Parameters for safer gambling behavior: examining the empirical research

A Comment: Positive Play is a Subset of Responsible Gambling

Confronted with criticisms focused on the nature of Responsible Gambling (RG), this article suggests that Positive Play (PP) is a conceptual subset of Responsible Gambling and not a fully developed and independent harm prevention or reduction framework. To advance public health initiatives and focus public policy. This article reviews and clarifies some of the confusing and subtle difference between Responsible Gambling and Positive Play. The discussion defines the notion of responsibility, Responsible Gambling, and Positive Play. We recognize that well-developed RG activities permit and encourage the underpinnings of PP. However, when viewed as a dependent measure, PP does not intend to reduce the prevalence of gambling-related harms or prevent the incidence of gambling-related harms. These objectives are the two basic and fundamental requirements to classify any activity as a RG program.

Predictability in Pathological Gambling? Applying the Duplication of Purchase Law to the Understanding of Cross-Purchases Between Regular and Pathological Gamblers

The objective of this study is to explore the gambling participations and game purchase duplication of light regular, heavy regular and pathological gamblers by applying the Duplication of Purchase Law. Current study uses data collected by the Australian Productivity Commission for eight different types of games. Key behavioral statistics on light regular, heavy regular, and pathological gamblers were computed and compared. The key finding is that pathological gambling, just like regular gambling, follows the Duplication of Purchase Law, which states that the dominant factor of purchase duplication between two brands is their market shares. This means that gambling between any two games at pathological level, like any regular consumer purchases, exhibits "law-like" regularity based on the pathological gamblers' participation rate of each game. Additionally, pathological gamblers tend to gamble more frequently across all games except lotteries and instant as well as make greater cross-purchases compared to heavy regular gamblers. A better understanding of the behavioral traits between regular (particularly heavy regular) and pathological gamblers can be useful to public policy makers and social marketers in order to more accurately identify such gamblers and better manage the negative impacts of gambling.

The Relationship Between Structural Game Characteristics and Gambling Behavior: A Population-Level Study

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the structural characteristics and gambling behavior among video lottery terminal (VLT) gamblers. The study was ecological valid, because the data consisted of actual gambling behavior registered in the participants natural gambling environment without intrusion by researchers. Online behavioral tracking data from Multix, an eight game video lottery terminal, were supplied by Norsk-Tipping (the state owned gambling company in Norway). The sample comprised the entire population of Multix gamblers (N = 31,109) who had gambled in January 2010. The individual number of bets made across games was defined as the dependent variable, reward characteristics of a game (i.e., payback percentage, hit frequency, size of winnings and size of jackpot) and bet characteristics of a game (i.e., range of betting options and availability of advanced betting options) served as the independent variables. Control variables were age and gender. Two separate cross-classified multilevel random intercepts models were used to analyze the relationship between bets made, reward characteristics and bet characteristics, where the number of bets was nested within both individuals and within games. The results show that the number of bets is positively associated with payback percentage, hit frequency, being female and age, and negatively associated with size of wins and range of available betting options. In summary, the results show that the reward characteristics and betting options explained 27 % and 15 % of the variance in the number of bets made, respectively. It is concluded that structural game characteristics affect gambling behavior. Implications of responsible gambling are discussed.

Problem Gambling: One for the Money…?

Recent research indicates a diverse range of motivations may help explain problem gambling. However, the role of specific motivations in gambling behaviour is not well understood. The primary objective of the current study was to investigate the role of gambling motivations by comparing two competing models. Namely, the efficacy of monetary motivation model was compared to a model where the emotion focused motivations of excitement, escape, and ego were constrained as the only predictors of problem gambling scores. A sample of 2,033 respondents were drawn from the general community and completed a questionnaire concerning their gambling behaviours and beliefs about gambling as an escape, a social occasion, a way to win money, an exciting activity, and as a means to enhance self-importance. Comparison of the competing models revealed that gambling for the chance to win money was not the most prominent motivation in the prediction of problem gambling scores. Instead, the model that allowed the emotion focussed motivation to predict gambling problems was shown to provide a superior fit to the data. These findings underscore the importance of considering a range of motivational influences on gambling behaviour. Moreover, it appears the emotional aspects associated with gambling play a prominent role in sustained gambling behaviour.

Effect of casino-related sound, red light and pairs on decision-making during the Iowa gambling task

Casino venues are often characterized by "warm" colors, reward-related sounds, and the presence of others. These factors have always been identified as a key factor in energizing gambling. However, few empirical studies have examined their impact on gambling behaviors. Here, we aimed to explore the impact of combined red light and casino-related sounds, with or without the presence of another participant, on gambling-related behaviors. Gambling behavior was estimated with the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Eighty non-gamblers participants took part in one of four experimental conditions (20 participants in each condition); (1) IGT without casino-related sound and under normal (white) light (control), (2) IGT with combined casino-related sound and red light (casino alone), (3) IGT with combined casino-related sound, red light and in front of another participant (casino competition-implicit), and (4) IGT with combined casino-related sound, red light and against another participant (casino competition-explicit). Results showed that, in contrast to the control condition, participants in the three "casino" conditions did not exhibit slower deck selection reaction time after losses than after rewards. Moreover, participants in the two "competition" conditions displayed lowered deck selection reaction time after losses and rewards, as compared with the control and the "casino alone" conditions. These findings suggest that casino environment may diminish the time used for reflecting and thinking before acting after losses. These findings are discussed along with the methodological limitations, potential directions for future studies, as well as implications to enhance prevention strategies of abnormal gambling.

Tilting at windmills: a comment on Auer and Griffiths

In their review of Internet gambling studies, Auer and Griffiths (Soc Sci Comput Rev 20(3):312-320, 2013) question the validity of using bet size as an indicator of gambling intensity. Instead, Auer and Griffiths suggest using "theoretical loss" as a preferable measure of gambling intensity. This comment identifies problems with their argument and suggests a convergent rather than an exclusionary approach to Internet gambling measures and analysis.

Associations between national gambling policies and disordered gambling prevalence rates within Europe

Policymakers and other interested stakeholders currently are seeking information about the comparative effectiveness of different regulatory approaches to minimising gambling-related harm. This study responds to this research gap by exploring associations between gambling policies and disordered gambling prevalence rates. We gathered information about gambling policies for thirty European jurisdictions and past-year prevalence rates for disordered gambling for twelve of these jurisdictions. We present policy trends and prevalence rates and then describe the level of association between policy and prevalence. We observe one statistically significant association between policy and prevalence: rates of sub-clinical (i.e., Level 2) disordered gambling were higher within environments that mandated less strict regulation of advertising for online gambling. Finally, we discuss the implications of our research in the context of the current process regarding the pan-European regulation of gambling. Our findings do not offer evidence for certain assumptions made in the past by the European judiciary.

Proportionality Review in EU Gambling Law

This chapter starts with a thorough introduction to gambling addiction according to the current state of research. It explains the nature and mechanisms of this mental disorder. These findings lay the ground to analyse the proportionality review: judicial views are contrasted with empirical findings. It is shown that the Court of Justice's – legally relevant(!) – assumptions on gambling addiction are (only) partly supported by empirical evidence.

The chapter also establishes that different standards of review have applied to different aspects of gambling regulation, with the most lenient review being applied to national choices of licensing models and the strictest to penalties and procedural requirements in licensing tenders. In a next step, the Court’s review practice is compared to judgments in other areas that involved similar consumer protection concerns (alcohol addiction and youth drinking; internet threats). Again, a diverging standard of review is noted.

The chapter inquires the causes for the Court’s peculiar approach to gambling issues. It analyses in particular the political context of the early case law and it identifies passages in the jurisprudence that illustrate a subjective-moral rather than objective-scientific perspective on gambling-related risks.

Finally, the chapter addresses the consequences of the Court’s diverging approach. Dealing with gambling as a ‘peculiar issue’ and a topos of public morality led to a lack of a science-informed assessment of gambling-related risks. The chapter notes a ‘judicial vacuum’ in the review practice; the numerous cases referred to the Court of Justice are an expression of this problem as predicted by the late Advocate General Colomer.

Thirty years of lottery public health research: methodological strategies and trends

Cognitive measurement techniques, such as self-reports of behavior and reaction time measures, largely dominate the field of psychological research. It is uncommon for researchers to examine a phenomenon of interest by observing actual behavior within natural settings. To illustrate the existence of this methodological trend for gambling research, this article reviews systematically selected samples of the peer-reviewed literature related to lottery gambling in general and the literature related to pathological gambling and lottery more specifically. The results indicate that self-report surveys dominate the extant lottery literature, and experimental investigations of video lottery terminal gambling supplement those papers. This landscape encourages researchers to expand their methodological approaches to the study of lottery gambling. Currently, we know more about what research participants tell us they do with respect to lottery gambling than we do about their real-life lottery gambling behavior.

How do gamblers start gambling: identifying behavioural markers for high-risk internet gambling

BACKGROUND

The goal of this study is to identify betting patterns displayed during the first month of actual Internet gambling on a betting site that can serve as behavioural markers to predict the development of gambling-related problems.

METHODS

Using longitudinal data, k-means clustering analysis identified a small subgroup of high-risk gamblers.

RESULTS

Seventy-three percent of the members of this subgroup eventually closed their account due to gambling-related problems. The characteristics of this high-risk subgroup were as follows: (i) frequent and (ii) intensive betting combined with (iii) high variability across wager amount and (iv) an increasing wager size during the first month of betting.

CONCLUSION

This analysis provides important information that can help to identify potentially problematic gamblers during the early stages of gambling-related problems. Public health workers can use these results to develop early interventions that target high-risk Internet gamblers for prevention efforts. However, one study limitation is that the results distinguish only a small proportion of the total sample; therefore, additional research will be necessary to identify markers that can classify larger segments of high-risk gamblers.