases during enjoyable activities such as eating, sex and drugs, is also released during situations where the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1077349">reward is uncertain</a>. In fact dopamine release increases particularly during the moments leading up to a potential reward. This anticipation effect might explain why dopamine release parallels an individual’s levels of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.02.006">gambling “high” and the severity of his or her gambling addiction</a>. It likely also plays a role in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.09.037">reinforcing the risk-taking behavior</a> seen in gambling. </p>
<p>Studies have shown that the release of dopamine during gambling <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03126.x">occurs in brain areas</a> similar to those activated by taking drugs of abuse. In fact, similar to drugs, repeated exposure to gambling and uncertainty produces <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2013.163">lasting changes in the human brain</a>. These reward pathways, similar to those seen in individuals suffering from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12242">drug addiction</a>, become hypersensitive. Animal studies suggest that these <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-018-0099-4">brain changes due to uncertainty</a> can even enhance gamblers’ cravings and desire for addictive drugs.</p>
<p>Repeated exposure to gambling and uncertainty can even change how you respond to losing. Counterintuitively, in individuals with a gambling problem, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2010.01591.x">losing money comes to trigger</a> the rewarding release of dopamine almost to the same degree that winning does. As a result, in problem gamblers, losing sets off the urge to keep playing, rather than the disappointment that might prompt you to walk away, a phenomenon known as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.05.014">chasing losses</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231114/original/file-20180808-191013-1u4dsgs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231114/original/file-20180808-191013-1u4dsgs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231114/original/file-20180808-191013-1u4dsgs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231114/original/file-20180808-191013-1u4dsgs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231114/original/file-20180808-191013-1u4dsgs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231114/original/file-20180808-191013-1u4dsgs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231114/original/file-20180808-191013-1u4dsgs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231114/original/file-20180808-191013-1u4dsgs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">All the bells and whistles work to keep you engaged and playing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/persian-gulf-april-14-slot-machines-62296870">Pavel L Photo and Video/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<h2>Lights and sounds egg you on</h2>
<p>But gambling is more than just winning and losing. It can be a whole immersive environment with an array of flashing lights and sounds. This is particularly true in a busy casino, but even a game or gambling app on a smartphone includes plenty of audio and visual frills to capture your attention.</p>
<p>But are they just frills? Studies suggest that these lights and sounds become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2012.10.006">more attractive</a> and capable of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.09.027">triggering urges to play</a> when they are paired with reward uncertainty. In particular, win-associated cues – such as jingles that vary in length and size as a function of jackpot size – both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-013-9391-8">increase excitement and lead gamblers to overestimate</a> how often they are winning. Crucially, they can also keep you <a href="https://doi.org/10.1556/JBA.3.2014.006">gambling longer and encourage you to play faster</a>.</p>
<h2>Feeling like a winner while you’re losing</h2>
<p>Since games of chance are set up so the house always has an advantage, a gambler wins infrequently at best. You might only rarely experience the lights and sounds that come along with hitting a true jackpot. However, the gaming industry may have devised a way to overcome that issue.</p>
<p>Over the last few decades, casinos and game manufacturers significantly upgraded slot machines, retiring the old mechanical arms and reels in favor of electronic versions known as <a href="https://www.casinopedia.org/terms/e/electronic-gaming-machine-egm">electronic gaming machines</a>. These new computerized games and online slots come with more attractive colorful lights and a variety of sounds. They also possess more reels, ushering in a new era of multi-line video slot machines.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231112/original/file-20180808-191044-1iqnmo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231112/original/file-20180808-191044-1iqnmo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231112/original/file-20180808-191044-1iqnmo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231112/original/file-20180808-191044-1iqnmo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231112/original/file-20180808-191044-1iqnmo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231112/original/file-20180808-191044-1iqnmo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231112/original/file-20180808-191044-1iqnmo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231112/original/file-20180808-191044-1iqnmo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Rather than just hoping for three cherries to line up in a horizontal row, players can bet on lining up icons on multiple lines going in a variety of directions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Casinos-Inflated-Expectations/55422441810a43f8a06117df2d3e199b/1/0">AP Photo/Alex Brandon</a></span>
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<p>Having multiple lines enables players to place a bunch of bets per spin, often up to 20 or more. Although each individual bet can be small, many players place the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12675">maximum number of bets on each spin</a>. This strategy means a player can win on some lines while losing on others, netting less than the original wager. Even when you “win,” you don’t come out ahead, a phenomenon known as “<a href="http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2013/07/losses-disguised-as-wins-slot-machines-and-deception/">losses disguised as wins</a>.” Yet each win, even when it is a loss disguised as a win, comes with the lights and sounds of victory.</p>
<p>The result is that these multi-line slot machines produce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12675">more enjoyment and are highly preferred by players</a>. Crucially, they tend to make gamblers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-013-9411-8">overestimate how often they’re truly winning</a>. The dramatic increase in the frequency of wins, whether real or fabricated, produces more arousal and activation of reward pathways in the brain, possibly accelerating the rate at which brain changes occur. Multi-line slots also seem to promote the development of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9695-1">“dark flow,” a trance-like state</a> in which players get wholly absorbed in the game, sometimes for hours on end.</p>
<h2>Almost: Near-miss effect and chasing your losses</h2>
<p>The rise of electronic gambling machines also means that rather than being constrained by the physical arrangement of different possible outcomes on each reel, possible outcomes are programmed onto a set of virtual reels. Gaming designers can therefore stack the deck to make certain events occur more frequently than others.</p>
<p>This includes near-misses, where one of the reels stops just short of lining up for a jackpot. These near-miss almost-wins recruit <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2008.12.031">areas of the brain that usually respond to wins</a>, and increase one’s desire to play more, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2016.43">especially in problem gamblers</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231115/original/file-20180808-191019-1oja5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231115/original/file-20180808-191019-1oja5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231115/original/file-20180808-191019-1oja5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231115/original/file-20180808-191019-1oja5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231115/original/file-20180808-191019-1oja5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231115/original/file-20180808-191019-1oja5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231115/original/file-20180808-191019-1oja5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231115/original/file-20180808-191019-1oja5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The same hooks that work in casinos work in smartphone apps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bucharest-romania-january-25-2017-close-569219710">Alexandru Nika/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This phenomenon is not confined to slot machines and casinos. Near-misses play an integral part in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-016-9633-7">addictive potential of smartphone games</a> like the very popular “Candy Crush.”</p>
<p>Near-misses are more arousing than losses – despite being more frustrating and significantly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-015-9578-2">less pleasant than missing by a longshot</a>. But crucially, almost winning triggers a more substantial <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2008.12.031">urge to play</a> than even winning itself. Near-misses seem to be highly motivating and increase player commitment to a game, resulting in individuals <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11419232">playing longer than they intended</a>. The size of the dopamine response to a near-miss in fact <a href="https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5758-09.2010">correlates with the severity of an individual’s gambling addiction</a>. </p>
<h2>Gambling and its games</h2>
<p>When you engage in recreational gambling, you are not simply playing against the odds, but also battling an enemy trained in the art of deceit and subterfuge. Games of chance have a vested interest in hooking players for longer and letting them eventually walk away with the impression they did better than chance, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9699-x">fostering a false impression of skill</a>.</p>
<p>For many people, these carefully designed outcomes enhance the satisfaction they get from gambling. It may remain easy for them to simply walk away when the chips run out.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231116/original/file-20180808-142251-c0ks6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231116/original/file-20180808-142251-c0ks6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231116/original/file-20180808-142251-c0ks6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231116/original/file-20180808-142251-c0ks6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231116/original/file-20180808-142251-c0ks6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231116/original/file-20180808-142251-c0ks6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231116/original/file-20180808-142251-c0ks6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231116/original/file-20180808-142251-c0ks6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Casinos aim to hook players – and sometimes their strategies work all too well.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/gambling-addicted-man-glasses-front-online-754693879">Alexander Kirch/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But gambling isn’t only a lighthearted promise of a good time and a possible jackpot. Up to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291708002900">2 percent of the U.S. population</a> are problem gamblers, suffering from what’s recently been reclassified <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gambling-disorder/what-is-gambling-disorder">as gambling disorder</a>.</p>
<p>It stands out as one of the few addictions that doesn’t involve consumption of a substance, such as a drug. Like other forms of addiction, gambling disorder is a <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d000/26410235cd37b68079c7ce6da4932a7b4d37.pdf">solitary</a> and <a href="https://consumer.healthday.com/mental-health-information-25/addiction-news-6/risky-gambling-tied-to-social-isolation-678614.html">isolating experience</a>. It’s tied to <a href="https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.v66n0504">growing anxiety</a>, and problem gamblers are at <a href="https://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/news-and-research/problem-gamblers-have-increased-risk-of-suicide-personality-disorders/">greater risk of suicide</a>.</p>
<p>For these more susceptible individuals, the game designers’ hooks start to seem more sinister. A solution to life’s problems always feels just one spin away.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91052/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Robinson has previously received funding from the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG). </span></em></p>When you engage in recreational gambling, you’re not simply playing against the odds – you’re battling an enemy trained in the art of deceit and subterfuge who uses human nature against you.Mike Robinson, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Wesleyan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/985072018-06-27T10:47:39Z2018-06-27T10:47:39ZWorld Cup online betting is the highest it’s ever been<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224948/original/file-20180626-112598-8wcp1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The 2018 World Cup inspires new gamblers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTUzMDA1MDY4NywiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTExNDYwOTExOCIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMTE0NjA5MTE4L2h1Z2UuanBnIiwibSI6MSwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCIzVGgyTEhEMWtJY2wxN1lVV1JYNFQ1ZUFDaDgiXQ%2Fshutterstock_1114609118.jpg&pi=33421636&m=1114609118&src=qI2blJTtWjBhNIh0dlh2bQ-2-98">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sports betting is worth up to <a href="https://bbc.co.uk/sport/football/24354124">£625 billion per year</a>, with 70% of that trade reckoned to come from football. During big sporting competitions, such as the World Cup, even more money is spent gambling than usual. Over the 2018 World Cup, bookmakers are estimated to make a profit of <a href="https://alphasportsbetting.com/sports-betting-tactics/how-much-money-is-bet-on-the-fifa-world-cup">US$36.4 billion</a> (£41.3 billion). And in the UK, the amount of money spent on gambling during the World Cup is expected to more than double from £1 billion in 2014 <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/world-cup-kicks-off-a-2-5bn-betting-splurge-qgx8prl5m">to £2.5 billion</a> this year. </p>
<p>Sports gambling is being driven by the unlimited availability of online betting and the fact that no physical money is exchanged, making financial transactions seem less real. The vast amount of data that online gambling sites collect also enables them to personalise offers to individual gamblers. Instead, this data should be used to help people gamble responsibly by warning users in real-time that they are exhibiting problematic gambling behaviours.</p>
<p>For many people, gambling isn’t just a <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-just-financial-loss-the-social-impact-of-gambling-cannot-be-underestimated-86256">fun novelty every four years</a>. About <a href="http://gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/survey-data/Gambling-behaviour-in-Great-Britain-2015.pdf">430,000 citizens</a> in the UK can be identified as <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-in-100-people-is-a-problem-gambler-but-the-health-service-does-little-to-help-74462">problem gamblers</a>. These individuals have lost hundreds of thousands of pounds online, which has impacted not only the gamblers but also their families. </p>
<p>High profile but infrequent betting events such as the Word Cup exacerbate the issues that problem gamblers face. Seeing others engage in betting, coupled with the advertisements from betting firms, leads problem gamblers to attempt to convince themselves that they do <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/002210317790049X">not have a problem</a>. <a href="http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3911/4f52e150dc123408ba03120afce599727fc6.pdf">Environmental cues</a> can also trigger the urge to gamble in those who have a gambling problem. So, the intensive advertising used by betting firms during the World Cup, along with media coverage of the World Cup in general, may further push problem gamblers towards making harmful decisions.</p>
<h2>Watching your habit</h2>
<p>Online gambling sites have an infinite memory for bets – when made, for how much, regarding what, and so on. This data is a rich source that websites use for tailoring offers and marketing material to fit a gambler’s potential interests. But this personalisation exploits cognitive biases in gamblers and encourages them to increase risk-taking and by extension, gambling.</p>
<p>There is only a fine line between the legitimate marketing and personalisation of content and offers on the one hand and exploitation and manipulation on the other. For example, the tracking of a gambler’s betting pattern means the gambler can be targeted with offers following heavy losses, encouraging them to chase losses even further. </p>
<p>But this same data could also be used to support reductions in problem gambling, either led by gamblers themselves or with the support of a counsellor or software. Such transparency could enhance the image of the gambling industry and make responsible gambling a shared responsibility between gamblers and bookmakers. </p>
<h2>A chance for change</h2>
<p>In our <a href="https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/project/erogamb/">EROGamb project</a>, funded by <a href="https://about.gambleaware.org/">GambleAware</a> and Bournemouth University, we <a href="https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/2018/05/gambling-operators-to-provide-gambling-behavioural-data-a-call-for-a-policy-change/">advocate a policy change</a> where gambling sites provide gambling behavioural data to gamblers and their surrogates in real-time. </p>
<p>This data would provide an unprecedented opportunity to tackle problem gambling. For example, the data could lead to the app informing gamblers that they are exhibiting problematic gambling patterns. The real-time collection of information such as “the gambler has reached the monthly spending limit” could trigger a message visualising their past betting behaviour and a reminder of a commitment already made. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fixed-odds-betting-terminal-cap-must-be-just-the-start-of-gambling-regulation-96828">Fixed-odds betting terminal cap must be just the start of gambling regulation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p><a href="http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/24447/">In our studies</a>, digital addicts, including online gambling addicts, have indicated that having access to such data would act as a wake-up call, raising awareness. Digital media users, in general, like to be in <a href="http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21891/">control of their usage</a> through labels and awareness tools. </p>
<p>Similar facilities have started to exist in mainstream digital media. For example, on Google, it is now possible to <a href="https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3024190?hl=en">download your data</a> and on Facebook to download your <a href="https://facebook.com/help/1701730696756992">profile data history of interaction</a>, but not currently as real-time streaming of data as actions happen. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224516/original/file-20180623-26570-1fcs6gl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224516/original/file-20180623-26570-1fcs6gl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224516/original/file-20180623-26570-1fcs6gl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224516/original/file-20180623-26570-1fcs6gl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224516/original/file-20180623-26570-1fcs6gl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224516/original/file-20180623-26570-1fcs6gl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224516/original/file-20180623-26570-1fcs6gl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How to retrieve and use gambling-related data for being more in-control of gambling behaviour.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The EROGamb Project</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Challenges</h2>
<p>We understand the barriers to implementing this vision. Gambling operators may not have such data readily available and may even rely on third parties to offer certain games. Some also fear that gamblers might share the data with competitor gambling sites, giving away information about marketing practices. But the <a href="https://theconversation.com/gdpr-ten-easy-steps-all-organisations-should-follow-90651">General Data Protection Regulation</a>(GDPR) <a href="https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-to-data-portability/">right to data portability</a> holds that gamblers shall not be prevented from accessing and sharing their data. </p>
<p>Given the advantages, and also the increased demand for transparency, this would eventually become the recommended practice for demonstrating advanced corporate social responsibility and inspiring the trust of the public and clients in the gambling industry. We are preparing a <a href="https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/2018/04/erogamb-workshop-a-charter-for-sharing-data-and-supporting-responsible-gambling/">charter for the gambling industry</a> towards a commitment for that.</p>
<p>The rise of online gambling, combined with the record amount of money being spent on gambling at this year’s World Cup makes this the perfect time to discuss what we can do to prevent and combat gambling addiction. Simply by using data to help people be better aware of their gambling habits, rather than hooking them back into their next bet, gambling sites could make a massive difference. </p>
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<p><em>More evidence-based articles related to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/world-cup-2018-11490?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=WorldCup2018">World Cup</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-var-technology-is-transforming-the-beautiful-game-97907?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=WorldCup2018">VAR: technology is transforming the beautiful game</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/china-has-more-fans-at-this-world-cup-than-england-97435?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=WorldCup2018">China has more fans at this World Cup than England</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-60-years-on-peles-1958-debut-still-the-greatest-tournament-ever-98194?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=WorldCup2018">Sixty years on Pelé’s 1958 debut still the greatest World Cup ever</a></em></p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raian Ali receives funding from GambleAware through the EROGamb Project: "Empowering Responsible Online Gambling with Predictive, Real-time, Persuasive and Interactive Intervention" <a href="https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/project/erogamb/">https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/project/erogamb/</a> </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Arden-Close receives funding from GambleAware through the EROGamb Project "Empowering Responsible Online Gambling with Predictive, Real-time, Persuasive and Interactive Intervention."</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John McAlaney receives funding from GambleAware through the EROGamb Project "Empowering Responsible Online Gambling with Predictive, Real-time, Persuasive and Interactive Intervention.". He is on the Board of Trustees of the Gordon Moody Association. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Phalp receives funding from GambleAware through the EROGamb Project "Empowering Responsible Online Gambling with Predictive, Real-time, Persuasive and Interactive Intervention.</span></em></p>Online gambling collects a huge amount of data. But instead of personalising offers to keep you hooked, real-time data can be used to prevent problematic gambling behaviour.Raian Ali, Associate Professor in Computing and Informatics, Bournemouth UniversityEmily Arden-Close, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Bournemouth UniversityJohn McAlaney, Principal Academic in Psychology, Bournemouth UniversityKeith Phalp, Executive Dean for the Faculty of Science and Technology and Professor of Software Engineering, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/968282018-05-18T12:40:25Z2018-05-18T12:40:25ZFixed-odds betting terminal cap must be just the start of gambling regulation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219554/original/file-20180518-42230-19efjl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fixed-odds betting terminals have been called the 'crack cocaine' of gambling.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/287164913">massimofusar/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The maximum stakes permitted on fixed-odds betting terminals in the UK is to be cut <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/17/maximum-stake-for-fixed-odds-betting-terminals-cut-to-2">from £100 to £2</a>, following years of campaigning for the change in the face of gambling industry lobbying. Those who campaigned hardest for greater protection for users of the machines such as the <a href="http://fairergambling.org/">Campaign For Fairer Gambling</a> will be pleased by the UK government’s decision, but the loudest cheers will come from people like <a href="https://twitter.com/gamblinghurts?lang=en">Tony Franklin</a> who have suffered terribly because of decisions taken by British governments – of all stripes and over many years – that allowed high-stakes electronic gambling to enter the previously low-stakes world of high street betting shops.</p>
<p>I’ve been among those arguing for the maximum stakes to be reduced, in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/707763/drive-download-20180514T173730Z-001.zip">many government consultations on the issue</a>, and I’m glad that common sense has prevailed at last. But the decision to cut maximum stakes leaves other problems still to be tackled – and these go to the heart of gambling policy. The government’s announcement shows they have yet to come to grips with a powerful industry which lobbies hard for self-regulation.</p>
<p>Fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) were introduced around 2000, and it soon became apparent that they were used differently from the fruit machines that they replaced. A tax change in 2001 had enabled bookies to create digitised, virtual games of roulette and allow punters to bet on the outcome of each spin, as they would on the outcome of a horserace. The vital difference is that while a horserace takes place a few times each hour at a track – or every few minutes, if you beam action from around the world into the betting shop – each spin of a digital roulette real on an FOBTs takes 20 seconds, quicker even than the real thing.</p>
<p>Not every bookmaker expected FOBTs to be popular – some were taken by surprise when their profits outstripped over-the-counter betting. This was less <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Addiction-Design-Machine-Gambling-Vegas/dp/0691160880">“Addiction by Design”</a> and more a flotation device for betting shops, which had been struggling to find new customers as the older generation of punters betting on horses and dogs were not replaced. Some bookies did not expect the machines to survive as long as they have in their current, high-stakes, high-frequency form. One said to me recently that the only real surprise is that it took the government so long to act.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Digital betting terminals can serve up bets quicker than the real thing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-mar-5-2018-mature-1039609732">Alexandre Rotenberg/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But is it really a surprise?</p>
<h2>Industry influence</h2>
<p>As I’ve <a href="https://www.gold.ac.uk/media/documents-by-section/departments/anthropology/Fair-Game-Web-Final.pdf">written elsewhere</a>, much of the evidence on which policy decisions in the UK are nominally based is acknowledged to be limited – compromised by the involvement of industry that not only funds research but also can control access to data.</p>
<p>If we want policy makers to make timely, well-informed decisions about gambling we need better data, and more of it. That can only come from a strong research culture, supported by a data sharing agreement and an independent commissioner.</p>
<p>Who might take on this key role? The Gambling Commission, which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/19/gambling-regulator-urges-government-to-cut-fobt-stakes-to-30">did not recommend a reduction to £2</a>, has both a duty to permit gambling and also a duty to consider the impact of its activities on economic growth. It is telling that gambling policy in the UK is determined by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. In New Zealand, by contrast, gambling policy is a matter for the Department of Health.</p>
<p>While the cap on stakes has been broadly welcomed, the government’s announcement of “a major multi-million pound advertising campaign promoting responsible gambling”, supported by industry and GambleAware, has raised eyebrows. What made the government decide that this was the best way to educate people about the harm caused by gambling? Or even a good idea?</p>
<h2>Legislators must arm themselves with evidence</h2>
<p>Unsurprisingly, the international evidence does not support the idea that industries producing harmful products are best placed to <a href="https://epublications.marquette.edu/comm_fac/337/">communicate their risks</a>. On the contrary, we know that these campaigns are often tactics for <a href="http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2017/09/29/jech-2017-209710">delaying the imposition of meaningful regulation</a>.</p>
<p>The government also announced that the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling has amended its <a href="http://igrg.org.uk/wp/industry-advertising-code/">code</a> to ensure that a responsible gambling message will appear for the duration of all TV adverts.</p>
<p>In Australia, gambling advertising during broadcasts of live sports has been banned before the watershed precisely due to concerns that children will <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1753-6405.12564">associate betting with sport</a>. Yet in the UK, the government has chosen to accept industry promises to add warnings to adverts, even though evidence from alcohol advertising suggests that responsible drinking messages may in certain contexts actually <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25577316">increase alcohol consumption</a>.</p>
<p>All this points to UK gambling policy continuing along a path of compromise. As other nations move to a public health approach that recognises that the harm caused by gambling is <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media/assessing-gambling-related-harm-victoria-public-health-perspective/">not restricted to the gambler alone, or to their mental health</a>, the British government remains rooted to the model of “promoting responsible gambling” – part of what DCMS minister Tracey Crouch has called “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-cut-fixed-odds-betting-terminals-maximum-stake-from-100-to-2">a healthy gambling industry that contributes to the economy</a>”.</p>
<p>Until we have more independent research about the effects of gambling, any attempt to change the rules in order to protect people from harm will take years. We need a compulsory levy and no more horse-trading with industry. GambleAware, the charity responsible for funding research into gambling, must be reformed – and at the very least not have <a href="https://about.gambleaware.org/about/trustees-and-management/">industry representatives on its board</a>.</p>
<p>The delay to the cap in betting stakes – arriving five years late due to the lack of evidence that FOBTs “cause” problem gambling (itself a gigantic <a href="https://gamblingacrossborders.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/the-ghost-in-the-machine/">red herring</a>) – has cost people not just their money, but their homes, their relationships, their jobs and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/19/gambling-life-fixed-odds-betting-terminals-maximum-stake-addicts">even their lives</a>. If it is evidence-based policy that governments claim to aim for, then they must ask where that research will come from in future – and if it is worth the paper it is written on.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96828/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Cassidy was funded by the European Research Council, grant number 263433, between 2010 and 2015. Between 2006 and 2009 she received £90,697.22 from ‘Research into Problem Gambling’, a collaborative research initiative between the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (lead organisation) and the Responsibility in Gambling Trust (RiGT), (now GambleAware). All aspects of the grant were administered by the ESRC. Between 2007 and 2009 she received ad hoc support from the National Lottery Commission for the Gambling Research Network, a group of early career and PhD researchers coming together in London two or three times a year. Money covered refreshments and no explicit restrictions or inducements were placed on the group by the NLC. Since 2015, she has had her travel expenses to speak at an international conference paid for by the Alberta Gambling Research Institute, an organisation that is funded by the provincial government of Alberta, and by the New Zealand Problem Gambling Foundation and The Gambling and Addictions Research Centre at AUT University. She has also received support from the British Academy and Edinburgh University. She has paid to attend industry-sponsored events and attended free, industry-supported events in order to conduct anthropological fieldwork. </span></em></p>That the government has finally moved to limit the damage is welcome, but there is much still to do.Rebecca Cassidy, Professor of Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/862562017-11-01T10:25:47Z2017-11-01T10:25:47ZMore than just financial loss, the social impact of gambling cannot be underestimated<p>The UK government is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/31/uk-government-cracks-down-fixed-odds-betting-terminals-fobt">mulling a review of the regulations on fixed odds betting terminals</a> commonly found in pubs and betting shops, in order to reduce the risk of problem gambling developing. </p>
<p>Based on a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/655969/Consultation_on_proposals_for_changes_to_Gaming_Machines_and_Social_Responsibility_Measures.pdf">report</a> from the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, this would see the maximum stake gamblers can bet on the machines reduced from £300 a minute to between £2 and £50. </p>
<p>Given that the Gambling Commission, the industry regulator, found 43% of people who use the machines are either problem or at-risk gamblers, some such as opposition Labour MP Tom Watson, have described this as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/31/uk-government-cracks-down-fixed-odds-betting-terminals-fobt">a squandered opportunity</a>”. Critics believe the proposals don’t go far enough to protect people from fixed odds betting terminals, sometimes described as “the crack cocaine of gambling” due to their addictive nature.</p>
<p>Harmful gambling can have crippling financial and social effects on the gambler, their friends and family. In the first <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10197/6796">national study of the social impact of harmful gambling in Ireland</a>, we examined how it affected recovering gamblers, their families and friends. We also heard stories from counsellors and those who provide services to help gamblers. Talking to people from all walks of life, from different age groups and different economic backgrounds, we found that a common theme was the devastating social effects gambling had on people’s lives.</p>
<p>In particular, we learned that gamblers were often exposed to gambling at an early age, for example by collecting betting proceeds for a family member, or watching adults place bets. This then led them to participate in gambling before the legal age of 18. </p>
<p>Gamblers reported gambling in secret, isolating themselves from family and friends to feed their addiction. As relationships deteriorated, the gambler’s behaviour would only be discovered when they were no longer able to maintain a double life, such as failing to intercept unpaid bills that had been part of trying to maintain a facade of normality. The availability of technologies, such as smartphones, means that it’s possible to conceal a secret gambling habit for years, before financial and emotional crises reach breaking point.</p>
<p>For young people, such technology exacerbates the potential harm of gambling. The participants in our studies frequently spoke of their concern for young people and their risk of addiction due to the availability of gambling apps and websites easily accessible from their smartphones. And while there is supposedly agreement <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/gambling-committee-chief-opposes-betting-machines-1.898604">not to offer fixed odds betting terminals in Ireland</a>, some gamblers reported that they had got themselves into trouble using them.</p>
<h2>Gambling as a public health issue</h2>
<p>The social harms that stem from addictive gambling are not only for the gambler. For example, the wives of gamblers in our study reported how they could sense there was a problem, but believed they were struggling with marital issues, rather than the fallout from gambling addiction. Parents and children of gamblers reported that they could no longer trust the gambler, that they could no longer leave money unattended, and that the gambler had become someone they did not recognise or understand.</p>
<p>In Ireland, the legislation around regulating gambling is outdated. The regulations that might mitigate harms for the individual and for society have not been introduced, and – with support from the <a href="http://research.ie/">Irish Research Council</a> and Ireland’s <a href="https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/home.aspx">Department of Social Protection</a> and <a href="http://www.justice.ie/">Department of Justice and Equality</a> – our research sought to provide the evidence base to help draw up the necessary social policies. </p>
<p>The government indicated its intention to move forward with legislation in early 2017, and my <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10197/6796">research</a> and its <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10197/8612">follow-up study</a> should inform politicians how to address the social harms of gambling – the costs of which the <a href="https://www.publichealth.ie/files/file/Developing%20a%20population%20approach%20to%20gambling.pdf">Institute of Public Health in Ireland</a> has estimated to be greater than government revenue from gambling taxes. </p>
<h2>Listen to what gamblers say they need</h2>
<p>The participants interviewed said there is a need for open discussion about gambling and the risk it can pose to individuals and their families. Gambling addiction carries with it significant social stigma, shame and isolation – talking openly about its effects can change how we approach this issue.</p>
<p>Interviewees suggested a variety of measures government could take, including regulations that would protect the most vulnerable to gambling addiction, and particularly in regulating how technology now enables secretive gambling. They also identified the need for support that would help prevent and address the harmful effects of gambling addiction. </p>
<p>While there are addiction treatment centres around the country which include services to address harmful gambling, there is little help for those affected by a partner’s or family member’s gambling. The <a href="http://www.therisefoundation.ie/">RISE Foundation</a> is a notable exception, providing treatment for the families of those affected by a variety of addictions. But it is based in Dublin only, and family members may no longer have the financial resources to access treatment and support there.</p>
<p>There is an urgent need for a unified, transparent approach to tackling gambling’s harms in Ireland – a national strategy that encompasses public and private sector organisations, similar to those that target alcohol and drug addiction. The UK has the <a href="http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/home.aspx">Gambling Commission</a> and NHS <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/addiction/Pages/gamblingaddiction.aspx">support and advice</a>; Ireland has nothing comparable.</p>
<p>Despite the lack of progress from government on the issue there have been benefits to this research: uncovering the extent of gambling’s social harms has helped to get people talking about gambling. For example, in September 2017 the <a href="http://www.guengl.eu/">European United Left/Nordic Green Left</a> European Parliamentary Group sponsored a one day conference in Dublin to direct the spotlight on the subject and emphasise the need for updated legislation. </p>
<p>Within the Republic, <a href="http://www.problemgambling.ie/">Problem Gambling Ireland</a> recently opened its doors to lobby against the spread of harmful gambling and to provide referral services to those affected by gambling. These may seem like small steps, but it is small steps that lead the charge for change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86256/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Crystal Fulton receives funding from the Department of Justice & Equality and from the Irish Research Council, with support from the Department of Social Protection.
</span></em></p>Ireland is the ‘wild west’ of gambling, with little regulation to protect people from the potential social harm. This needs to change.Crystal Fulton, Associate Professor of Information & Communication Studies, University College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/777812017-05-16T01:07:36Z2017-05-16T01:07:36ZBanning early evening gaming ads on TV is like being ‘a little bit pregnant’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169417/original/file-20170516-7001-shlrmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">While gaming advertising will be banned before 8.30pm, the ban doesn't extend to perimeter advertising or on-air mentions of betting odds.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/438222940?src=FHwp_8Ad-sdzoX-154CHkg-1-0&size=medium_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Early this month, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made his family friendly announcement that advertising for gaming, including sports betting, would be banned from television and radio <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/turnbull-announces-plan-to-restrict-tv-gambling-ads-to-protect-kids/news-story/d7f9134e6d44f2db1c227674c0f10fe3">before 8.30pm</a> each night, plainly a message about reducing exposure to children. </p>
<p>The “siren to siren” ban, which will cover all sports broadcasts on TV and radio except racing, will start five minutes before matches start and end five minutes after full time.</p>
<p>We don’t know when this will start, but you can probably get low odds somewhere on implementation taking as long as possible.</p>
<p>Just as you can’t be “a little bit pregnant”, you can’t have a partial ban.</p>
<p>Turnbull’s announcement said nothing about on-ground and perimeter advertising, TV commentators and their guests mentioning betting odds or the many sneaky ways direct advertising bans were subverted by the masters of the art, Big Tobacco.</p>
<h2>No kid watches sport after 8.30pm, right?</h2>
<p>Just take a nanosecond to think about what has been promised. Yes, the policy will take direct advertising of gambling out of pre-8.30pm sport. But last time I looked, the State of Origin, all day/night cricket, major world events like the World Cup and the Olympic Games, and Grand Prix events all run well after 8.30pm.</p>
<p>While most seven-year-olds may be tucked in bed before 8.30pm, many older kids stay up much later. So picture the living rooms across Australia as armies of parents say to their 12-year-olds, “Look I know it’s the decider State of Origin match and the game kicked-off only 15 minutes ago, but the TV is going off now because the betting ads are starting up in a minute.”</p>
<p>That’s just certain to work very, very well. Perhaps exactly as well as the gaming industry’s public support for the package would predict.</p>
<p>Former Labor front bencher Stephen Conroy, now with <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/labor-powerbroker-stephen-conroy-joins-new-gambling-lobby-20161207-gt6391.html">Responsible Wagering Australia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNewsAust/status/860699847178960897">told Sky News</a> that Sports Bet “absolutely welcomed” the new package. </p>
<p>This should set cynicism meters off the dial. If this move had even the remotest chance of having any impact on the betting industry’s bottom lines, it would fight it tooth and claw, in the way we saw with tobacco plain packaging.</p>
<h2>Gamble responsibly</h2>
<p>The relentless TV betting ad postscripts that remind us to “always gamble responsibly” are as sincere as Big Tobacco urging smokers to smoke lightly. </p>
<p>The 2010 <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/gambling-2009/report">Productivity Commission report</a> on gambling in Australia estimated that problem gamblers contributed about 40% of gaming revenue via poker machines. The report identified about 115,000 Australians as “problem gamblers” with a further 280,000 people at “moderate risk” of being a problem gambler.</p>
<p>There is no definitive national estimate of how common problem gambling is among people who bet on sports. But a <a href="http://www.gamblingandracing.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/846901/2014-Survey-on-Gambling,-Health-and-Wellbeing-in-the-ACT-.pdf">2014 study</a> in the ACT indicated rates of problem gambling among internet gamblers were three times greater than for gamblers in general and on a par with rates for people gambling on poker machines or on racing.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that problem gamblers are the backbone of the gaming industry’s fortunes. The industry would be devastated if these fortunes somehow dried up.</p>
<h2>Incremental tobacco advertising bans</h2>
<p>The history of restricting tobacco advertising is likely to point to what’s ahead in reforms on how gambling promotion.</p>
<p>The last time a direct tobacco advertisement was seen or heard on Australian TV or radio was in August 1976. The Whitlam government introduced the policy, which was continued by the Fraser government. Direct cigarette advertising on radio and television was phased out over the three years between September 1, 1973 and September 1, 1976.</p>
<p>The decision was framed as a way of reducing the exposure of children to tobacco advertising. Obviously, the proposition was that kids were a prime target for tobacco companies and their advertising was a powerful way of conditioning interest in smoking in young people.</p>
<p>So, direct tobacco ads on TV and radio could help kids take up smoking. But the very same appeals in ads in print, on billboards, in shops and as sporting and cultural sponsorship apparently could not. This was the bizarre logic in governments at the time banning tobacco advertising in only selected media, but not across the board.</p>
<p>As ordinary commonsense and research highlighted the inanity of this policy, governments incrementally increased the number of media where cigarette ad bans applied. It took from September 1973 until April, 30 1996 (when tobacco sponsorship of cricket finally ended) for all forms of tobacco advertising and promotion to <a href="http://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-11-advertising/11-0-background">end in Australia</a>. That’s 22 years and 8 months from start to finish. </p>
<p>If we count branded packaging as a form of advertising (as the tobacco industry unequivocally agrees it is) then we need to add another 16 years and 7 months. That’s until plain packaging was implemented in December 2012. </p>
<p>Children seeing sports betting ads can’t participate in online gaming because they don’t have credit or debit cards. But they are a vital audience for the future of the industry. It is in the industry’s interests to beguile them about gaming as early and for as long as possible until the day they can open their first betting account.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77781/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
When is the upcoming ban on early evening TV sports betting ads not a real ban? When it’s a partial ban that ignores how real people watch sport.Simon Chapman, Emeritus Professor in Public Health, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/631132016-08-21T20:04:24Z2016-08-21T20:04:24ZViewpoints: is addiction a disease?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134380/original/image-20160817-13707-163bo14.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We've long heard we can't blame people for their addiction because it's a disease, but is it? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><h2>The case against</h2>
<p><strong>Nicole Lee, Associate Professor at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University</strong></p>
<p>We used to think of “addiction”, or what we now call dependence, as a moral failing. This had the result of blaming the person who was addicted – it was a matter of willpower and they just weren’t trying hard enough. So the obvious solution was shaming and scolding until they did.</p>
<p>In the mid-20th century, a new movement started: the recovery movement, led by peer organisations such as Alcoholics Anonymous. This signalled a shift towards a focus on disease. This shift was important in understanding drug use as a health issue and focusing responses towards support rather than blaming.</p>
<p>The downside to this way of thinking is that it conceptualises drug use and dependence as a problem you have no control over – it needs someone or something to “fix” it (typically a medicine). The first step in the 12-step movement demonstrates this well: “I admit that I am powerless over alcohol/drugs.” The pendulum had swung in the opposite direction.</p>
<p>But what is a disease? Traditional definitions refer to a failing or problem with cells, tissues or organs – an illness of some sort. The organ in question here is the brain. </p>
<p>Many <a href="http://scholar.google.com.au/scholar_url?url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Miguel_Perez-Garcia/publication/6884468_Executive_dysfunction_in_substance_dependent_individuals_during_drug_use_and_abstinence_An_examination_of_the_behavioral_cognitive_and_emotional_correlates_of_addiction/links/09e4150fee0125a130000000.pdf&hl=en&sa=X&scisig=AAGBfm22AhDVWPlZbr2cvdu96C02kE69fQ&nossl=1&oi=scholarr&ved=0ahUKEwiQ_uOw97rOAhWMkZQKHV7_A4sQgAMIHSgBMAA">studies</a> demonstrate cognitive deficits among drug users, but there is little evidence those brain deficits occurred <em>before</em> drug use. Some cognitive risk factors increase the likelihood of a drug or alcohol problem, but no-one has done a study that has measured babies’ brain structure and function, and then looked at who developed problems with drugs 15 to 20 years later to see whether there are particular brain deficits that “cause” drug dependence.</p>
<p>A broader definition of a disease would be an “abnormal” condition of some sort – which would also place mental health issues in the category of disease. We don’t usually consider mental health problems, such as depression or anxiety, as a disease, even though they have biological (including neurological) aspects to them.</p>
<p>Modern understanding of brain plasticity shows repeated behaviours form strong paths in the brain. This suggests drug problems might be more of a habit ingrained in the brain by repeated reinforcement of behaviours. Those behaviours are influenced by factors such as biology, the social and environmental situation, and upbringing. </p>
<p>There’s no evidence anyone has become addicted to a drug on the first use (they might like it a lot on first use – enough to do it over and over until they become dependent). The disease model doesn’t account very well for people who use drugs but aren’t dependent (about 90% of people who use alcohol or other drugs), or people who use drugs and have problems other than dependence (about 20% of that 90%).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134734/original/image-20160819-12274-1pwmmgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134734/original/image-20160819-12274-1pwmmgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134734/original/image-20160819-12274-1pwmmgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134734/original/image-20160819-12274-1pwmmgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134734/original/image-20160819-12274-1pwmmgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134734/original/image-20160819-12274-1pwmmgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134734/original/image-20160819-12274-1pwmmgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134734/original/image-20160819-12274-1pwmmgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If people see their addiction as a learnt behaviour, will it be easier for them to stop?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from ww.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Addiction as a learnt behaviour (that can be unlearnt), with multiple influences, can better account for the wide range of ways people use alcohol and other drugs, and also for the path to dependence.</p>
<p>We know there are multiple factors that increase risk of a) drug use, b) drug-related problems and c) drug dependence. Some of them are probably biological, but we haven’t found a gene or biological cause.</p>
<hr>
<h2>The case for</h2>
<p><strong>Femke Buisman-Pijlman, Senior Lecturer in Addiction Studies, University of Adelaide</strong></p>
<p>Our understanding of addiction or dependence is still growing and with it we change the way we describe it. A model to explain dependence can be useful to help a user or family member understand the illogical behaviour or help the general public understand the need for a specific treatment. </p>
<p>I find the disease model useful in explaining how dependence is different from other excessive alcohol or drug use. </p>
<p>A disease can be defined as a set of symptoms caused by external or internal factors. Dependence is not like a virus or infection, but more like a chronic disease. You may have a predisposition to it, but it will not manifest itself until it is triggered. </p>
<p>Our behaviour, whether it is drug-taking, over-eating or lack of exercise, may increase the chance of developing a disease. As with a chronic disease, long-term management may be necessary to get the best outcome, but relapses may still occur. I find this model helps people understand the long-term perspective of a person who is struggling to manage dependence. </p>
<p>Only repeated use of alcohol or drugs lead to dependence, so I agree a person is not powerless in this. Although it is difficult to control the behaviour, a person needs to learn to manage it. </p>
<p>There is no easy fix, like with many diseases. Just taking away the drug will not cure the “disease”. A range of approaches is needed to help people cope with life in different ways and connect to healthy habits and people. </p>
<p>Specific medication can be useful during withdrawal to manage the physical side of dependence or to support a person in the long term to decrease the risk of relapse. The medications to support long-term relapse prevention have rates of success similar to those for other chronic health problems (low to moderate). But we have hardly any effective medications to support people to manage amphetamine and cannabis dependence in the long term. </p>
<p>Psychological support should be a vital part of the support to help people increase motivation for change and give them the tools to manage their use. As with chronic health problems, the person has an important role, but they can be supported by professionals. We know the success rate of attempts to quit smoking without any support are <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2004.00540.x/full">very low</a>. Medication and social support can increase this.</p>
<p>Addiction or dependence is characterised by a large range of changes in behaviour; it is unlikely we will find one gene that is responsible for this. There are large individual differences in how we respond to drugs, whether we continue after negative effects arise and how we handle reduction in use.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134735/original/image-20160819-12274-o550os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134735/original/image-20160819-12274-o550os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134735/original/image-20160819-12274-o550os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134735/original/image-20160819-12274-o550os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134735/original/image-20160819-12274-o550os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134735/original/image-20160819-12274-o550os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134735/original/image-20160819-12274-o550os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134735/original/image-20160819-12274-o550os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The disease model is useful in explaining how dependence is different from other excessive alcohol or drug use.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kphotographerrr/4505714773/in/photolist-7S9Y2t-9ju8xz-94Sx1A-gnnXbh-aitkxg-qu73p6-9fV5xi-gwmAC2-oNQBYF-7sZRqK-oaHWKu-27yd4y-2jsiBz-9WKkti-L1qNq-gwmN7H-fd4kgb-nbdfPZ-q27rVB-abrdvT-nHEVtP-gPy47D-pUzb-AkcbB-bvc7PH-oaK8sB-dpvkD8-bAJDSn-6HTERN-bCYuAM-8Dvf6G-6tDtwJ-6j1BHH-diqnZK-cinZEN-fPs3U5-d71ZCN-etybU-bCYuxX-eegnmy-qYrtkW-4N11am-foVw6v-5S9BtN-ieDvcK-a3se4R-edZStq-damued-A8zQK-foWNhF">Kphotographer/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some of these changes <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24056025">may rely on genes</a> or psychological factors (impulsivity or coping skills), others may be dependent on our “environment” (trauma or abuse). <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02213.x/full">Twin studies</a> and cohort studies are useful in identifying biological factors and looking at cause and effect.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Nicole Lee</strong></p>
<p>Even people who are heavily dependent can often control their alcohol or other drug use when they need to, which suggests a disease model is not a good fit as an explanation. We all know someone who can resist drinking at a party, but if they start to drink they may get out of control. </p>
<p>I ask my clients to make an effort not to come to counselling in an intoxicated state. Most are able to stop or reduce their use in response to that, or in order to look after children, or when they need to go to work. The biological drive to use can be strong, but it can also be managed.</p>
<p>Medications to actually treat dependence are really only modestly effective for most alcohol and other drug issues. Replacement pharmacotherapy for <a href="http://www.cochrane.org/CD011117/ADDICTN_opioid-maintenance-medicines-treatment-dependence-opioid-pain-medicines">opiate dependence</a> and for nicotine dependence has the best evidence. The outcomes of pharmacotherapy for other drugs, such as <a href="http://www.cochrane.org/CD004332/ADDICTN_acamprosate-for-alcohol-dependent-patients">alcohol</a>, are fairly modest.</p>
<p>Only a relatively <a href="https://theconversation.com/you-dont-have-to-go-off-the-grid-to-get-treatment-for-drug-dependence-50075">small number</a> of people become dependent on alcohol or other drugs (between 5% and 20% depending on the drug), suggesting the alcohol or drugs themselves are not the primary cause of the problem.</p>
<p>The search for the underlying mechanism that causes some people to become dependent, and others not, has been one of the drivers of the disease explanation.</p>
<p>But the broad range of factors that both explain alcohol and other drug dependence and seem to maintain it, suggests the disease model on its own has significant limitations as an explanation. Psychological factors, such as coping skills and resilience; biological factors, such as genetics and tolerance; and social factors, such as abuse or trauma, low socio-economic status and poor community connectedness, all contribute to both the development and maintenance of alcohol and other drug problems.</p>
<p>Any single-factor theory to explain alcohol and other drug use and dependence will inevitably fall short. We would do better looking at the full range of factors that enable problems with alcohol or drug use. Dependence is a complex problem with no simple solution.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Femke Buisman-Pijlman</strong></p>
<p>I agree a single-factor theory is not helpful to explain addiction behaviour. Many diseases are similar in this, having a large number of risk and contributing factors. Addiction can be viewed as a treatable disease, but the person is central in managing the behaviour. </p>
<p>Continued drug use has a complex impact on our brain. Only a multi-disciplinary approach will help us fully understand what these impacts are and help us provide optimal support.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63113/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Lee works as a consultant to public, private and not for profit services to support best practice treatment and policy. She has previously been awarded grants by the Australian Government, NHMRC and other public funding bodies for drug research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Femke Buisman-Pijlman is affiliated with Virginia Commonwealth University as Affiliate Graduate Faculty. She teaches the Master of Science in Addiction Studies with VCU and King's College London. Reckitt-Benckiser Pharmaceuticals offers partial merit based scholarship to students in this degree.
Femke has received funding from governments in Australia, The Netherlands and the USA to support teaching, research and travel. Her PhD project was funded in a collaboration between Utrecht University and Solvay Pharmaceuticals (now Abbott)
She works as an educational advisor for PwC and several schools.</span></em></p>Some think labelling it a disease is a helpful way to think about addiction; others think this makes the addict helpless in their fight against addiction. Two academics debate both sides of the coin.Nicole Lee, Associate Professor at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin UniversityAssociate Professor Femke Buisman-Pijlman, Senior Lecturer Addiction Studies, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/634542016-08-04T02:26:25Z2016-08-04T02:26:25ZGames and gambling: Xenophon’s ill-judged counter strike<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133012/original/image-20160804-12234-148kre4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A screenshot from Counter Strike: Global Offensive.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The wellbeing of children – especially when at risk – is frequently the focus of media reporting. Often these news stories bring our much-needed attention to situations of violence and maltreatment, such as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/07/25/4504895.htm">Four Corners’</a> recent report on the shameful abuse of children in Northern Territory detention centres. </p>
<p>But there is another story about at-risk children and teenagers in the news, one that is marked by misinformed views and less questioning journalism. Independent Senator Nick Xenophon – who usually takes robust stances on climate change and cultural diversity – has recently called for the introduction of legislation that will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jul/31/nick-xenophon-calls-for-first-person-shooter-video-games-to-be-defined-as-gambling">define certain transactions in video games as gambling</a>. </p>
<p>He plans to <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/australian-senator-calls-for-first-person-shooter-games-to-be-classed-as-gambling-a7165381.html">introduce a bill to Parliament</a> that could stipulate a minimum age for playing first-person shooter games which include payment for mystery items. This is a feature of games such as Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch and indeed many mobile games that get revenue through micro-transactions.</p>
<p>(The popular mobile game Angry Birds 2, for example, “sells” a treasure chest containing in-game resources of unknown value for 80 gems, which can be purchased with real money. Even Pokémon Go sells items of indeterminate value, such as incense, in its in-game shop.)</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132936/original/image-20160803-12201-1vne5gc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132936/original/image-20160803-12201-1vne5gc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132936/original/image-20160803-12201-1vne5gc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=835&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132936/original/image-20160803-12201-1vne5gc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=835&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132936/original/image-20160803-12201-1vne5gc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=835&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132936/original/image-20160803-12201-1vne5gc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132936/original/image-20160803-12201-1vne5gc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132936/original/image-20160803-12201-1vne5gc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nick Xenophon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Peled/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>News reports have inevitably represented the issue according to the same “media effects” model Xenophon has adopted. That is, first-person shooters <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jul/31/nick-xenophon-calls-for-first-person-shooter-video-games-to-be-defined-as-gambling">“groom kids for gambling”</a> and video games expose unsuspecting children and young people to <a href="http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/4065599/gambling-risk-for-kids/">danger and risk</a>. </p>
<p>It is the kind of half-story often told, one that reflects our tendency as a society to reductively demonise every new medium, to blame them for our problems, and turn them into scapegoats for our bad habits and antisocial behaviour. </p>
<p>For instance, book-reading was once considered a lazy, indulgent or reclusive activity, TV gave our children “square eyes” and being online all the time prevented young people from learning how to behave appropriately in face-to-face contexts. Oh, and video games turn high school kids into mass murderers (think Columbine or Sandy Hook), or at the very least make our children obese, more aggressive and lacking in empathy. They also have been said to cause learning difficulties, behavioural problems and now, according to Xenophon, early-onset gambling addiction.</p>
<h2>A problematic model</h2>
<p>Yet this cause-and-effect model of media influence is deeply problematic. Firstly, our media practices are always historical, cultural, personal and contextual. No one aspect can be isolated and seen as representative of those practices, as this always obfuscates the actual effects, which are complex and shifting, good and bad in varying degrees. </p>
<p>Xenophon told <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/technology/games/just-when-we-got-used-to-kids-dying-or-killing-on-screen-something-worse-came-along-20160728-gqfp5x.html">Fairfax Media</a> that these “insidious” games played by hundreds of thousands of Australian teenagers “purport to be one thing” but are “morphing into full-on gambling and that itself is incredibly misleading and deceptive”.</p>
<p>In classifying video games as “gambling”, Xenophon focuses on a recent controversy involving Counter Strike: Global Offensive. “Unopened” items (packages of content that may contain things such as customised “skins” to decorate your gun) were being “gambled” on through third party groups, in violation of the games’ terms and conditions.</p>
<p>Valve, the owner and publisher of this game, has since issued 23 <a href="http://kotaku.com/valve-issues-cease-and-desist-letter-to-23-counter-stri-1783975845">cease and desist letters</a> to gambling sites using Steam accounts (Steam is Valve’s digital distribution platform), stating they are in violation of the subscriber agreement. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132934/original/image-20160803-12216-1uw6tdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132934/original/image-20160803-12216-1uw6tdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132934/original/image-20160803-12216-1uw6tdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132934/original/image-20160803-12216-1uw6tdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132934/original/image-20160803-12216-1uw6tdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132934/original/image-20160803-12216-1uw6tdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132934/original/image-20160803-12216-1uw6tdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A screenshot from Overwatch.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Blizzard press centre</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gambling’s manifestation within some areas of video games is a reflection of general societal problems. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jul/31/nick-xenophon-calls-for-first-person-shooter-video-games-to-be-defined-as-gambling">According to The Guardian</a>, the gaming research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming estimated in June that skin gambling had an annual turnover of A$9.7 billion. It also forecast that the market would continue to grow steadily.</p>
<p>But while games and gambling sometimes do <em>converge</em>, they more often <em>diverge</em>. They are different practices. Many gamers don’t gamble, just as many gamblers don’t play video games. </p>
<p>According to <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/stats/">Steam</a>, there are currently over 800,000 daily players of DotA worldwide, and over 500,000 Counter Strike: Global Offensive players. But how many of these gamers have a gambling problem, or are likely to develop one? The <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-015-9535-0">Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation</a> conducted research into the link between gambling and video gaming, concluding that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the link between video gaming and gambling may not be strong. Frequency of video game play was not related to gambling behaviours in this study. In fact, gambling appeared less popular among this population than in the general community.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And crucially, while games such as <a href="http://blog.dota2.com/">DotA 2</a> or Counter Strike: Global Offensive do offer in-game purchases of indeterminate value, they are not a necessary or even important part of the game. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133014/original/image-20160804-12201-ykqfd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133014/original/image-20160804-12201-ykqfd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133014/original/image-20160804-12201-ykqfd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133014/original/image-20160804-12201-ykqfd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133014/original/image-20160804-12201-ykqfd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133014/original/image-20160804-12201-ykqfd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133014/original/image-20160804-12201-ykqfd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Screenshot from Counter Strike.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nor do they generally function as gambling in terms of pay-off. Players purchase items from a virtual marketplace, akin to an in-game eBay or iTunes store. But the items alter only cosmetic attributes such as colour, giving the player no tactical advantage. For many of these games that fall under Xenophon’s definition of gambling, these chance-based purchases are an optional adjunct, not the main focus of game play. </p>
<p>From the perspective of many gamers, Xenophon clearly hasn’t played these games. He misrepresents and oversimplifies the actual practice of in-game purchasing. Playing Counter Strike: Global Offensive isn’t gambling; the “gambling” aspect is tangential to the game. </p>
<h2>Culturally significant</h2>
<p>As sociologist and author of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2817823-the-future-of-childhood">The Future of Childhood</a> Alan Prout has written, the idea that children are innocent, ignorant and in need of protection and restriction became popularised at the end of the 19th century. Yet researchers of children and media today acknowledge the way young people are active agents and consumers of media – including games – and co-creators within the participatory media environment. </p>
<p>While in-game micro-transactions and pseudo-gambling activities may be part of online shooters such as Counter Strike, popular multiplayer games also provide deeply engaging and empowering spaces for young people, involving the acquisition of necessary skills and new media literacies, and an attendant sense of self-efficacy.</p>
<p>They are also a means of connecting meaningfully and playfully with other gamers and game communities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133013/original/image-20160804-12207-y21ddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133013/original/image-20160804-12207-y21ddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133013/original/image-20160804-12207-y21ddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133013/original/image-20160804-12207-y21ddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133013/original/image-20160804-12207-y21ddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133013/original/image-20160804-12207-y21ddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133013/original/image-20160804-12207-y21ddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gamers playing in 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">artubr/flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Game scholars such as <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/authors/miguel-sicart">Miguel Sicart</a> have noted that contemporary media culture is characterised as both creatively playful and increasingly gamified. From coffee redemption cards at your local café and Fitbits quantifying your physical fitness, to the rise of augmented reality games like Pokémon Go, the playful is imbricated with the everyday in new ways. </p>
<p>In our three-year research project looking at mobile games and digital play in Australian households, we have found that games of all kinds bring families together – recalibrating the old adage a “family that plays together, stays together”. In many cases, digital and online games are used as another vehicle for developing intimacy and “being with others” at home and away.</p>
<p>In contemporary life, digital games have become a dominant medium. They earn more revenue than the film and television industries combined. Like all media forms, our use of them is complicated and entangled. </p>
<p>Mobile games are embedded in the minutiae of our everyday lives, online multiplayer games are important social and communicative spaces, and we accrue points and awards in many settings as motivation for daily routines. </p>
<p>As a society, we need to comprehend this complexity, not be subject to more over-simplification and fearmongering via an outdated model of media effects. Let’s focus on understanding play as an important part of contemporary culture rather than conflating it with social problems. In other words, play on…</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63454/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Larissa Hjorth receives funding from an Australian Research Council Discovery grant, Games of Being Mobile. This grant ethnographically explores mobile game practices in Australian households over three years.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ingrid Richardson receives funding from an Australian Research Council Discovery grant, Games of Being Mobile. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>William James Balmford receives funding from an Australian Research Council Discovery grant, Games of Being Mobile. </span></em></p>Nick Xenophon wants to crack down on first-person shooter games, which he claims are a form of gambling. But his stance oversimplifies the way these games are played.Larissa Hjorth, Professor of Mobile Media and Games, RMIT UniversityIngrid Richardson, Associate Professor in Digital Media, Murdoch UniversityWilliam Balmford, Research Assistant & PhD Candidate in Digital Ethnography, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/510372015-11-29T19:23:33Z2015-11-29T19:23:33ZGambling on pokies is like tobacco – no amount of it is safe<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103137/original/image-20151125-18233-180n8z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">According to new research, the more money people lose gambling, the greater their risk of developing gambling problems – even at relatively low levels of losses.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Julian Smith</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Is occasional gambling safe? Our <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/add.13178">study</a> found that gambling is like smoking: the more you gamble, the greater your risk of developing problems. There is no safe level of gambling, only risks that increase as you lose more money – even at relatively low levels of losses. </p>
<p>We examined large, nationally representative surveys in Australia, Canada, Finland and Norway, and found that no amount of gambling was safe. </p>
<p>In the graph below, we show the average relationship between money lost and problem gambling index scores in the four surveys. Gambling losses are shown on the x-axes, with problem gambling risk on the y-axes.</p>
<p>Crucially, there is no safe region on these curves where problems do not increase as you lose more money. This is different to alcohol, where moderate consumption may reduce your risk of mortality. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102969/original/image-20151124-18233-xby2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102969/original/image-20151124-18233-xby2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102969/original/image-20151124-18233-xby2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102969/original/image-20151124-18233-xby2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102969/original/image-20151124-18233-xby2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102969/original/image-20151124-18233-xby2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102969/original/image-20151124-18233-xby2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The relationships between gambling losses and problem gambling risk in four countries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">http://doi.org/10.1111/add.13178</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We have known for some time that some forms of gambling are more risky than others. Therefore, we also examined the relationships between losses and risk for different gambling activities.</p>
<p>Electronic gaming machines – known as pokies in Australia, video lottery terminals in Canada and slot machines in the US – were the most strongly associated with problem gambling in every country in our study. </p>
<p>In Australia, there was also a clear relationship between money lost betting on races and problem gambling. Lotteries were also associated with problem gambling in Canada and Finland and sports betting was associated with problem gambling in Norway. There was no evidence of low-risk thresholds for any gambling activity.</p>
<h2>Contradicting conventional wisdom</h2>
<p>These findings are important because they contradict the conventional wisdom that there is a threshold below which gambling is safe. According to this view, gambling is much like alcohol, in that only after a particular consumption level has been reached does risk mount. It is only after heavy consumption (or losses) that problems supposedly occur.</p>
<p>As a case in point, the axiom that “safe levels of gambling participation are possible” is one of the six fundamental assumptions of the influential <a href="http://divisiononaddiction.org/html/reprints/renomodel.pdf">Reno Model</a>, which describes itself as “a science-based framework for responsible gambling”.</p>
<p>This claim that safe levels of gambling are possible turns out to rest on two erroneous arguments. The first is an empirical case that supposedly documents low-risk thresholds for gambling. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01392.x/abstract">most prominent study</a> of this kind found evidence for a “J-shaped” relationship between problem gambling risk and gambling expenditure. A J-shaped curve describes the situation where risk starts off very low and increases significantly only at higher levels of gambling losses (see panel A in the the graph below). </p>
<p>Unfortunately, this conclusion was based on an incorrectly scaled graph. In panel A, the range of money represented by each data point widens from $50 to $500, but the dots are still placed with equal distances apart. When the x-axis is correctly rescaled, a linear rather than J-shaped relationship emerges (see panel B). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102970/original/image-20151124-4062-19785o4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102970/original/image-20151124-4062-19785o4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=199&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102970/original/image-20151124-4062-19785o4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=199&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102970/original/image-20151124-4062-19785o4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=199&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102970/original/image-20151124-4062-19785o4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102970/original/image-20151124-4062-19785o4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102970/original/image-20151124-4062-19785o4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The evidence base for ‘safe levels of gambling’ appears to rely on a flawed interpretation of data.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">http://doi.org10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01392.x</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second argument sometimes made to support the idea of safe gambling is based on the anecdotal observation that some people do gamble large amounts without becoming problem gamblers. By extension, the argument goes, problem gamblers need to become like these responsible gamblers who can gamble without adverse impacts.</p>
<p>However, the existence of such individuals does not imply that gambling at that intensity is safe at the population level. For example, while some regular smokers <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2500759/Whisky-15-cigarettes-day-secret-good-health-says-Dorothy-celebrates-100th-birthday-glass-favourite-tipple-course.html">may live to 100</a>, this does not mean that smoking is safe or that we should promote “responsible smoking”. Such an argument fundamentally misunderstands the concept of risk.</p>
<h2>What now?</h2>
<p>Our findings have two important implications for regulation. </p>
<p>First, public information about gambling should not imply that moderate gambling is risk-free. Guidelines and other forms of public awareness campaigning should make it clear that, for poker machine gambling in particular, every increase in consumption increases the level of risk. </p>
<p>As a <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.9566">recent article</a> in the Journal of the American Medical Association put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Traditional messaging oriented around “reduce, restrict, limit, ban” may make sense for determinants that have a linear relationship with health outcomes, as with tobacco and mortality.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our research suggests that this kind of public health messaging should also apply to poker machine gambling.</p>
<p>The second implication relates to the “responsible gambling” model of regulation. This model rests on the notion that gambling in moderation is safe. In contrast, our research suggests that gambling at any level can be associated with harm. And the more money lost, the greater the risk of harm.</p>
<p>There is no threshold below which consumption does not increase the risk of harm. Harm-minimisation policies should seek to reduce the poker machine gambling of everyone, not just problem gamblers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51037/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francis Markham has previously been employed on research projects funded by the Australian Research Council and several state government departments and authorities. His research is currently funded by the Community Benefit Fund of the Northern Territory Government and by a PhD scholarship from the federal Department of Education. He is a member of the National Association of Gambling Studies (Australia) and the Public Health Association of Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Doran has previously received research funding from the Australian Research Council and several state government departments. His research is currently funded by the Comminity Benefit Fund of the Northern Territory Government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Young has previously received research funding from the Australian Research Council, Gambling Research Australia, and several state government departments. His research is currently funded by the Comminity Benefit Fund of the Northern Territory Government. In addition to his SCU position, he a Visiting Fellow, Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU.</span></em></p>Harm minimisation policies should seek to reduce the poker machine gambling of everyone, not just problem gamblers.Francis Markham, PhD Candidate, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National UniversityBruce Doran, Senior Lecturer (Geographic Information Systems), Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National UniversityMartin Young, Associate Professor, Centre for Gambling Education and Research, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/349482014-12-28T16:39:27Z2014-12-28T16:39:27ZIn The Gambler, an anti-hero story is retold<p>“Life is a losing proposition,” explains Mark Wahlberg’s literature professor/compulsive gambler Jim Bennett. “You might as well get it over with.”</p>
<p>Intent on doing just that, Bennett runs up massive debts to dangerous gangsters in this new incarnation of The Gambler, a re-make of James Toback’s <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071532/">1974 film</a>, itself an interpretation of a Fyodor Dostoyevsky <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Gambler.html?id=q08LVy-0q2IC">novella</a>. The newest version is the slightest of the three tellings, but its occasional successes kept me watching.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68065/original/image-20141228-8213-1dsrybt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68065/original/image-20141228-8213-1dsrybt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68065/original/image-20141228-8213-1dsrybt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68065/original/image-20141228-8213-1dsrybt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68065/original/image-20141228-8213-1dsrybt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68065/original/image-20141228-8213-1dsrybt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68065/original/image-20141228-8213-1dsrybt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An advertisement for the 1974 version of The Gambler, which starred James Caan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/8/22/comedy-director-todd-phillips-to-develop-the-gambler-remake.html">Geek Tyrant</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With seven days to come up with $240,000, Bennett drains the family savings and is disowned by his mother. He leans on a student of his – a star basketball player – to shave points on a game. Moving from one underworld boss to another, he takes ever larger loans on ever harsher terms. Each time he gets staked, he gambles again. He mostly loses.</p>
<p>In its best moments, The Gambler is an effective re-make with some interesting twists. Jim Bennett ends up in a very different place than Axel Freed, the protagonist in the 1974 version. Toward the end of the movie, when Walhberg finally allows his natural likability to pierce the chilly exterior of the character, we hope he gets out of trouble. Brie Larson and John Goodman shine in supporting roles, offering Bennett the promise of redemption and the threat of annihilation, respectively. There’s an ethereal soundtrack and taut direction. In places, it’s reminiscent of Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive, another modern anti-hero tale.</p>
<p>Each iteration of the gambler story raises the same question: why do these men of means risk everything? Dostoyevsky’s Alexei Ivanovich wanted the thrill of “dealing fate a blow on her cheek”; only by risking his life could he feel human: “behold, again I was a member of mankind.”</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68064/original/image-20141228-8211-17wtaa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68064/original/image-20141228-8211-17wtaa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68064/original/image-20141228-8211-17wtaa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68064/original/image-20141228-8211-17wtaa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68064/original/image-20141228-8211-17wtaa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68064/original/image-20141228-8211-17wtaa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68064/original/image-20141228-8211-17wtaa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dostoyevsky’s protagonist gambles to feel alive. Wahlberg’s gambling, on the other hand, is driven by his nihilism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/6925918-M.jpg">Open Library</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Toback’s Axel Freed, played with snarling energy by James Caan, also sought to exert his will. “I like the uncertainty. The feeling that I might lose, but I won’t. Because I don’t want to.”</p>
<p>Wahlberg’s Jim Bennett is a more passive creature. He speaks not of exerting will over fate, but of not bothering to try. His gambling is driven by his nihilism.</p>
<p>Some elements of Bennett’s professorial ennui are believable. His one novel was well-reviewed but sold few copies. His major academic contribution is an innovative interpretation of Camus’ The Stranger, but the insight got buried in some now-forgotten textbook. These are frustrations many scholars will recognize.</p>
<p>The scenes of Wahlberg teaching class don’t ring true, though. We are told that he is bored with his job, his apathetic students and his mediocre colleagues. Yet we see him careening around the lecture hall, firing off bon mots on life, love, and literature. He knows the name and background of every student, peppering them with exhortations and insults, before settling his attention on one particular girl for an uncomfortably long exchange. By this time, the students would be thinking a lot of things, but “he seems bored” would likely not be one of them.</p>
<p>The fashionable verdict on this movie is that a viewer’s time would be better spent on the original. But there’s value in this telling of the story, too. The 1974 film has gained stature mostly in retrospect (it was largely overlooked at the time), and the tighter structure and more defined character arc in this new version will appeal to some. </p>
<p>The Gambler is a great human archetype, and stories as compelling as this can be told in more than one way. This isn’t the definitive telling of the tale, but Wahlberg’s gambler is distinctive enough to be worth betting a few hours of your time on.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Benedict Dyson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>“Life is a losing proposition,” explains Mark Wahlberg’s literature professor/compulsive gambler Jim Bennett. “You might as well get it over with.” Intent on doing just that, Bennett runs up massive debts…Stephen Benedict Dyson, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/322582014-11-04T15:24:16Z2014-11-04T15:24:16ZHow slots trick gamblers into losing more than they know<p>A 2011 Massachusetts law allows for the expansion of gambling, including slot machines. That law is now on the November 2014 election ballot for potential repeal. </p>
<p>This is a real opportunity for voters to consider where slot machine income comes from. Also, since slot machines are the most addictive form of gambling, Massachusetts voters should consider the source of gambling revenues, and whether slot machines are fair to gamblers. Let’s see what current research shows.</p>
<h2>Slot machine profits</h2>
<p>The industry estimate for slot machine “profits” is around $100,000 per machine per year of player losses. (See, for example, <a href="gaming.unlv.edu/reports/ct_monthly.pdf">slot machine revenue in nearby Connecticut</a>.)</p>
<p>These losses add up fast. A gambler who plays for just three hours one evening per week, and makes fairly small wagers of $1 per spin, would lose approximately $1,000 per month, or <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2014.918163">approximately $12,000 per year</a>, on average. </p>
<p>This is a very high cost of entertainment for what would appear to many as a relatively low wager per spin and relatively small number of hours per week. For many patrons casino gambling is much more expensive than going to big-name concerts or professional sporting events such as the Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics, or Patriots. </p>
<p>Of greatest concern are players with a gambling problem, or those who may develop a problem in the future. Approximately <a href="https://www.uleth.ca/dspace/handle/10133/380">50% of slot machine revenue</a> is derived from players with moderate and severe gambling problems, who make up only 3%-4% of the general population. </p>
<p>Such players have very high losses which cause very significant negative consequences for them and their families. In the extreme cases, such as <a href="http://www.statejournal.com/story/26236710/gambling-addicts-widow-claims-casino-exploited-her-husbands-out-of-control-behavior">Scott Stevens of Ohio,</a> things can quickly spiral out of control. </p>
<p>Stevens’ case is particularly tragic: he embezzled from his employer and eventually committed suicide. He was a husband and father with a senior role in accounting and no known problems aside from gambling. But once he started playing slots he couldn’t stop.</p>
<h2>Characteristics of slot machines</h2>
<p>Slot machine manufacturers design the gambling experience to confuse and manipulate players’ emotions in an effort to keep players gambling. This is called maximizing ‘time on device’. Many of these manipulations are not readily revealed to the player. Here are some examples drawn from my research:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The cost of play of slot machines is hidden from the player. An estimate of the per-hour cost is 50 to 100 times the cost of a single spin, but this varies depending on the settings of the game. </p></li>
<li><p>Worse yet, the same game may be on multiple machines in a casino and programmed to pay out differently on each. Thus, even if a player knew the cost of play on one machine, that knowledge would not necessarily transfer to the same game elsewhere in the same casino. Players start to incorrectly guess how slots work and guess at the chance of making money by playing the machines. Obviously, there is randomness involved in how much a player loses at any given session, but slot machine players cannot even predict how expensive a session might be. </p></li>
<li><p>On modern slot machines, half of ‘wins’ are actually net losses. An example would be a $1 bet with a 30¢ payoff. This is a loss of 70¢, but the machine shows bright graphics and makes sounds announcing a win. Researchers call these events Losses Disguised as Wins (LDWs) and have clearly shown that players experience these as actual wins, giving the players the (incorrect) positive feelings that they are winning. Players who have many losses-disguised-as-wins overestimate the number of actual wins they receive in a session: they psychologically encode these net losses as actual wins. </p></li>
<li><p>Slot machines create ‘near miss’ outcomes: losses that appear close to jackpots. One trick to make this happen is to have the jackpot symbol to be surprisingly rare on the final reel. Near misses lead to prolonged play, and heavier losses. </p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Loss disguised as a win for states?</h2>
<p>There are also serious concerns about the financial aspects of slot machine facilities, particularly if slots are being claimed to be bringing good revenues into a state’s treasury.</p>
<p>For example, at many casinos slots players can apply for a loan. This seems predatory on the casino’s part as the casino knows that the player is out of money, and yet the casino lends the player money to gamble, knowing the player will likely lose that money back to them. Such predatory lending should be forbidden.</p>
<p>Finally, research shows that bringing casinos with slots to within 30 miles of major cities will usually boost the number of people with a gambling problem in that city. The best current research shows that introducing slots to Massachusetts, without working to ameliorate their harms, will have a high potential for causing significant <a href="http://www.ajgiph.com/content/3/1/2">negative effects on communities</a> in the Commonwealth.</p>
<p>_This article is part of a series on gambling in America. You can read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/gambling-in-america">here</a> _</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32258/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Harrigan receives funding from the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Brown is a co-investigator of a research grant from the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, for which Kevin Harrigan is the principal investigator.</span></em></p>A 2011 Massachusetts law allows for the expansion of gambling, including slot machines. That law is now on the November 2014 election ballot for potential repeal. This is a real opportunity for voters…Kevin Harrigan, Associate Professor, University of WaterlooDan Brown, Director, Undergraduate Studies, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/319392014-11-03T05:25:34Z2014-11-03T05:25:34ZLosses disguised as wins, the science behind casino profits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62015/original/xsyrqn62-1413489372.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Your odds of winning are greatly improved if you own a casino.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gambling is good business, or at least a profitable one. According to the American Gaming Association, in 2012 the 464 commercial casinos in the US served 76.1 million patrons and <a href="http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/11/1/us-economy/americas-wheel-fortune-spinning-again">grossed $US37.34 billion</a>. </p>
<p>Each year gaming revenues in the US yield more profits than the <a href="http://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2013_032514-v2.pdf">theatrical movie industry</a> ($US10.9 billion) and the <a href="http://riaa.com/media/2463566A-FF96-E0CA-2766-72779A364D01.pdf">recorded music industry</a> ($US7 billion) combined. Even the <a href="https://www.wrhambrecht.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/SportsMarketReport_2012.pdf">$US22.5 billion combined revenue</a> of the four major US sports leagues is dwarfed by earnings from the commercial casinos industry.</p>
<p>Gambling is such good business that despite reported negative impacts – such as <a href="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/266349/neighborhood-and-gambling.pdf">increased poverty and unemployment</a>, <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=233792">higher crime rates</a>, and <a href="http://uss-mass.org/documents/NationlAssocationRealtors-Casino-Research.pdf">decreased property value</a> in nearby neighborhoods – the state of Illinois early this year passed a law to allow slot machines in all establishments that sell alcohol. </p>
<p>Likewise, Massachusetts has recently approved Las Vegas casino mogul Stephan Wynn’s plan for a $US1.6 billion dollar casino resort just north of in the Boston area. Although this project and others could be stopped by a <a href="http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/ele14/pip143.htm">ballot question 3</a> “expanding prohibitions on gaming” on November 4. </p>
<h2>The spread of gambling in America</h2>
<p>Gambling is not just common, it’s also accepted. Despite the fact that for <a href="http://journal.cpha.ca/index.php/cjph/article/view/102/102">an estimated 4%</a> of the population gambling represents a problematic and even pathological addiction, <a href="http://www.americangaming.org/sites/default/files/uploads/docs/aga_sos2013_fnl.pdf">85% of Americans</a> feel that gambling is either perfectly acceptable for themselves or if not themselves for others in a country where more than 20 States now allow some form of commercial casino.</p>
<p>It’s not too hard to see why casino lobbyists believe casinos make a positive contribution to the communities in which they operate. </p>
<p>It’s far less easy to understand why so many Americans enjoy gambling even though it tends to result in the loss of money.</p>
<h2>You lose, the casino wins</h2>
<p>As a general rule, we tend to repeat behavior that produces desirable results and avoid behaviors that result in loss. We repeat jokes that people laughed at, choose jobs that we enjoy and that pay the most money, and avoid behaviors that produce fines. Following this logic, one would expect a gambler to only play as long as they are winning and then cut their losses when they begin to lose. </p>
<p>Yet gambling appears to operate differently; <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11729554">players play faster</a> after losses and bet persistently regardless of the <a href="http://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/bsi/article/view/34">percentage of payback</a>, <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=1962-05888-001">magnitude of return</a>, or the lack of <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15612606">winning entirely</a>. So what encourages gambling behavior if losing occurs more frequently, and payouts do not exceed buy-ins?</p>
<p>One explanation is that gamblers poorly judge the actual probability of winning, even as their pile of tokens and coins dwindles before them.</p>
<p>Some examples of this phenomenon can easily be seen in the language of gamblers. “My luck is going to turn,” “A win is coming,” or “I am on a hot streak,” are all statements that speak to an over-confidence in one’s ability to predict functionally random events. </p>
<p>Gamblers will often say these things after an unusual series of outcomes, for example ten straight losses on red at roulette. The gambler may then proceed to bet more on red, in the false hope that the next spin is more likely to come up red due to the overall probability of the game (50% chance of red).</p>
<p>This flawed logic is called “<a href="http://www.princeton.edu/%7Eachaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Gambler_s_fallacy.html">The Gambler’s Fallacy</a>”. It stems from a misunderstanding of how probabilities are assessed; in fact the outcome of the previous spin of the roulette wheel has no influence on the outcome of the next spin. The probability of red remains stubbornly fixed at 50%. </p>
<h2>Missed it by that much</h2>
<p>Another example of how gamblers misjudge losing outcomes can be seen when individuals respond to losses that are similar in appearance to a win. Receiving two out of three symbols necessary to win on a slot machine is a loss but players often <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21516368">respond to this “near miss”</a> with excitement, increased betting and more persistent play. </p>
<p>Winning and almost winning are such similar events to many people that they respond in the same way to both. People pause, for example, for longer after a win than a loss. This is known as a “<a href="http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1341&context=tpr">post-reinforcement pause</a>.” People often pause for longer after a near-miss. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s no accident near misses are pretty common on slot machines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Winning and almost winning are so alike in gamblers’ brains that research on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine">dopamine</a>-transmitting pathways of anticipation and reward show remarkably similar activation patterns for a near-miss and a win.</p>
<p>Near-miss effects are not limited to outcomes that <em>look</em> similar to win. Outcomes that are closer to a win in a more abstract sense also cause a similar response. </p>
<p>For instance, the near-miss effect has been demonstrated in games where “nearly winning” might relate to scoring a number that is <a href="http://arts-sciences.und.edu/psychology/analysis_of_gambling_behavior/back_issues_pdfs/aogb-summer-2009-issue-2.pdf">close to a winning number</a>, such as in blackjack. </p>
<p>Near-miss outcomes are not the only form of almost winning that contributes to the behavioral confusion faced by gamblers. Modern slot machines also present a myriad of features that are designed to confuse outcomes. </p>
<h2>Slot confusion</h2>
<p>One feature present in almost every modern slot machine is the partial win or “loss disguised as a win.” </p>
<p>Since slot machines have gone from the traditional 3-reel 1-line slot machine to the modern 5-reel video slot, often with 25 or more winning lines, near-miss outcomes have become almost unidentifiable from other losing outcomes. </p>
<p>By encouraging individuals to play on more than one line, casinos have created a scenario where players are awarded a win on almost every spin. </p>
<p>Despite the increased frequency of winning, the proportion of money returned is often far less than the entire bet, such as winning 10c on a 50c bet. This 80% loss is accompanied by the same sounds on the machine as a real win and occupies the same area of the screen that wins are reported in. </p>
<p>Since noticing near-misses on modern slot machines is difficult, game makers have incorporated other game features such as free-spin symbols, mini-games, and progressive awards, which create new near miss situations while often not guaranteeing any increased value of a win themselves. </p>
<p>For example, special symbols might be placed on the reels that provide 10-free spins whenever three appear anywhere within the game screen. These symbols will often make a special sound, such as a loud thud when they land; and if two symbols land, many games will begin to play fast tempo music, display flashing lights around the remaining reels, and accelerate the rate of spin to enhance the saliency of the event. </p>
<p>When you win these sorts of outcomes you feel as though you have won a jackpot; after all, 10 free spins is 10x the chances to win big money right? The reality is that those 10 free-spins do not change the already small probability of winning on any given spin and are still likely to result in a loss of money. For many games, features such as this have entirely replaced standard jackpots.</p>
<p>These features share one important characteristic: they allow the casinos the ability to provide more outcomes that feel like a win while not increasing the actual payout. The effect of these features is so significant that in 1989 the <a href="http://www.gamblingresearch.org/content/slot-machine-structural-characteristics-creating-near-misses-using-high-award-symbol-ratios">Nevada Gaming Commission</a> banned algorithms that purposefully increased the prevalence of near-miss outcomes. Of course, this only applied to the intentional increasing of near misses when a loss is already determined, i.e. artificially producing a near miss instead of what the reels would have normally landed on.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, these laws do not preclude the intentional design of reel layouts that, without additional manipulation, produce frequent near misses and losses disguised as wins. These laws also do not apply to the newer game features which either highlight the near miss, such as accelerating reels, or create entirely new topographies of outcomes, as is the case with free-spins or mini-games. </p>
<p>While the question of how to best manage artificial manipulations of near misses may be a topic of future regulatory discussion, the decision to play games with these illusions will ultimately fall upon the end user. </p>
<p>As long as you are willing to expose yourself to the game in the first place, the casino need only sit back and wait. And with increasing availability of casinos across the US, they won’t need to wait long.</p>
<p>_This article is part of a series on gambling in America. You can read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/gambling-in-america">here</a>. _</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31939/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Gambling is good business, or at least a profitable one. According to the American Gaming Association, in 2012 the 464 commercial casinos in the US served 76.1 million patrons and grossed $US37.34 billion…Mark R Dixon, Professor of Behavioural Psychology, Southern Illinois UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/319342014-10-30T09:47:52Z2014-10-30T09:47:52ZThe problem with gambling research<p>Casino gaming is on the rise across much of the developed world, with governments increasingly unable to resist the allure of windfall taxes and a hefty influx of cash for the local economy. Massachusetts embraced the trend in 2011 when the state legislature voted to legalise casinos. <a href="http://www.wbur.org/2014/09/26/problem-gambling-big-business">Construction is underway</a> for the state’s first casino at Plainridge Park, with 1,250 slot machines, harness racing and an estimated 500 new jobs.</p>
<p>That decision is now up for review, with a repeal referendum to be considered in the November midterms. In deciding whether to support the repeal, Massachusetts voters will need unbiased information about the social impact of gambling and its downsides. Sadly it’s going to be much harder to come by than you might think.</p>
<h2>A compromised research agenda</h2>
<p>Anyone looking for good quality evidence about the consequences of gambling first needs to understand how knowledge about gambling is produced. How do we know what we know? Who dictates the research agenda? How is research funded? How do we ensure that we have a sound base of impartial knowledge on which to build policy? </p>
<p>The answers to these questions are profoundly depressing. While in the fields of tobacco and alcohol research, academics regularly debate conflicts of interest and interrogate the strategic use of research and evidence, many gambling researchers remain dependent on industry funding. Gambling is an area largely devoid of disclosure policies, and many researchers are unreflective or outright defiant about industry influence. </p>
<p>Researchers, regulators and policy makers champion a “partnership model” for producing research, not so much “business as usual” as “we are all in this together.” This remarkable state of affairs contrasts markedly with other fields and produces a weak knowledge base that is unevenly influenced by industry interests.</p>
<p>The impact on the discipline is striking. A large proportion of spending goes on prevalence studies – <a href="http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/16066359.2012.680079">counting problem gamblers</a> in the general population. These surveys are popular with industry because they make it possible to downplay the absolute numbers of pathological gamblers, along with the percentage of the general population at risk from gambling problems, the percentage of gamblers who experience problems and the proportion of profits that come from problem gamblers (<a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/95707/24-appendixb.pdf">estimated at between 30 and 50%</a>). </p>
<p>Prevalence studies also tend to sidestep the question of social class, thus disguising the inconvenient fact that <a href="http://theconversation.com/who-wins-from-big-gambling-in-australia-22930">most of the harm from gambling occurs in disadvantaged populations</a> – those with the least capacity to absorb it.</p>
<h2>The problem with problem gamblers</h2>
<p>Complementing prevalence studies is a vast body of research on problem gamblers. Much of it rests on the assumption that gambling is a <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/research/horizons/spring2014/gamblingwhytaketherisk/">harmless leisure activity</a> which makes a <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-95742011001000022&lng=en&nrm=iso">net contribution to public funds through either taxation or out of town tourism</a>.</p>
<p>The idea that normal consumers gamble without ill-effect creates a separate category of defective consumers labelled as “<a href="http://abs.sagepub.com/content/51/1/33.abstract">problem gamblers</a>”. According to this framework, solutions to problems with gambling are to be sought on an individual level. The alternative approach – to see gambling as an aspect of public health that may be managed by limiting the supply of particular products - is poorly supported by industry or government funding, particularly where taxes on the profits of gambling have become an important source of state income, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-05-25/key-facts-gambling-in-australia/2730414">as in Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.utppublishing.com/Casino-State-Legalized-Gambling-in-Canada.html">Canada</a> and, increasingly, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/101575912">the United States.</a> </p>
<p>A minority of critical researchers continue to agitate for change – arguing that research should not be funded by the industry, that priorities should not be set by industry-influenced panels, and that research should have a public health remit.</p>
<h2>The role of researchers</h2>
<p>So far, these arguments have fallen on deaf ears. Senior researchers are not only content to take industry money, they are also prepared to defend these arrangements. </p>
<p>In December 2000 Nottingham University decided to accept a donation from British American Tobacco of £3.8 million to establish an International Centre for Corporate Responsibility. The executive editors of leading respiratory medicine journal Thorax, John Briton and Alan Knox, wrote an <a href="http://www.ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_388.pdf">open letter</a> arguing that “accepting money from the tobacco industry degrades the reputation of our University and undermines the work of all with a commitment to the teaching of medicine and the promotion of public health.” </p>
<p>Professor Richard Smith, editor of the British Medical Journal, resigned from his post at Nottingham, followed by a team of 20 cancer researchers, led by Professor David Thurston. </p>
<p>Almost 14 years later, Professor <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/science/people/alex.blaszczynski.php">Alex Blaszczynski</a>, editor-in-chief of the journal International Gambling Studies, and one of the most prominent gambling scholars in the world, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/clubs-bet-12m-on-gambling-research-xenophon-claims-stalling-tactic-20140530-399ud.html">received $1.2 million from the New South Wales clubs industry</a> to study problem gambling in Australia. Australians have the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6313083.stm">highest gambling losses</a> per resident adult of any country in the world and spend more on gambling than they do on alcohol or petrol.</p>
<p>Asked to defend this arrangement, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/clubs-bet-12m-on-gambling-research-xenophon-claims-stalling-tactic-20140530-399ud.html#ixzz3E8ize5Eu">Blaszczynski said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Because of the nature of gambling, you do have to start looking at gaining access to data held by the industry, by patrons who are in industry venues and start looking at real life research that provides sensible, evidence-based information.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Blaszczynski’s defence is disappointing. It does not engage with the most pressing criticism: scholars in the fields of alcohol and tobacco have shown that industry funding <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.12384/abstract">systematically influences</a> findings. </p>
<p>Further, by accepting that industry can control such access, Blaszczynski is, in effect, arguing for a monopoly on knowledge production for those who get along with the industry. </p>
<h2>How industry funding frames the agenda</h2>
<p>Blaszczynski’s acceptance of industry funding is not, however, exceptional and many in the field of gambling studies in the US, where <a href="http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF17/20131210/101570/HHRG-113-IF17-Wstate-VolbergR-20131210.pdf">funding for research is one-twentieth that of Australia and Canada</a>, would vigorously defend his actions. </p>
<p>US universities enter into <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2014/apr/03/las-vegas-sands-donating-7-million-unlv/">partnerships with individual casino companies</a>. US academics compete for funding from the National Centre for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) which is paid for by the <a href="http://www.americangaming.org/about-aga">American Gaming Association</a> and claims to have mandated, “stringent firewalls to separate the gaming industry’s contributions from the research it funds”. The effectiveness of these firewalls, and similar mechanisms in the UK and Australia, <a href="http://www.parliament.nz/resource/mi-nz/50SCHE_EVI_00DBHOH_BILL12021_1_A333056/040eb61e1717887db3b1a708ec93aae95fa17474">is debatable</a>. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the National Centre for Responsible Gaming focuses exclusively on the disease model of gambling addiction and does not fund research with a wider social purview. Senior research director Christine Reilly recently <a href="http://the2x2project.org/gambling-public-health/">justified this approach</a> by saying: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>To me it seems kind of silly to spend time and money on an issue that is extremely difficult to research, because you can’t count on people’s memory.“ </p>
</blockquote>
<p>John Warren Kindt, Professor of Business and Administration at the University of Illinois recently <a href="http://the2x2project.org/gambling-public-health/">described NCRG output</a> as "research designed not to hurt the gambling industry and to misdirect the debate”.</p>
<h2>The trust deficit</h2>
<p>Some research with a broader public health remit can be found in <a href="https://ama.com.au/position-statement/health-effects-problem-gambling">Australia</a> and the <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9156.html">US</a>, but, as I discovered when I interviewed researchers for my <a href="http://www.gold.ac.uk/gamblingineurope/report/">study of gambling research,</a> it is likely to be criticised and ignored. The price of independence is the loss of funding and access to data. </p>
<p>We depend on researchers and public health organisations to inform us about the potential harms associated with gambling, consuming alcohol or smoking. The purpose of this research is to better understand how risky activities affect communities and help us to judge what restrictions, if any, should be placed on their supply and promotion. </p>
<p>We cannot trust gambling research. We must therefore be sceptics. Every expert invited to give evidence to a committee on gambling should be asked, “Have you ever accepted money from the industry to conduct a piece of research, write a paper or attend a conference?” </p>
<p>In the absence of a culture of disclosing interests, every paper submitted as evidence should be contextualised – again we must ask “Who paid for this research?” and “How did this person gain access to data?” </p>
<p>It’s not much - it doesn’t produce the independent research that we so urgently need - but until the field of gambling research undergoes meaningful reform it’s the least we need to do. </p>
<p>In the meantime, voters such as those in Massachusetts looking for independent research, will have little choice but to roll the dice.</p>
<p><em>This article is part of a series on gambling in America. You can read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/gambling-in-america">here.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31934/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Cassidy is funded by the European Research Council, grant number 263433. Between 2006 and 2009 she received £90,697.22 from ‘Research into Problem Gambling’, a collaborative research initiative between the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (lead organisation) and the Responsibility in Gambling Trust (RiGT), now the Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT). All aspects of the grant were administered by the ESRC. Near the end of the project, I was asked by the RiGT to submit publications for prior approval, a request that I declined. Between 2007 and 2009 I received ad hoc support from the National Lottery Commission for the Gambling Research Network, a group of early career and PhD researchers coming together in London two or three times a year. Money covered refreshments and no explicit restrictions or inducements were placed on the group by the NLC. I have not received any other direct or indirect payments from the industry or any other groups substantially funded by gambling to conduct research or to speak at conferences or events. I have paid to attend industry-sponsored events and attended free, industry-supported events in order to conduct anthropological fieldwork. No funding was received from any source in relation to the contents of this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone is a Chief Investigator on a current Australian Research Council Grant investigating the mechanisms of industry influence of government by the Alcohol, Tobacco and Gambling industries. He has previously received grants from the Victorian Gambling Research Panel and the South Australian Independent Gambling Authority, and an international partner grant from the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Council, organisations which distribute funds derived from the proceeds of gambling. He has also received funding from local government and non-government organisations in relation to (i) the provision of expert evidence in relation to gambling applications and (ii) for specific research projects focused on aspects of gambling policy, the costs of problem gambling, distribution of gambling derived-harm, and the extent to which gambling funds provide community benefits. He was a member of the Australian Government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling (2010-11). He is an editorial board member of the journal Independent Gambling Studies. He is a member of the Public Health Association of Australia and the National Association of Gambling Studies (Australia), and of the Australian Greens. He has not received research or other funding or support from and has not entered into any collaborative agreements with any gambling, alcohol or tobacco industry body. No funding was received from any source in relation to the preparation of this article.</span></em></p>Casino gaming is on the rise across much of the developed world, with governments increasingly unable to resist the allure of windfall taxes and a hefty influx of cash for the local economy. Massachusetts…Rebecca Cassidy, Professor of Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of LondonCharles Livingstone, Senior Lecturer, Global Health and Society, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/323462014-10-28T09:37:46Z2014-10-28T09:37:46ZWill gambling be good for the people of Massachusetts? The evidence suggests not<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60428/original/d82sfzg3-1412088851.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artist's rendering of Wynn's proposed $1.6 billion casino on the Mystic River, Everett.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The [upcoming vote](http://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Casino_Repeal_Initiative,<em>Question_3</em>(2014) on whether to scrap plans to allow casino resorts in Massachusetts fits into a broader pattern of individuals and pressure groups resisting the expansion of commercial gambling in both the US and abroad. </p>
<p>The reaction comes after three decades of states around the world legislating to introduce more sophisticated and pervasive forms of gambling, in a move that marries <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-4446.12050/abstract">the revenue needs of governments</a> with the industry’s desire for profits. </p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21188851">mutually beneficial relationship</a> between states and gambling has created a <a href="http://theconversation.com/who-wins-from-big-gambling-in-australia-22930">powerful multi-national industry</a> equivalent in scale to Big Tobacco, which researchers recently dubbed “Big Gambling.”</p>
<p>Proponents of gambling, and particularly large casinos, argue that increased taxes, as well as job and wealth creation, contribute to the revitalization of local economies and pay for a range of important public services. </p>
<p>Such a case has been made for the planned resort casino in Boston, with supporters emphasizing the <a href="http://ggbnews.com/issue/vol-12-no-36-september-22-20142015/article/wynning-bid-in-boston">boost to tourism and the creation of local jobs</a> and a transport infrastructure that the billion dollar venture would bring.</p>
<p>However, critics point out that gambling only redistributes existing money, but does not generate much new wealth. In fact, it can have a detrimental effect on the surrounding economy as <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_34552_en.pdf">leisure spending is diverted</a> away from local businesses. Every dollar spent in a casino is a dollar that might have been spent in local restaurants, cinemas or shops. </p>
<p>Casinos tend only to deliver economic benefits when they attract <a href="http://www.commonwealthmagazine.org/Voices/Back-Story/2014/Summer/010-Running-the-casino-numbers.aspx#.VEZ7pvnF-8Q">international high-rollers</a> rather than locals. High-rollers spend – and lose – large sums of money that benefit the region. Locals, by contrast, simply deplete the more limited resources of residents, to the cost of the local economy as a whole. Australian research, for example, has found that only around <a href="http://www.auscasinos.com/assets/files/pdf/TheAustralianCasinoIndustry-EconomicContribution-0203.pdf">5% of Australian casino customers are international tourists</a>, contributing some 18% of revenue, while locals make up the majority of players – as well as <a href="http://theconversation.com/what-are-the-odds-new-casinos-lead-to-social-harm-19161">the majority of revenue</a>.</p>
<h2>Problem gambling</h2>
<p>Alongside these (contested) economic benefits, researchers have shown that the growth of commercial gambling also brings a range of negative impacts for individuals, their families and communities. </p>
<p>Problem and pathological gambling has been recognised as a mental health issue since the 1980s, and was <a href="http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx">recently re-categorised</a> by the American Psychiatric Association as an addiction. Surveys from around the world estimate that between 0.6 and 4% of people experience problems with gambling, with the <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_34552_en.pdf">highest figures concentrated</a> among the economically disadvantaged, ethnic minorities and the young. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The proposed Wynn casino is likely to make more money from locals than high-rollers.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although these numbers may appear relatively small, such players account for a large proportion of gambling losses, with some studies suggesting that between <a href="http://ann.sagepub.com/content/556/1/153">a third and a half of casino profits</a> come from this group. </p>
<p>Those suffering from gambling problems experience debt, bankruptcy, the loss of their jobs, homes and relationships, as well as <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/gambling-2009">depression and suicide</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/62216/">My own research</a> has shown that the problems associated with gambling extend well beyond the individual, and ripple out to affect their wider families, workplaces and communities. </p>
<p>The loss of money and time involved in excess gambling impacts gamblers’ social relationships in a range of ways. Relationships and marriages can be undermined or destroyed through lack of trust and loss of shared funds. Workplaces suffer from employee absenteeism, lost productivity and fraud, while the children of people with gambling problems do less well at school, and are more likely to truant and develop gambling problems themselves as they get older.</p>
<p>Research carried out in the US has found that proximity to casinos increases the levels of these problems in the local population, with those living within ten miles of a casino having approximately <a href="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/266349/neighborhood-and-gambling.pdf">double the rates of gambling problems</a> than those who live further afield. </p>
<p>Certain games are more strongly associated with these kinds of negative social impacts than others; in particular electronic gaming machines which have a high “event frequency” which makes it possible to bet – and lose – very quickly.</p>
<h2>A tax on the poor</h2>
<p>Western-style casinos, such as the one proposed in Massachusetts, are dominated by these machines, which account for some <a href="http://theconversation.com/what-are-the-odds-new-casinos-lead-to-social-harm-19161">40% of casino profits</a>, as well as a contributing to <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_34551_en.pdf">high levels of problem gambling</a>.</p>
<p>As the <a href="http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/index.html.">National Gambling Impact Study Commission</a> found, the expansion of gambling when a new casino comes into town is seen by some residents as undermining the quality of life, damaging local businesses and bringing about increased levels of crime, traffic and anti-social behaviour. </p>
<p>Research from <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/230779781_Modelling_vulnerability_to_gambling_related_harm_how_disadvantage_predicts_gambling_losses">Australia</a>, <a href="http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/73285/7/73285.pdf">Great Britain</a> and <a href="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/266349/neighborhood-and-gambling.pdf">America</a> has also consistently shown that it is low income and ethnic minority groups and communities who are most affected by the global spread of gambling.</p>
<p>Such a distribution reveals that the revenue raised through gambling is a <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Selling_hope.html?id=VtuxAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">highly regressive</a>, and damaging, form of taxation.</p>
<p>It is against this backdrop that groups and communities have begun to mobilize to counter the spread of gambling. Massachusetts’ “Repeal the Casino Deal” group has its counterpart in Britain’s “Campaign for Fairer Gambling”, and Australian politician Nick Xenophon’s single ticket “no pokies” policy. (“Pokies” is the Australian term for slot machines.)</p>
<p>As awareness of negative social impacts grows, local resistance is increasingly demanding that legislatures re-think the consequences of the global expansion of gambling. </p>
<p><em>This article is part of a series on gambling in America. You can read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/gambling-in-america">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32346/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerda Reith has received funding for her research from a range of organisations including the Economic and Social Research Council, the Scottish Government and the Responsibility in Gambling Trust. All her research is independent, and the views expressed in this article are her own. She is affiliated with The Responsible Gambling Strategy Board - the independent body that advises the Gambling Commission </span></em></p>The [upcoming vote](http://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Casino_Repeal_Initiative,Question_3(2014) on whether to scrap plans to allow casino resorts in Massachusetts fits into a broader pattern of individuals…Gerda Reith, Professor of Social Science, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/264662014-05-08T15:49:40Z2014-05-08T15:49:40ZTweets and cybersex: workplace web use is a minefield<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/48076/original/svfqq5y8-1399557032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some are working but some have other business.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/govert1970/3229044583/in/photolist-5VkGst-4v8n8m-5Q9gRr-eW4gd-e1hRn5-5FX9Z-7W1dXu-fWHZv-8HQsi-7a1rwq-5ycMvc-2QPCS-bD8S8J-8HQAu-bphser-rptbS-vcBK-3Vyy9-Cx7PA-5UHK4j-3Vyy8-4fynt2-A2X9j-5UDnHM-5UHKbC-2nZJwq-2nVme8-5UHK3j-5UDnTz-5UDnNe-5UDnUi-5UDnCF-5UHKaf-5UHK2d-5UDnDc-5UHK2N-5UDnT2-5UHK4Y-5UDnJt-5UDnRP-5UHKco-5UHKiu-5UDnH2-5UDnLB-5UHK8J-7d3EjT-A2W2o-5NFQ4D-4qygMV-FWHVb">Michiel2005</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/09/07/who-wastes-the-most-time-at-work/">Market research reports</a> have indicated that many office employees in the UK spend at least one hour of their day at work on non-work activities. They are booking holidays, shopping online, posting messages on social networking sites and playing online games. This, we are told, costs businesses millions of pounds a year.</p>
<p>These findings highlight that internet abuse is a serious cause for concern, particularly to employers.</p>
<p>A few years ago I developed a <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1881531">brief typology</a> of internet abusers. This included criminal internet abuse. While some non-work-related internet activity is relatively harmless, others can cause real problems for employee, employer and colleagues. </p>
<h2>Internet activity abuse</h2>
<p>This involves the use of the internet during work hours in which other non-work related activities are done. This could be online gambling, shopping, holiday booking, taking part in massively multiplayer online games, casual gaming via Facebook or other networks or constantly checking Twitter accounts. Based on research, this appears to be one of the most common forms of internet abuse in the workplace. </p>
<h2>Online information abuse</h2>
<p>This involves the abuse of internet search engines and databases, such as Googling non-work related terms. Typically, this involves individuals who search for work-related information on databases and search engines but who end up wasting hours of time with little relevant information gathered.</p>
<p>This may be deliberate work-avoidance but may also be unintentional. It may also involve people who seek out general educational information or information for self-help.</p>
<h2>Criminal internet abuse</h2>
<p>This involves seeking out individuals and potentially sending written abuse to them. Trolling, flaming, sexual harassment, cyberstalking and grooming can all fall under this category. The fact that these types of abuse involve criminal acts may have severe implications for employers.</p>
<h2>Cybersexual internet abuse</h2>
<p>This involves the abuse of adult websites for cybersex and porn during work hours. That spans the full spectrum, from accessing pornographic images to participating in online sexual discussion groups or even online sexual activity.</p>
<h2>Online relationship abuse</h2>
<p>This involves conducting an online relationship during work hours. That might be emailing friends, posting messages to friends on social networking sites or engaging in discussion groups, as well as maintaining online emotional relationships.</p>
<p>At the extreme end of the scale, this could even include engaging in cybersex.</p>
<h2>Time to act</h2>
<p>Misusing the internet at work is seductive for many reasons. It is clear from <a href="http://benthamscience.com/journal/abstracts.php?journalID=cpd&articleID=114790">research</a> that virtual environments have the potential to provide short-term comfort, excitement, escape or distraction.</p>
<p>Employees might also find it easy and more affordable to use the internet at work than at home or they may just be working longer hours. There could also be the lure of being more anonymous at work than at home since the IP address you use is not directly tied to you.</p>
<p>Some forms of internet abuse are serious and damaging for both the employer and employee though. Beyond a quick look at Facebook, online gambling among people who work in finance departments, for example, could have serious consequences.</p>
<p>Being able to spot someone who is an internet abuser can be very difficult but there are some practical steps that employers can take to help minimise the problem.</p>
<p>Managers and human resource departments should, for a start, take the issue of internet abuse seriously. They should raise awareness through email. Some countries have national or local agencies, such as health and safety organisations that can help.</p>
<p>Raising awareness is not just about finding the abusers. Their colleagues should be helped to learn the signs and symptoms that might indicate abuse. Continual use of the internet for non-work reasons are indicative of an internet abuse problem.</p>
<p>If a manager or an employer thinks a member of staff might have a problem, they should get the IT department to monitor their internet use, such as by tracking back through their browser history or by looking at their bookmarks. If they are spending a lot of employment time engaged in non-work activities, many bookmarks will be completely non-work related.</p>
<p>It might also be worth developing a policy on internet abuse at work. Many organisations have policies for behaviours such as smoking or drinking alcohol and the same might be useful for IT rules.</p>
<p>However, it is also important to offer support to problem users. In some situations, problems associated with internet abuse need to be treated sympathetically, as you would treat alcohol abuse.</p>
<p>Internet abuse can clearly be a hidden activity and the growing availability of internet facilities in the workplace is making it easier for abuse to occur in lots of different forms.</p>
<p>Thankfully, it would appear that for most people internet abuse is not a serious individual problem but for large companies, small levels of abuse multiplied across the workforce could be a problem. Employers need to let employees know exactly which behaviour is reasonable. The occasional email to a friend might be fine but it is pretty clear that online gaming oversteps the mark and cybersex is absolutely unacceptable. Internet abuse has the potential to be a social issue, a health issue and an occupational issue and needs to be taken seriously by employers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26466/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Mark Griffiths has received research funding from a wide range of organizations including the Economic and Social Research Council, the British Academy and the Responsibility in Gambling Trust. He has also carried out consultancy for numerous gaming companies in the area of social responsibility and responsible gaming.</span></em></p>Market research reports have indicated that many office employees in the UK spend at least one hour of their day at work on non-work activities. They are booking holidays, shopping online, posting messages…Mark Griffiths, Director of the International Gaming Research Unit and Professor of Gambling Studies, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/226382014-02-14T06:05:45Z2014-02-14T06:05:45ZFlappy Bird obsession is not necessarily an addiction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41474/original/k67gphvc-1392300534.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C125%2C1024%2C833&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The bird that just won't die. But can you live without it?</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Flappy Bird, a deceptively simple gaming app, has been withdrawn by its creator <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303874504579376323271110900">Dong Nguyen</a> because it is too “addictive”.</p>
<p>His decision appears to have sparked a frenzy among fans who are reportedly so desperate to get their hands on the famed bird that they are willing to hand over big money to play. Whether or not this is true, hawkers are indeed <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/10/phones-flappy-bird-ebay-app-store">listing phones and tablets on eBay</a> with the app installed for hundreds of pounds and in some cases thousands.</p>
<p>The game’s celebrity is such that tribute versions have been released and criminals have spotted an opportunity to cash in by producing copycat versions that install <a href="http://mashable.com/2014/02/12/flappy-bird-malware/">malware on players’ devices</a>.</p>
<p>Nguyen appears to have stumbled into a major controversy with his creation, but whether or not he is right that the game is an addiction is a tricky question.</p>
<p>Flappy Bird is the latest in a long line of casual game apps, such as Angry Birds and Candy Crush Saga, that have all taken flack for getting some players hooked to the point of allowing the game to <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11186984">take over their lives</a>. </p>
<p>All of us that work in the field of addiction have different definitions of what addiction actually is. When it comes to video games or gambling, we think about the problem in terms of behavioural addiction rather than a chemical addiction to a drug. Doing something excessively may be related to addiction but is not itself a criterion as all addictions rely on context. The basic difference between a healthy enthusiasm and an addiction is that healthy enthusiasms add to life whereas addictions take away from it. Playing games like Flappy Bird or Candy Crush Saga excessively may not be a productive use of time but that doesn’t necessarily make them an addiction.</p>
<p>Most casual games have very simple rules and each individual game lasts a relatively short time – sometimes just a few seconds, as in the case of Flappy Bird. The games are infuriatingly simple and as soon as the game is over it leaves players feeling frustrated, annoyed or even angry if they’ve scored badly, or happy, excited and even euphoric if they’ve done well. For those not doing very well, the only way to stop this cognitive regret is to play again immediately. For those that do well, they immediately want to play again to try and beat their high score.</p>
<p>Many casual games are gender-neutral and have a moreish quality – a bit like chocolate, which is really hard to eat in small amounts. These games fit in flexibly around what individuals do in their day-to-day life but, at the same time, they take up all the player’s cognitive ability because they have to concentrate on it completely to make any progress. By being totally absorbed, players can forget about everything else for a few minutes. This can be particularly appealing for players that want to use games as a way of temporarily forgetting about everything else that’s going on in their lives. One video game review I came across said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Flappy Bird is the latest weirdly addicting game to captivate mobile users. The reason is simple, if not straightforward. In the guise of a cartoonish time-waster, Flappy Bird offers some of the most punishing, hardcore gameplay you can imagine. And it’s sucking in players by the millions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Psychologically, casual games like Flappy Bird rely on both positive and negative reinforcement over speedy gameplay. Many “freemium” games, which are free to download but then push upgrades or ads on users, use psychological foot-in-the-door techniques that lead a small minority of people to pay for add-ons that they may never have originally planned to buy before playing the game. Once you’re engrossed in playing and want to continue, you are more open to handing over your money. It’s akin to leading customers into impulse buying in other commercial environments.</p>
<p>I’ve also argued that many casual games share similarities with gambling. On first look, games like Candy Crush Saga may not seem to have much connection to gambling, but the psychology is very similar. Even when games do not involve money, they introduce players to the principles and excitement of gambling. Small unpredictable rewards lead to highly engaged, repetitive behaviour.</p>
<p>In a minority, this may lead to addiction. People keep responding in the absence of reinforcement hoping that another reward is just around the corner. This is a psychological principle called the partial reinforcement extinction effect, which is rooted in <a href="http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html">operant conditioning</a>. Behaviour that is reinforced sporadically, at unpredictable times, is more likely to continue than behaviour that is rewarded at regular, predictable intervals. It’s a technique that is used to great effect in both slot machines and most video games because players are never quite sure if their next move will be the one that triggers a reward.</p>
<p>Physiologically, games like Flappy Bird are likely to increase dopamine levels when people are doing well and noradrenaline when they fail. The interaction of two competing neurotransmitter systems is likely to keep players engaged in the game for periods longer than they originally intended.</p>
<p>Apps like Flappy Bird and Angry Birds are ingeniously simple but affect the mind and body in complex ways. They are highly enjoyable and, as some players describe them, “emotionally intoxicating”. I’ve only ever come across a few people that I would define as genuinely addicted to these games but all the ingredients are there to make it theoretically possible for almost anyone to be psychologically seduced by them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22638/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Mark Griffiths has received research funding from a wide range of organizations including the Economic and Social Research Council, the British Academy and the Responsibility in Gambling Trust. He has also carried out consultancy for numerous gaming companies in the area of social responsibility and responsible gaming.</span></em></p>Flappy Bird, a deceptively simple gaming app, has been withdrawn by its creator Dong Nguyen because it is too “addictive”. His decision appears to have sparked a frenzy among fans who are reportedly so…Mark Griffiths, Director of the International Gaming Research Unit and Professor of Gambling Studies, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.