Forms Of Gambling Research Articles

Associations Between Heavy Episodic Drinking, Drinking While Gambling, and Risky Gambling

Introduction: Understanding how patterns of drinking are associated with risky gambling in Australia is needed to inform an effective approach to minimise harm. Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire study reports on 2,704 subsampled participants who completed survey questions about their patterns of drinking. With logistic regressions, we examined whether frequency of heavy episodic drinking (HED) and alcohol use while gambling were associated with risky gambling while controlling for sociodemographic variables. Results: Occasional HED and monthly HED were associated with any gambling (versus no gambling), but frequent HED was not significantly associated with gambling. The opposite pattern was found when predicting risky gambling. Occasional HED (i.e. less than monthly) was not significantly associated, but a higher frequency of HED (at least weekly) was associated with a higher likelihood of risky gambling. Drinking alcohol while gambling was associated with risky gambling, over and above HED. The combination of HED and use of alcohol while gambling appeared to significantly increase the likelihood of risky gambling. Conclusions: The association of HED and alcohol use while gambling with risky gambling highlights the importance of preventing heavy alcohol use among gamblers. The links between these forms of drinking and risky gambling further suggests that individuals who engage in both activities are specifically prone to gambling harm. Policies should therefore discourage alcohol use while gambling for example by prohibiting serving alcohol at reduced prices or to gamblers who show signs of being affected by alcohol and informing individuals of the risks associated with alcohol use while gambling.

Business cycles, stock market wealth, and gambling at the racetracks

PurposeAs digital technologies expand access to new forms of legalized gambling, including sports betting and online gaming, it is important to assess the impact of macroeconomic and equity market outcomes on fund flows into gambling. The authors’ findings will be of interest to policymakers and the gambling industry, as various forms of gambling, including day trading, gain broad public acceptance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examine the impact of macroeconomic forces, business cycles, and financial market wealth on gambling. The authors propose a nonlinear model linking aggregate gambling expenditures to macroeconomic, stock market, and gambling industry variables. The authors estimate the proposed model using nonlinear estimation procedures.FindingsThe authors find that price of wagering, incomes, and supply of gambling opportunities are the primary determinants of wagering demand. Aggregate wagering is negatively impacted by realized stock returns and market volatility, but rises during recessions.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, the questions posed and addressed in this manuscript have not been addressed in prior literature.

Evaluating the generalizability of payment behavioral profiles across gambling brands

ABSTRACT A gambler’s payment behavior – the deposit and withdrawal of funds – precedes and follows the act of gambling. Given this separation, the methods and results of machine learning models built at the payment-level could be better generalized across gambling formats. With this study, we empirically evaluated this notion by validating a cluster analysis across two independent datasets of digital wallet payment transaction records. Using a discovery dataset comprising 2,286 customers of a casino-focused Internet gambling brand, the k-means algorithm revealed five distinct payment profiles. Using a validation dataset comprising 5,580 customers of a sports-focused Internet gambling brand, we evaluated the generalizability of the discovery payment profiles. Specifically, we assessed validity by (1) clustering the validation dataset using the discovery method, (2) classifying the validation dataset into the discovery clusters, and (3) assessing the stability of cluster membership. Two large low risk clusters were validated across datasets. Three smaller potential risk clusters were only partially validated. Our findings suggest that gamblers’ payment behaviors are somewhat representative of their gambling behavior and may reflect dynamics of certain gambling formats. Stakeholders employing data science methods across gambling populations should be mindful of specific contexts and tailor analyses accordingly.

A Case Series of Pathological Gambling with Suicidal Ideation

Abstract With the recent advances in technology, gambling, an activity which was previously restricted to casinos and card rooms is now readily available at the click of a button in the form of online gambling, wagering, and card games. The rapid surge in availability of this addictive activity has resulted in the increasing incidence of pathological gambling (PG) among groups of society which were otherwise shielded from this ailment. Here, we present a series of three cases of PG involved in online gambling who presented with similar symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation. All three individuals had a similar work environment and were detected at their respective primary care with symptoms of low mood, reduced sleep, low appetite, and suicidal thoughts in the background of heavy financial debt and family problems owing to an irresistible urge to gamble in online games. The individuals had experienced an initial temporary success in these online games and thus developed craving to be continuously engaged in them at the cost of their personal and professional duties and well-being. Once the individuals were drained of their monetary savings completely, they resorted to borrowing money from their colleagues, relatives, and financial institutions to further gamble and win back their losses, resulting in the further aggravation of their financial burden and depressive symptoms. These individuals posed a dilemma for the treating physician whether their suicidal ideation was a result of depression or an aftermath of PG and the humiliation associated with it.

Rolling the Dice: A Comprehensive Review of the New Forms of Gambling and Psychological Clinical Recommendations

This study aims to analyze the main and most recent forms of gambling and related psychopathological disorders, also proposing psychological clinical recommendations. From November 2022 to February 2023, we searched the databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Health & Medical Collection, Elsevier Journal, and Springer for relevant studies performing different searches through different search strings. New forms of gambling are mostly related to new technological tools, such as the Internet, smartphones, social media, or electronic machines. The prevalence of online gambling affects all demographic groups, although 35–44-year-olds appear to have the largest share. Online gambling can lead to addiction, financial hardship, and mental health problems. It has also been statistically significantly associated with high levels of Gambling disorder, high levels of depression and anxiety, poor overall mental health, and alcohol use. Furthermore, it has been noted that online gamblers are more likely to engage in high-risk gambling behaviors and have a higher prevalence of comorbid mental disorders. The review highlights the need for continued research on the impact of new forms of gambling and the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies. Further research is needed to better understand the complex relationship between new forms of gambling and the development of gambling disorders.

Behavioural Markers of Harm and Their Potential in Identifying Product Risk in Online Gambling

Abstract Many studies have been conducted to identify potentially useful behavioural markers of harmful behaviour using online gambling data sourced from operators. However, less is known about how such markers could be used to identify higher risk products. The study examined whether certain categories and subcategories of product are more strongly associated with behavioural markers of harm than others. Analyses were based on 6 months of data (N = 100,000 individual gamblers) drawn from the population of UK users of an online gambling website in 2022. Measures included individual-level expenditure data across multiple forms of gambling and a series of literature-informed behavioural markers of harm including declined deposits, easing/removing responsible gambling settings, within-session repeat deposits (or ‘top-ups’), bonus-seeking behaviour and gambling at unusual hours. Negative binomial models examined how well the number of active days playing different products predicted behavioural markers of harm. All markers apart from easing/removing responsible gambling settings appeared to covary with the number of active days engaging in specific product types, most notably slots, in-playing betting and some most forms of combination bets on sports. These findings highlight the potential value of using measurable markers to differentiate the risk and potential harm associated with different online products.

Sports gambling among youths: The role of demographic factors and prevalence

Sports’ betting is the most popular form of gambling among youths and it has strong appeal across classes, gender, sexuality, races and other social categorization. This study, therefore examined sports betting prevalence and its relationship with demographic variables of gender, age, education level and income level among youths in Ilorin, Kwara State, North Central, Nigeria. Cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the research; the population of the study was all 339,225 youths from the three local government area of Ilorin, Kwara State. Multistage random sampling technique was used to select 470 youths. The instrument for data collection was a researcher-designed questionnaire, validated by experts and the reliability coefficient was .70. Frequency and percentage were used for answering the research questions, while logistic regression was used to test the null hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The findings of the study indicated that higher proportion of youths with monthly income (69.5%) reported engaging in sports betting, likewise, higher proportion of youths with no formal education (69.2%) reported engaging in sports betting more than other categories and there was high proportion of youths (58.7%) that engage in sports betting. Furthermore, the demographic factors of age (OR = 1.67; p = .12), education (OR = 0.37; p = .23), and monthly income (OR = 1.22; p = .51) were not significantly associated with sports betting among youths, since the p-value is greater than .05 level of significance. It was concluded that monthly income was not a predictor of sports betting among youths. Furthermore, age and education level were not significant predictor of sports betting among youths. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that public health educators should embark on an informative campaign to reduce the degree to which youths overrate sports betting as an avenue for money making.

Comparison of Forensic Tools on Social Media Services Using the Digital Forensic Research Workshop Method (DFRWS)

Social media applications currently play a role and become part of various human activities, on the other hand social media is also very vulnerable to various crimes. Some crimes on social media can be in the form of hate speech, defamation, fraud, gambling, pornography, and other harmful actions. This research applies the Digital Forensic Research Workshop (DFRWS) method to search for all data on twitter social media services running on the Android operating system using MOBILedit Forensic Express and Belkasoft Evidence Center tools. Twitter social media services in this research are used for activities by utilizing all the features in it. Activities carried out by twitter users become evidence that will be acquired using MOBILedit Forensic Express and Belkasoft Evidence Center tools. From the two tools used, a comparison was obtained that MOBILedit Forensic Express found more data on twitter social media than Belkasoft Evidence Center, the findings in these two tools made several contributions to social media investigations that run on the android operating system

Adoption, Adaptation or Exposure? Novel Digital Gambling Activities and Links with Gambling Problems

Purpose of ReviewGambling problems are much more common amongst people who use novel gambling products, including skin gambling, esports betting and fantasy sports betting. The exposure and adaptation effects suggest that, like a novel pathogen, new products produce gambling problems until adaptation can counteract vulnerabilities. The purpose of this review is to posit, based on recent data, that an adoption effect provides a more parsimonious account for why novel gambling products are associated with problems.Recent FindingsPeople who are more vulnerable to a gambling problem are more likely to adopt novel gambling forms, consistent with their tendency to gamble on many forms. The high prevalence of gambling problems cannot be accounted for by the exposure effect alone, unless one assumes, implausibly, that these novel forms are dramatically more toxic than established products. As newer products diffuse in their acceptance throughout the population, the proportion of people with a gambling problem who play such games goes down. The evolution of gambling products can be described by a product lifecycle model where gambling problems are common amongst early adopters, but proportionately decrease amongst users as a product grows in popularity, reaches maturity and finally stagnates and is replaced.SummaryThe adoption effect is important because it indicates the need for interventions when new gambling products are introduced. It cautions against assuming that interventions are working just because the prevalence of gambling problems declines.

Interpassive Gambling

Slot machines are recognized as a particularly risky form of gambling. However, there is a form of slot machine consumption that seems to have largely escaped the notice of regulators and scholars: the streaming of slot machine play on YouTube and other platforms. In this article, we present the results of our qualitative study of 21 slot machine videos. Our study examines how these videos portray gambling and how they align with the norms of YouTube’s platform economy. Our analysis underscores the representation of slot machine gambling in this under-regulated media, emphasizing different tactics of viewer manipulation. We introduce the concept of interpassive gambling to reflect the ways that user-generated videos are a form of diffusion of gambling mechanics beyond traditional gambling venues. We conclude by calling for more scholarly and regulatory attention to this gamblified site of media consumption.

Spatial attention to social information in poker: A neuropsychological study using the Posner cueing paradigm.

This research aimed to characterize social information processing abilities in a population of regular nondisordered poker players compared to controls. Participants completed the Posner cueing paradigm task including social cues (faces) to assess attention allocation towards social stimuli, including the effect of the presentation time (subliminal vs supraliminal) and of the emotion displayed. The study included two groups of participants: 30 regular nondisordered poker players (those who played at least three times a week in Texas Hold'em poker games for at least three months) and 30 control participants (those who did not gamble or gambled less than once a month, whatever the game). The group of regular nondisordered poker players displayed anenhancement of the inhibition of return during the Posner cueing task. This means that in valid trials, they took longer to respond to the already processed localization in supraliminal conditions compared to controls. However, our results did not evidence any particular engagement or disengagement attention abilities toward specific types of emotion. These results suggest that regular nondisordered poker players displayed social information processing abilities, which may be due to the importance to efficiently process social information that can serve as tells in live poker. The observed enhancement of the inhibition of return may permit poker players to not process a localization that has already processed to save attentional resources. Further research regarding the establishment of the IOR in other forms of gambling and with non-social cues needs to be performed.

Unambiguous evidence that over half of gambling problems in Australia are caused by electronic gambling machines: Results from a large-scale composite population study.

It is well understood that engagement with some forms of gambling, like EGMs, is riskier than other forms. However, while reports of associations are common, few studies have attempted to evaluate and compare the relative risk of all available forms, and none have estimated the relative contribution of each form to the total burden of gambling problems (GP) in a population. Using an aggregated dataset of national and state-based prevalence studies in Australia (N=71,103), we estimated prevalence and unique effects of frequency of engagement on each form on GP. Two alternative numerical methods were then applied to infer the relative contribution of each form to the total amount of GP. EGMs are responsible for 51%-57% of gambling problems in Australia, and 90% of gambling problems are attributable to EGMs, casino, race, and sports betting. Casino table games and EGMs are equally risky at the individual level, but the former contribute far less to problems due to low participation. Bingo and lottery play show no statistically detectable risk for GP. The results illustrate which forms present the greatest population burden and illuminate the reasons why. EGMs have an outsized impact. EGM uniquely combines high risk conditional on play, with a high participation rate and a high frequency of play among participants. This is in contrast to risky but less commonly played casino games, and prevalent but non-risky forms like lotteries. We conclude that EGM regulation should be a primary focus of policy action in Australia. More innovative policy ideas relating to EGMs should be tested due to the disproportionate impact of this product type.

Surge in sports betting challenges backers of help for gambling problems

As fast as revenue from sports betting is soaring in a country with all signs of an insatiable appetite for this form of gambling, so too are hopes plummeting for any significant turnaround from the harms this brings to many. Efforts in prevention and treatment at the state level continue to pale in comparison to the pace at which dollars from legal sports betting are filling state coffers.

Impulsivity and loot box engagement

Loot boxes (randomised rewards in video games) possess structural similarities to traditional forms of gambling, with a well-documented and robust link between problem gambling symptomatology and loot box spending. In this research, we present two studies investigating the role of impulsivity (an established predictor for problem gambling behaviour) and reward/punishment sensitivity in predicting loot box spending. Across two samples, recruited from MTurk (n = 342) and Prolific Academic (n = 1142), Positive Urgency and Sensation Seeking (measured using the short UPPS-P) and BAS-Drive (measured using the BIS/BAS) were positively correlated with loot box spending. Combined, results indicate a positive reinforcement process is important in understanding loot box spending but provide evidence against a negative reinforcement mechanism (i.e., purchasing loot boxes to mitigate negative affect). Beyond problem gambling symptomatology, impulsivity may play a role in loot box purchasing. However, the impulsive factors implicated in loot box purchasing appear to differ in some ways from those implicated in problem gambling.

The relationship between problematic gambling severity and engagement with gambling products: Longitudinal analysis of the Emerging Adults Gambling Survey.

To measure the association between problem gambling severity and 19 different gambling activities among emerging adults (aged 16-26). An online non-probability longitudinal survey collecting data in two waves: wave 1, July/August 2019; wave 2, July/October 2020. Great Britain PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2080 young adults participating in both waves. Problem gambling scores were collected using the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). Binary variables recorded past year participation in 19 different gambling forms, ranging from lotteries to online casino and gambling-like practices within digital games (e.g. loot box purchase, skin betting). Controls included socio-demographic/economic characteristics, the Eysenck Impulsivity Scale and the number of gambling activities undertaken. Zero inflated negative binomial model lacked evidence of an effect between past year participation in any individual activities and subsequent PGSI scores. However, negative binomial random effects models for current gamblers (n= 497) showed that skin betting (incidence-rate ratio [IRR] = 2.32; 95% CI = 1.69-3.19), fixed odd betting terminals (IRR = 2.21, 95% CI = 1.61-3.05), slot/fruit machines (IRR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.07-1.91), online betting on horse/dog races (IRR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.17-2.00) and online betting on non-sports events (IRR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.11-1.89) were associated with increased PGSI scores. Online casino gambling had a significant interaction by wave; the impact of online casino betting in wave 2 on PGSI scores increased by a factor of 1.61. Past year participation of young adults (aged 16-26) in certain forms of gambling does not appear to be associated with future Problem Gambling Severity Index scores. Among young adults who are current gamblers, past year participation in certain land-based (e.g. electronic gaming machines) and online forms (e.g. skin betting) of gambling appears to be strongly associated with elevated Problem Gambling Severity Index scores.

Association between gambling and financial trading: A systemic review.

Background: Financial trading is often categorized separately from traditional forms of gambling (e.g., blackjack, poker, lottery, slot machines), as it is often viewed from an investing lens. However, the arbitrary line separating investing from gambling has become increasingly questioned, especially as it relates to high-risk trading behaviors (e.g., day trading, trading on margin) and riskier financial assets (e.g., options, cryptocurrencies). Further, the risk of gambling-related harms among financial traders appears to be amplified by new financial technologies, which have increased access to riskier financial assets and have encouraged riskier trading behaviors. Thus, the aim of the present study is to systematically review the literature assessing problem gambling among financial traders as well as the association between financial trading frequency and problem gambling. Methods: Twelve articles from three databases (SCOPUS, PsycINFO, and Web of Science) met the inclusion criteria, and were reviewed. Results: The prevalence of problem gambling was generally higher among individuals who engage in trading financial products, but rates varied substantially (1.4% to 47.2%) due in large part to differences in the study population, the problem gambling measures used, and the cutoff scores employed. Similarly, financial trading frequency was consistently associated with more severe problem gambling, but the strength of these associations ranged across studies. Conclusion: Collectively, while findings from these studies suggest that financial traders are at greater risk for problem gambling, it is evident that trading riskier assets and engaging in riskier trading behaviors place individuals at a substantially greater risk for problem gambling. Recommendations for future research include focusing on at-risk populations, practical implications for the intervention and policy, and emerging issues of digital technologies.

US Gambling Stagnation

Much has been written recently in the popular press about the rise of sports gambling, historical horse racing or instant racing (HHR), and esports. However, despite this, some note an overall decline in the popularity of gambling and gaming in general as horse racing (pari-mutuel) wagering has declined dramatically over the decades and as casino and lottery revenues have fallen slightly since before the Great Recession. This exploratory research note examines the trends in US gambling over the last several decades and explores whether the new forms of gambling will stem and reverse overall gambling stagnation in the United States. Despite reports of new gambling outlet successes, it appears that sports gambling, HHR, and esports have not done much to stop the overall fall in gambling revenues. This is probably due to stagnant disposable personal income growth.

Compulsive Gambling in the Stock Market: Evidence from an Emerging Market

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many new individual investors globally entered the stock markets, often pursuing speculative investment strategies that resemble gambling. A concern is that trading as a form of gambling can become addictive for some people, as documented by several recent studies in developed markets. We contribute to this literature by adding new evidence from a large emerging market, Thailand, where most forms of traditional gambling are illegal. We field a diagnostic checklist from the American Psychiatric Association for compulsive gambling, changing the content of each item to refer to stock market trading instead of gambling. In a survey of 285 Thai investors, we document that 9.5% are potential problem gamblers, while 4.9% meet the stricter criteria for addiction. The trading addiction score explains speculative trading behavior such as frequent trading, day trading and buying high-risk “lottery” stocks, beyond common factors such as overconfidence and high risk-tolerance. Further, the trading addiction score is positively related to high levels of stress and alcohol use, problems often associated with gambling disorders. Our results raise awareness about investors whose objectives are more related to gambling than long-term investment, and the associated problems when such behavior becomes compulsive.

A large-scale prospective study of big wins and their relationship with future involvement and risk among actual online sports bettors

Clinicians have proposed that big wins early in a gambler's betting experience can lead to increased involvement, and eventually problematic gambling. Understanding how this effect manifests in online sports betting is important, as this form of gambling has grown increasingly popular worldwide and continues to expand. MethodsUsing matched pair analysis and other methods (e.g., survival analysis, fixed effects regression), we examined big wins’ ability to predict future gambling involvement and behavior using bet level data from 36,328 sports gamblers who subscribed to a large, European online gambling operator. Big wins were defined two ways. ResultsBig wins in sports betting were associated with increased engagement, losses, and risk in the following weeks, with the impact declining over time. The exact timing of when a big win occurs after subscribing does not appear to have a major effect on subsequent behaviors. These findings held for both definitions of big wins. ImplicationsThis study supports the existence of a big win effect in online sports betting, but more research is needed to determine whether there is an “early” big win effect, and whether big wins are indeed associated with problematic gambling.

Structural characteristics of online gambling platforms: How the provision of multiple gambling formats could contribute to harm

Structural characteristics of online gambling platforms: How the provision of multiple gambling formats could contribute to harm