|
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
EASG CONFERENCE
As part
of the 8th European Conference on Gambling Studies
& Policy Issues that will take place 14 – 17 September
2010 in Vienna, Austria, we will organise two
very special pre-conference workshops on Tuesday 14 September 2010.
1.
Merging Compulsive Gambling Treatment and the Criminal Justice System
Presenter:
Judge Mark Farrell, Gambling Treatment
Court, State of New York
With the
emergence of gaming as major recreational and economic force in the
21st
century society, the spectre of pathological and compulsive gambling has
created compelling issues for the criminal justice system.
Judge
Mark G. Farrell implemented the World’s First Gambling Treatment
Court in Amherst, New York in 2001.
2.
Symptomatic Causal Behavioural Treatments for Pathological Gambling
Presenters:
Professor Dr. Iver Hand
and Florentine Larbig, Verhaltenstherapie
Falkenried (Behavioural Therapy Falkenried, Gambling Project)
As yet,
there is no internationally agreed upon “evidence based”
treatment for problem and pathological gambling (PG).
Nevertheless,
in many countries “addiction”, cognitive behavioural
psychodynamic, pharmacological and “eclectic” treatments are
applied. The diagnosis of PG does not comprise a homogenious
group of patients.
Several
primary psychiatric disorders, many kinds of psychological distress, as
well as painful experiences in the course of life affect the multi-causal
bases of PG.
Tentatively,
some recommendations will be given based on many years of experience and on
follow up studies with the symptomatic as well as the causal approach.
Both
workshops are connected to the conference but can be attended separately
from the conference as well.
For
further information and details on the registration, please contact Andrea
Evers or Ynze Remmers at conference@easg.org
Please
visit www.easg.org for all details on
the conference.
-
Åland -
Paf introduces customer care insurance
Aland
gaming company Paf is the first gaming company in
the world to offer its customers duty of care insurance. This has been made
possible through insurers Moderna Försäkringar, with whom Paf
signed a group agreement on mandatory group liability insurance.
The
insurance is expected to be made available in June. At which point
customers who are regularly play online at Paf.com will be
covered by the policy.
Over the
past few years, leisure gaming has become increasingly popular in line with
the growth of online gaming opportunities. Statistics from Sweden and Finland indicate that around
2-2.5 percent of the population are at risk of becoming addicted to gaming.
Of these, around 0.5 percent are estimated as
likely to develop a dependency. Problem Gambling is classed as a mental
condition similar to alcohol or drug addiction, however, gambling addiction
can be difficult to diagnose as there is a poor understanding of this
illness in the healthcare sector.
“You
could say that gaming companies have a big responsibility to their
customers. At Paf we aim to look after our
customers and be the company that offers the best customer care in the
industry. A customer care insurance policy is one of the many ways online
gaming can be safer, “says Paf CEO Anders Ingves.
Paf hopes the insurance can help reduce the damaging
effects some players at risk of problem gaming can suffer. Customers who develop a gaming problem and are classed
as dependent on examination, will be eligible for Cognitive Behavioural
Therapy.
“As
there are only a limited number of specialists with the training to treat
gaming dependence, the treatment will be offered at the closest town where
such expertise is available,”added Ingves.
Customer
health and safety paramount
The
insurance policy covers players who are domiciled in Finland (including Aland) and Sweden
aged 18 and above, who have been registered customers with the internet
gaming site Paf.com for at least 12 months before the date of addiction and
have wagered at least 120 euros over the same period. The insurance will
not cover individuals who have previously been diagnosed or treated for
gambling dependency or similar symptoms within three years of the date of
addiction.
The
maximum claim is 2,300 euros per person and the insurance covers a maximum
of ten treatment sessions. There is no insurance excess to pay and the
treatment will be provided in Sweden
or Finland
by a registered psychologist, registered nurse or suitably qualified social
worker.
Journal
des Casinos, 27 May 2010
-
Australia
-
Roulette winner takes on Crown Casino
A WOMAN who won $3600 on a
spin of the roulette wheel at Crown only to have her winnings paid to
another punter is taking the casino to court. The woman placed a $100 chip on a number of the
roulette wheel last week but did not realise the croupier paid her winnings
to a man until that person had left the table."I
just can't believe I have been treated like that," Marites
Martin said.
She said despite raising the problem with Crown staff after the incident on
Thursday night the casino was refusing to pay up and she has now lodged a
civil action with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Ms Martin said she was not an experienced gambler and did not realise the
extent of her winnings when the large amount of chips appeared on the
roulette table.
She said she was confused but, with just three players at the table at the
time, the croupier should have realised it was her bet and winnings.
Instead, the croupier asked who the winnings were to be paid to and another
man, described as being an onlooker rather than a player, fraudulently
claimed the winnings.
Ms Martin said a review of video footage by the pit boss had backed up her
story.
She said she returned to the casino the following day and believed she
again saw the man but no action was taken.
Crown spokesman Gary O'Neill said he could not comment on the case as it
was due to go before the courts but said the casino was still reviewing the
matter. Procedures for resolving bet disputes at Crown are approved by the
Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority.
Herald
Sun, 25 May 2010
-
Australia
-
Gambling linked to one in five suicidal patients
Almost
one in five suicidal patients seen by The Alfred hospital's
emergency department is a problem gambler, figures from a groundbreaking
program have shown.
The
program, prompted by a nurse's curiosity over what tipped patients into
crisis, is set to expand statewide.
The 17
per cent figure, which includes patients referred by mental health crisis
teams, is about 20 times the rate of problem gambling in the community.
Professor
Jayashri Kulkarni,
director of the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research
Centre, said researchers made the discovery after screening 898 suicidal
patients for gambling problems over six months last year.
Dr Charles Livingstone,
of Monash
University's health
science department, said the figure 'appals me, but unfortunately I'm not
surprised'.
Professor
Kulkarni said the centre began providing
specialist treatment late last year for 50 of the screened patients, who
have been receiving treatment from GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists and
other counsellors.
After
four months, the program has had promising results, with 18 patients with a
severe problem having stopped gambling. Their treatment will run for up to
18 months for staff to watch for relapses.
State
Gaming Minister Tony
Robinson yesterday announced $665,000 over two years to
expand the program around the state.
He said
the initiative grew out of increasing understanding that 'one of the
underlying drivers of problem gambling is a pre-existing mental health
condition'. He said only 1 per cent of gamblers were problem gamblers - a
figure disputed by researchers - 'but we can't afford this work to stop'.
Professor
Kulkarni said that in the past patients left the
system after their suicidal thinking diminished and the onus was on them to
find treatment and stick with it. 'Often that's a difficult ask for someone
who is in crisis. What we're doing is picking up the problem early and
providing a ready-made treatment.'
She said
the program had turned around the life of a woman in her 40s who presented
repeatedly to various agencies with depression before turning up at The
Alfred in a suicidal state.
The
crisis came after she lost her job, marriage and home and had been
threatened with legal action after stealing to support her gambling
addiction.
'What she
had done was to hide bits of her history attached to the gambling. There
was a shame attached to it and it was in a crisis setting that she was
finally able to talk about it,' Professor Kulkarni
said. 'Once the penny dropped it meant a whole lot of other resources could
be brought to bear to help her.'
The
Age, 21 April 2010
-
Czech Republic -
Czech Republic considering egaming ban
The Czech Republic
is considering passing a law banning advertising by online gaming companies
not based in and paying taxes in the country, reported the Prague
Post. Czech laws require local gambling companies to
make charitable contributions of up to 20% of revenues on top of normal
taxes, lending an advantage to operators based in jurisdictions such as Malta
and Gibraltar. "These foreign online
betting companies have no licence from the Finance Ministry, and they pay
no taxes in the Czech
Republic, so we therefore support
banning advertisement of foreign companies here," spokesman for the
Finance Ministry Radek Ležatka
told the paper.
But Clive Hawkswood
of the Remote Gaming Association
said the situation was not that simple. “There are grounds [under EU
law] on which you can restrict access to licensed foreign companies if, for
example, they increase crime. But it's difficult to prove that you will cut
down crime only by banning foreign companies."
Cake Network is set to be able to offer network partners the
option of being regulated by Malta, after the Malta
Lotteries and Gaming Authority issued a Letter
of Intent (LOI) with regard to the operator’s application for a Class
4 Remote Gaming Licence. The success of the application remains subject to
the satisfaction of LOI conditions.
Already
licensed in Curacao, Cake Gaming’s release stated that it selected Malta
ahead of other EU jurisdictions for its international reputation and
regulatory infrastructure. Director of marketing Andrew Turner, said: “This will greatly assist existing
partners as they undertake further marketing within the European region and
allow existing European White listed operators the opportunity to take
advantage of the Cake Network’s suite of services.”
Betfair has launched a real-time tool to watch Election
bets as they are placed. The electionpredict/livebettingmap site
will show betting activity across all of Betfair's
1,500 election markets. Betfair spokesman Mike Robb said the site
for punters and political anoraks alike “offers a different view
on the election by looking at which party is attracting the most number of
bets across all Betfair markets, so it looks at
all 650 constituency markets and not just the Conservative Majority v Hung
Parliament battle".
Vuetec Ltd, owner of online casino DublinBet.com, has hired
ex-Dog Digital planner-analyst Grant Fraser as deputy CEO. 30-year-old
Fraser was also marketing manager for Setanta
Sports’ Scottish operation. He will seek to take DublinBet’s
live casino experience, filmed at the Fitzwilliam
Casino & Card Club in Dublin,
to the next level.
Bwin has launched World Cup Solitaire, a skill game to
attract players keen to extend their armchair participation in the football
festival this summer.
Market
maker Betting Promotion’s
first quarter results show a 54% year-on-year increase in live betting turnover,
for which it credited the increase in the number of tennis and football
matches covered. Total betting turnover between January and March 2010 hit
SEK 2,116 (2,267) million with net betting revenue for the period at SEK
8.0 (19.6) million. The company paid out SEK 4.6 (3.1) million to betting
exchanges in commission. Football remains the company’s core revenue
generator and accounted for 52% of total turnover in Q4 2009.
E
Gaming Review, 23 April 2010
-
Malaysia -
Malaysia
allows sports betting for non-Muslims
Malaysia's government will allow
non-Muslims to bet on international sports events in a bid to counter
illegal gambling estimated to be worth billions of dollars each year.
Ascot Sports, a company linked to Malaysian tycoon Vincent Tan, has
received a license to run betting on sports such as soccer, basketball,
motor racing, tennis and golf, according to Tan's conglomerate Berjaya
Corp., which is buying 70 percent of Ascot for 525 million ringgit ($163
million).
Gambling is a sensitive political issue in Malaysia, where ethnic Malay
Muslims comprise nearly two-thirds of the country's 28 million people.
Non-Muslim minorities, mainly ethnic Chinese and Indians, are allowed to
purchase lotteries and bet on horse races, but betting on other sports has
been illegal.
Indstry officials estimate illegal sports betting
in Malaysia
could total 20 billion ringgit ($6.2 billion) every year, with soccer
betting accounting for about 90 percent.
Deputy Finance Minister Chor Chee
Heung said Thursday the government gave the approval to Ascot in order to
curb illegal betting and avoi losing tax revenue
estimated to be up to 4 billion ringgit ($1.2 billion) a year.
"The government all along has been hesitant to allow such activities,
but then again if the government doesn't control it with a set of rules,
the underground market for sports betting shall continue to thrive, like it
or nt," Chor told
The Associated Press.
All company employees and clients involved in the betting operations must
be non-Muslim, Chor said.
Ascot is likely to launch the betting services by August, not in time for
next month's start of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, a Berjaya
official said on conditon of anonymity because
she was not authorized to make public statements.
The service will be offered through selected outlets and by telephone for
non-Muslims aged above 21, according to the Berjaya statement. The official
said Ascot might seek approval to eventually
offer online betting.
The Federaton of Malaysian Consumers Associations
has slammed the move, saying it was the government's responsibility to stop
gambling rather than benefit from it.
"It will encourage people to gamble, and this will cause other
problems," such as illegal money lending to pay off debts, more crime
and possibly suicids, spokesman Mohamad Yusof Abdul Rahman said.
Kamarulzaman Mohamed, an official with the
opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, said party members were planning at
least two protests outside mosques following Friday afternoon prayers to
urge the government to reverse its decision.
The Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur, 13
May 2010
-
Russia
-
Will Russians Go This Far To Gamble? Don’t Bet On It
It takes
a bumpy, three-hour drive along crumbling roads to travel from the nearest
city to this lonely outpost in the middle of a barren field.
Visitors
walk across wooden planks laid down over dug-up earth, as fluorescent-lit
palm trees glimmer nearby. The building, squat and ugly, is festooned with
blazing lights. Two stray dogs curl up by the entrance, hiding from the
howling wind that sweeps in from the nearby Azov Sea.
Welcome
to the Russian Las Vegas.
Yury Pozharov is the
director of the Oracle, the first legal gaming site built since a Russian
gambling ban last year restricted casinos and slot machines to four special
zones in far-flung locations. He says since it opened in February, the
Oracle draws between 150 and 400 people a day, both locals and
out-of-towners.
"There
are slot machines, roulette, and cards. The locals mainly play the slot
machines," Pozharov says. "Roulette and
cards have different stakes, and the people who play those are the ones who
come from Krasnodar
and Rostov-na-Donu."
In
Gambling Exile
Azov
City has a way to go to compare
with Moscow's
Metelitsa.Russian gamblers last year were
shocked, shocked to find out that gambling would no longer be legal in most
of the country. The ban put hundreds of thousands of casino workers out of
work and threatened to drain as much as $1 billion in tax revenues from
state coffers.
It also
put an abrupt end to a culture of entertainment and excess embraced by the
country's oligarchs and high-rollers. (There are signs that illegal
gambling is flourishing, however: a large underground casino was closed
down in Moscow earlier this year, and as many as 40 criminal cases
connected to other operations are currently pending in Moscow alone.)
Dreams Of
Prosperity
Royal
Time says a second casino is expected to open by summer,
and a third by year's end, with hotels and an aquapark
to follow. The plans have sparked eager claims that the Azov City
complex may eventually draw in as many as 25 million tourists a year.
For some
visitors, it's hard to imagine a boomtown rising from what essentially
remains an empty lot. But locals are cautiously optimistic. Lyudmila, a
resident of the neighboring village of Molchanovka, says her
home would still be without heat if it weren't for the Oracle and the
infrastructure it demands.
Luring In
The Customers
Perhaps
the greatest challenge facing the Oracle is the amount of time it takes to
get there. The two nearest cities, Rostov-na-Donu
and Krasnodar, are hours away by car, and
the conditions of roads leading to Azov City
can be treacherous. (A Krasnodar
lawmaker and his driver were killed in a late-night crash after visiting
the Oracle for its opening-night gala.)
The
casino has tried to sweeten the deal by offering free minibus service to
and from nearby cities, but it hasn't been enough to draw in the crowds the
casino is hoping for.
Radio
Free Europe, 12 May 2010
-
United Kingdom
-
Poker officially recognized as a mind sport
The International Federation of Poker
(IFP) celebrated its first birthday yesterday and had extra reason to cheer
with the news that poker has officially been recognised as a mind sport on
a par with the likes of chess and bridge.
President
of the IFP Anthony
Holden said that yesterday's decision by the
International Mind Sports Association in Dubai represented, “a major
milestone in our campaign to have poker accepted throughout the world as a
game of strategic skill. Over time, this should help to free poker from
much governmental interference and other such unnecessary restrictions all
over the globe.”
The Big
Deal author added, “I know the whole poker world will now come behind
our efforts, not least because it means that poker will be played in the
World Mind Sports Games due to take place in the UK alongside the 2012 London
Olympics.”
Doyle
Brunson, a member of the IFP advisory board said, “The IFP deserves
our thanks and congratulations. I believe that history will show this was a
key moment for poker. All over the world the game has been faced with
governmental controls and other obstacles. Yet it is obvious it calls for
qualities and skills that go far beyond a capacity just to take a
chance.”
The IFP
will formally apply to join SportsAccord
(formerly the General Association of International Sports Federations)
later today.
Bluff Europe,
30 April 2010
-
United Kingdom
-
Gambler enjoy a ‘near miss’ almost as much as the win
Compulsive
gamblers carry on making bets even when they are on a losing streak because
a near miss rewards their brains almost as much as a win, claim scientists.
Researchers
found that the brains of problem gamblers react more intensely to near misses
than casual gamblers, producing the reward hormone dopamine.
The University of Cambridge results could help explain
what keeps problem gamblers betting even though they keep losing.
FTSE 100
enjoys best week this yearThe study involved
scanning the brains of 20 gamblers using magnetic resonance imaging scanner
while they played a computerised slot machine.
Participants'
gambling habits ranged from regular, social gamblers to those with severe
problem gambling.
Dr Luke Clark of the University of Cambridge, who led the study, found
that the parts of the brain involved in reward processing – the
so-called dopamine centres – were more active in problem gamblers
than in social gamblers.
During
the experiment, volunteers played a computerised slot machine with two
spinning wheels of icons and won 50p when the two icons matched.
An icon
mismatch was a loss, but when the wheels stopped within one icon of a
match, the outcome was considered a “near miss”.
Dr Clark
found that near misses activated the same brain pathways as wins, even
though no reward was given, and that this reaction was stronger in those
gamblers who had more symptoms of problem gambling.
The
findings are published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Telegraph.co.uk, 4 May 2010
-
United States
-
Pennsylvania Gambler must give up jackpot after self-ban from casinos
A MAN who hit the jackpot at a casino last
week must now must forfeit his winnings and face a criminal charge because
he had voluntarily banned himself from casinos as part of a state self-help
program. The
55-year-old Waterford
man was part of a Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) program that
allows compulsive gamblers to ban themselves from casinos for a year, five
years or life GoErie.com reported.
It is not known how long the man, who was not identified by police, had
agreed not to set foot in any state casinos. In addition to giving up his
$2,001 jackpot, the man will face a summary criminal trespass charge.Nanette Horner, director of the PGCB's Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling, said
the self-exclusion program is “a tool to be used by the individual to
refrain from the temptations of gambling,” but is not a substitute
for gambling addiction treatment.
A
spokeswoman for Presque Isle Downs & Casino, where the man was caught
gambling, would not comment on the incident.
Newscore,
26 May 2010
-
United States
-
Study: US egaming laws would create 32,000 jobs,
$57bn tax
US
INTERNET gaming regulation would create close to 32,000 jobs and up to
US$57.5bn in tax revenue over five years, new research has shown.
The new
study by gambling data business H2 Gambling Capital bases its figures on
the regulation of all forms of internet gambling, which H2 projects would
generate a total gross expenditure of US$94bn and US$57bn in tax revenues
from the related job creation and supporting business over five
years.
H2
director Simon Holliday said: “The regulation of Internet gaming
provides a unique opportunity to legislators in the current economic
climate, namely the opportunity to instantaneously create jobs and support
economic growth while protecting consumers and reducing the budget
deficit.
Holliday
added that he hoped the study would provide further incentive for the Obama
administration to move quickly to regulate egaming.
“The
current situation where US
players use offshore sites causes billions of dollars to leak out of the
economy each year and leaves tens of thousands of players without any
onshore regulatory protection,” he said.
The House
Financial Services Committee is currently considering internet gambling
bills proposed by its chairman, Congressman Barney Frank.
Frank’s
HR 2267, Internet
Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement
Act would provide a licensing and regulating framework for egaming in the US, while its partner bill, HR
2266, would delay compliance with regulations under the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act 2006 by a year.
A
companion bill introduced by Representative Jim McDermott, the Internet Gambling
Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2010 (HR 4976), would require
licensed operators to pay applicable licence fees and taxes.
Frank’s
bills do not concern sports betting, the federal ban on which is currently
subject to constitutional challenge from the state of New Jersey. However even with sports
betting exempted from the model, H2 suggests a gross expenditure of US$67bn
over five years would generate US$30.8bn in tax revenue and 25,470 new
jobs.
The hearing
for Frank’s bills scheduled for last Friday 16 April was postponed
the previous Monday, however. No replacement date has yet been announced.
E
Gaming Review, 20 April 2010
-
United States
-
Study: Black women with gambling problems outnumber men
African-American
women in Florida
have 51 percent higher rates of compulsive gambling addiction than
African-American men, according to newly released 2009 statistics from a
state help agency.
“In
addition, in 2009, African-American women have statistically higher
gambling addiction rates than white, Hispanic, or Asian men or
women,” said Pat Fowler, director of the FCCG.
Gambling addiction rates in Florida have been rising steadily ever since
land-based casinos began increasing across Florida over the last five years.
And what
are gambling addicts most attracted to? The Las-Vegas style slot machines
at casinos in Broward and Miami-Dade
County.
Ava, a
married, 56-yearold African-American woman from Miami-Dade
County who has two grown children,
is a recovering addict who gambled away at least $40,000 on slot machines
at various casinos in Broward
County. She declined
to give her last name or her exact city of residence to a reporter.
By state
law, all casinos in Florida
are required to provide gambling help information, which includes access to
the help line and the opportunity to ban themselves
from entering a casino.
When Ava
called the help line, she said, she was connected to an understanding counselor who referred her to a free therapist and the
location of a nearby Gamblers Anonymous meeting.
She has
been seeing her therapist and attending her Gamblers Anonymous meetings
every week since last November.
And she
has not stepped inside a casino since.
South Florida Times, 23 April 2010
|
