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- Canada
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Gamblers able to
beat addiction without aid
Many
gambling addicts recover from their addiction naturally, without treatment,
according to a study published this month in the Canadian Journal of
Psychiatry.
The
study challenges conventional wisdom about problem gambling, historically
considered a degenerative addiction by groups such as Gamblers Anonymous
and the (U.S.)
National Council on Problem Gambling.
Those
groups believe problem gambling increases in intensity over time, with
people betting more money more frequently, "chasing" losses and
continuing to bet in spite of mounting problems at home and with work.
However,
the Harvard-led team of researchers finds gambling is a more dynamic
phenomenon, with addicts falling in and out of problem gambling.
"I
think, traditionally, both conventionally and professionally, people have
believed that disordered gambling is very rigid -- once you have a problem
you have that problem (for life)," says lead author Debi LaPlante, a
psychiatry instructor at the Harvard
Medical School.
"The only movement over time would be worsening. But our analysis of
these available studies shows that disordered gambling behaviour is a lot
more dynamic than that. People move in and out of stages of worsening and
improving health over time a lot more than what had been initially
anticipated."
That
conclusion is "surprisingly" similar to what researchers have
found about other addictions, such as alcoholism and heroin addiction, says
LaPlante.
Calgary Herald, 29 January 2008
-France-
Barthez joins
online gambling
It seems
that footballers are seriously interested in online gambling. After Marcel
Desailly’s promotional campaign for Betclic (sports betting), Eric
Cantona who is already the “royal” image of Partouche group and
who will soon contribute to advertise the football betting website launched
in the UK by Partouche Interactive, it’s Fabien Barthez’s turn.
We
didn’t know the former French goalkeeper was that much interested in
Poker. He displays a sensational advertising slogan on the website:
“The biggest players in the world trief to bluff me…What about
you? Will you succeed?”
“Casino
and Poker 770”
was created in 2002 by the Cypriot company Chicoutimi Management Ltd. But the
servers are not in Europe, as the site
indicates that “Poker 770 acts under licence granted by the
Government of Curacao in accordance with the clauses of the Gaming Order
(Ordonnance du Jeu) required for the good functioning of a casino and poker
club.”
The
website informs on its homepage that is strictly PROHIBITED to persons of
less than 18 years of age (…) Access to an online gambling website is
prohibited by some national laws. Each potential player should thus verify
if he is entitled to access the Poker 770 site. The game can entail some
financial risks and dependence. This precision in important as online
gambling websites are still officially prohibited in France, and Paris
is set to resume negotiations with Brussels
on this subject in the beginning of April. This doesn’t stop Poker
770 to welcome since now French players wishing to challenge Barthez. The
latter could earn a yellow card for tackling the French laws in such a
way…
AMP, 5
March 2008
- New Zealand -
Charity workers stealing millions to gamble
Charities are having millions of dollars stolen
from them each year by their own staff to fund gambling addictions,
according to a new study.
Research carried out by BDO Kendalls has revealed
that 53 percent of the money stolen in the sector was to fund gambling.
An earlier survey had found 22 percent of money
stolen from the business sector was used to gamble.
People working in the not-for-profit sector each
stole an average of $180,643 to fund their gambling problem significantly
higher than any other reason.
On average, $45,556 was stolen by people to
maintain a desired lifestyle and $13,150 stolen because of financial
pressures.
The research also noted that losses were unlikely
to be recovered from someone with a gambling problem because they would
have only minimal funds available.
Problem gamblers impoverished themselves and
committed crimes to pay for their gambling, and often ended up going to
charitable organisations for help, Mr Stansfield, Problem Gambling
Foundation CEO, added.
"It's a perpetual cycle of harm. The only
winners are the gambling operators who continue to clip the ticket on each
transaction regardless of the consequences."
Dominion
Post, 10 February 2008
-Papua New Guinea-
Gaming opposition
grows in Papua New
Guinea
The
governor-general of Papua
New Guinea wants parliament to repeal
the country’s casino law. Governor-General Paulias Matane is urging
voters to tell their local government representatives to overturn the
Gaming Control Bill 2007, passed by parliament last June, which allows
land-based and online casinos.
The bill
was introduced by Prime Minister Michael Somare and drew broad-based
criticism from church groups, women’s organizations and some
influential MPs.
Matane
has said that slot machines and other types of gambling have already impoverished
families. The new law allowed a South Korean group to build a $ 42 million,
five-star hotel and casino in Port
Moresby. A casino entry fee and strict ID
requirements are designed to keep locals from gambling and impede criminal
activities inside the casino.
The
governor-general is New
Guinea’s head of state, appointed
by the parliament. He performs the duties of the Queen in her absence.
Global
Gaming Business, March 2008
-Sweden-
E.U. questions Sweden, Germany
The
European Commission is requesting that Sweden provide information on
its legislation regarding the restriction of supply and promotion of poker
and poker tournaments by non-state providers.
The E.C.
wants to know that all Sweden’s
laws and regulations regarding poker are in compliance with the E.C. treaty
guarantees free movement of services. The E.C. considers the provision of
gambling a service.
Sweden’s national lottery organization,
Svenska Spel, offers poker at its Cosmopol casinos and online. However,
national laws prohibit other online operators - even those licensed in E.U.
countries – from offering poker to Swedes.
E.U.
members are allowed laws to protect consumers, but those laws must be
“consistent and systematic.” Problems arise when a nation
offers and actively promotes its own gaming operations to its citizens
while claiming that it seeks to protect those same citizens from other
gaming operators offering similar products.
Germany is also being asked for information
following the introduction of its anti-online gaming treaty, which went
into effect in January.
Global
Gaming Business, March 2008
-
United Kingdom
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Gambler to sue bookies after losing £2.1m
A compulsive gambler is
suing a betting chain for loses of £2.1 million after he asked to be
barred, according to his solicitors.
Greyhound trainer Graham
Calvert, 28, from Tyne and Wear, wants
William Hill to pay back the money on the grounds they failed in their duty
of care.
Solicitors Ward Hadaway,
based in Newcastle,
said the case will begin at the High Court next week.
Mr Calvert claims that the
bookmaker allowed him to place bets when he had twice asked them to close
his account and stop accepting bets from him - a process known as
'self-exclusion' - as he battled with gambling addiction.
He claims the betting firm
allowed him to open two new accounts and to make bets totaling around
£3.5 million between June and December 2006.
During this period he lost a
total of £2.1 million. He lost around £347,000 in one bet alone
when he backed the USA
to win the 2006 Ryder Cup.
Peter Hornsey, the head of
Mr Calvert's legal team, said the case is a crucial test of the industry's
social responsibility policies.
"This case is important
not just on a personal level for Mr Calvert but also for the betting
industry as a whole," he said.
"It goes to the issue
of how bookmakers treat people who have gambling problems via their
self-exclusion policy and whether they can be held responsible when they
advertise themselves as offering self exclusion and promoting socially-responsible
gambling.
"For whatever reason,
William Hill failed to operate its self-exclusion policy, with disastrous
consequences for our client despite knowing that he had a gambling problem
and we argue that they should be held responsible for that."
The Independent, 14 February
2008
-United Kingdom-
Poker ruled
‘game of chance’ in UK
The
ongoing debate about the skill element of poker took a hit last month when
a court of appeals in England
ruled that the game is one predominantly determined by chance. The court
rejected the appeal of Derek Kelly, the former chairman of a private poker
club who was convicted by a jury of violating the 1986 Gaming Act by
running poker tournaments without a license.
Kelly
and his business partner Barry Martin ran the tournaments at the Shots Bar
and Restaurant in London.
Kelly was arrested after investigators said he was charging entrance fees
for players participating in the tournaments.
Global
Gaming Business, March 2008
-USA-
Gamblers electing
lifetime ban from N.J. casinos can’t undo the choice
For
admitted problem gamblers who sign onto New Jersey casinos lifetime self
exclusion list, “les jeux son fait”
A state
appeals court on Thursday said casino regulators rightfully refused to
reinstate a listed gambler who rued his decision after he learned the ban
applies not only to New Jersey
casinos but to gaming halls they own out of state.
In
essence, petitioner S.D. has cast his die and lost, “and we discern
no basis to second-guess that decision,” the judges in the matter of
the petition of S.D. for removal from the voluntary self-exclusion list,
A-3427-06.
New Jersey has two exclusion lists: one involuntary,
created in 1977 to keep organized crime figures, career criminals and other
miscreants out of the casinos, and one voluntary, created in 2001 to help
admitted compulsive gamblers.
The
voluntary list is confidential but casinos in New Jersey may share it with sister
properties outside the state, which in turn may decide whether to apply the
ban. Casinos that do not have a presence in New Jersey do not have access to the
list, says Daniel Heneghan, a spokesman for the Casino Control Commission.
The
voluntary list offers three options: a one-year ban, a five-year ban and a
lifetime ban. On July 26, 2004, S.D. elected the third option, but less
than a month later, he asked to be taken off or, in the alternative, to be
placed on the one-year list. He explained that his intent was only to keep
himself out of New Jersey
casinos because of their proximity to his home, and that he did not know
the ban would apply to casinos outside the state.
His
request was denied both by the commission and by the state attorney
general’s Division of Gaming Enforcement. The latter said that any
potential out-of-state exclusion was a “collateral consequence”
of application for a lifetime ban and that if the ban were rescinded, there
would be a risk of undermining the intent of the program.
On
Thursday, Judges Francine Axelrad, Edith Payne and Carmen Messano agreed.
“S.D. voluntarily relinquished whatever right he had to participate
in gaming activities in New Jersey when he placed himself on the lifetime
list as a self-professed ‘problem gambler.’ Axelrad wrote.
“That such self exclusion may adversely impact S.D.’s ability
to frequent some casinos outside of New Jersey
is not a material element of the New
Jersey agreement; it falls squarely in the
category of an indirect collateral consequence.”
The
panel also rejected S.D.’s claim that the ban impinges on his right
to enter a place of public accommodation, observing “gambling is not
a constitutionally protected activity.”
Though
the original election form S.D. signed was not specific as to the
out-of-state ripple effect, Axelrad found that the agency acted properly by
revising the form once it discovered the ambiguity.
Commission
Chair Linda Kassekert said in reaction to the ruling, “Clearly, the
value of the self-exclusion program would have been compromised if someone
who signed up for a lifetime exclusion were able to remove himself just
because no one told him other casinos would exclude him as well.”
But
S.D.’s lawyer, Gerard Quinn, says the ruling may undermine the program’s
goals. “I’m afraid it might have the negative effect of having
people less likely to sign up,” he says, adding he is unsure whether
his client will appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Quinn,
of Cooper Levenson April Niedelman & Wagenheim in Atlantic City, points out that the law
and regulations governing the involuntary list allow gamblers to apply to
have their names removed, while those on the involuntary list cannot.
“It’s ironic that you can get off the list if you’re a
criminal but not if you volunteer for the lifetime self-exclusion,”
he says.
New Jersey Law Journal, 20 March 2008
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