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Articles on Problem gambling

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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. AAP/Julian Smith

Gambling on pokies is like tobacco – no amount of it is safe

Harm minimisation policies should seek to reduce the poker machine gambling of everyone, not just problem gamblers.
The Kirner government passed legislation in 1991 to enable a duopoly to establish poker machine venues in local hotels and clubs in Victoria. AAP/Dan Peled

Pokies in Victoria: Joan Kirner’s difficult legacy

Joan Kirner was persuaded by an eager pro-gambling lobby that the financial benefits would save Victoria – and her government. But they certainly didn’t save her government.
In The Gambler, Mark Wahlberg portrays Jim Bennet, a bored literature professor whose gambling debts spiral out of control. POPSUGAR

In The Gambler, an anti-hero story is retold

“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…
Slot machines are designed to make losses seem like wins. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

How slots trick gamblers into losing more than they know

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…
Your odds of winning are greatly improved if you own a casino.

Losses disguised as wins, the science behind casino profits

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…
Casinos like this one in Maryland bring benefits as well as costs. The challenge is working out which is greater. www.marylandlivecasino.com

Economic benefits of casinos likely to outweigh costs

During the past two decades, the US casino industry has expanded dramatically. According to the American Gaming Association, there are now nearly 1,000 commercial and tribal casinos in the country. Plans…
For some vulnerable gamblers, social casino games can trigger a desire to gamble for real money, while for others the games can act as a useful distraction. shutterstock

Social casino games can help – or harm – problem gamblers

Free-to-play social online games that simulate gambling are a hugely popular, and profitable, new phenomenon, but concerns have been raised about how innocent these games really are. Our recently published…
The proposed Aquis casino in Cairns is likely to be underwritten by the poker machine losses of local residents. AAP/Aquis Great Barrier Reef

This time is different? The local costs of Cairns’ new casino

The proposed Aquis casino resort in Cairns is edging ever closer to regulatory approval. The development is touted by proponents as a “man-made wonder of the world” and will cost billions to develop. The…
The introduction of a $1 maximum bet for poker machines, as has been proposed in Victoria, might not end problem gambling, but it would certainly reduce its harmful effects. AAP/Tracey Nearmy

A $1 maximum bet on pokies would reduce gambling harm

The Greens have tabled a bill in the Victorian parliament that would introduce a maximum bet of $1 per spin for the state’s 30,000 poker machines. While the bill is almost certain to fail, the introduction…
The long-held suspicion that high per capita expenditure in poker machine venues leads to high rates of problem gambling can now be confirmed by new research. AAP/Tracey Nearmy

Our most profitable gambling venues are the most harmful

The more money spent per capita on pokies in a venue, the higher the rate of gambling problems in that venue. This is the straightforward conclusion of our research recently published in the journal Addiction…
According to a new report, academic research into gambling is heavily biased, and controlled by industry and government. AAP/Paul Jeffers

He who pays the piper calls the tune: gambling with research

Earlier this month, a team of British anthropologists from Goldsmiths College of the University of London published a report about the mundane, if very lucrative, world of Big Gambling and the cadre of…

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