Gambling Culture Research Articles

The Crisis of Illegal Gambling Addiction in Korea

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the current status of illegal online gambling, which is rap-idly spreading recently, and to suggest policy measures to prevent gambling addiction of illegal online gambling users. Illegal online gambling is easier to access than the legal gambling industry, so it tends to be converted very quickly. Therefore, there is a need for a way to actively cope with this. Method: The seriousness of illegal gambling has been an important issue until recently. In Korean society, gambling culture is spread and has an acceptable sentiment for gambling. Many people buy lottery tickets hoping to win the lottery. However, gambling based on gambling leads to gambling addiction, which poses a risk of economic loss, family destruction, and crime. Therefore, this study aims to understand the status of the Korean gambling industry and point out the problems of gambling addiction caused by gambling. In addition, I would like to look at countermeasures from various countries against illegal online gambling, which is understood to play a key role in gambling addiction. Through this, we intend to provide suggestions for preventing the spread of illegal online gambling and solving gambling problems. Results: As a result of reviewing the existing KNGCC reports and literature data on illegal gambling, it was found that gambling is increasing throughout Korean society. Koreans are expected to make a lot of money by buying lottery tickets and betting on sports every week. Unfortunately, however, many people are suffering from gambling addiction. Gambling addiction causes a number of social problems. It produces various side effects such as personal health, family dissolution, departure from work, suicide, and crime. However, policy measures focused on legal gambling do not prevent the spread of illegal gambling. Most illegal gambling serviced online has a very high addiction rate and is difficult to crack down on compared to legal gambling. Efforts such as granting KNGCC the right to investigate are required to prevent this, but it is difficult. There is also an expectation that the spread of illegal gambling can be controlled through efforts such as providing legal gambling online. However, such a decision has a difficulty that social consensus should take precedence. Conclusion: For modern people living in the Meta-bus era, the temptation of illegal online gambling is difficult to avoid. It is very difficult to eradicate illegal gambling, which is being serviced online with high accessibility in the gambling industry, which is divided into legal and illegal. In the case of Korea, it is impossible to crack down on illegal gambling sites in the absence of KNGCC s investigative power. In addition, it is also a reality that it is difficult to crack down on illegal gambling sites due to frequent changes. As a result, it is difficult to cope with the rapidly increasing illegal online gambling with policy measures based simply on deterrence policies. Therefore, this study attempted to emphasize the importance of strengthening online services for legal gambling and preventive education and gambling addiction treatment for illegal gambling.

Local Gambling Attitudes and Audit Quality: Evidence from Audit Adjustments

This study examines the influence of local gambling attitudes on audit quality. As a preference for gambling correlates to a greater tendency to take risks, we hypothesize that auditors make a greater magnitude of audit adjustments for clients headquartered in gambling‐prone areas to reduce heightened audit risk. Consistent with our hypothesis, the empirical results show a positive relation between local gambling attitudes and the magnitude of audit adjustments. Further analyses show that this association is more pronounced when the regulatory cost is higher, and when the board chair or CEO comes from a gambling‐prone area. We also find evidence that gambling culture results in greater magnitudes of both upward and downward audit adjustments, audit firms appoint more experienced audit partners to gambling‐prone clients, and there is a fee premium for gambling‐prone clients.

Does local gambling culture affect bond yield spread? Evidence from China

ABSTRACT We study the effect of gambling culture in the province where a firm is located on its bond yield spread. Our findings suggest that a high gambling culture translates into a high bond yield spread. In addition, the impact is more salient for firms with high operating volatility and increased default risk. Overall, the results are consistent with the notion that when firms are located in high gambling culture provinces, they are riskier, and thus bond investors ask for a high bond yield.

The impact of casino proximity on northeast urban communities: a literature review

Gambling legalization, regulation, and casino proliferation in the United States have increased casino-gambling participation. The three A’s (accessibility, availability, and acceptability), known as ecological predictors of casino-gambling participation, have also been linked to the flood of casinos, including the influx of urban casinos in major metropolitan cities along the northeast corridor. Links between casino proximity, increased casino participation, and gambling-related problems are reported in the gambling and casino proximity literature but the relationship between casino proximity and urban casino communities have not been fully investigated in current literature. The purpose of this article is to present a comprehensive review of casino proximity and northeast urban casinos and host communities to the discussion on the construct, casino proximity and the impact on northeast urban casino communities by explaining the implications to those communities through extensive literature review. The review found that (i) urban casinos are typically placed in low socio-economic communities with some existing gambling culture, (ii) socio-economic improvement are promised to existing disadvantaged communities prior to the adoption of casinos, but modest economic benefits realized in urban casino neighborhoods are unsustainable, and (iii) increased accessibility and availability of urban casinos due to proximity could increase casino participation, which in turn could potentially increase gambling-related problems. Results of this literature review also indicated that gambling-related problems from proximity to casinos could produce negative socio-economic outcomes for host communities. Key stakeholders (including legislators, community workers, social services professionals, scholar-practitioners, and the casino-gambling industry) could benefit from this review given the increase in urban casino in major metro areas, and the potential impact those casinos can have on host and neighboring communities. Although very little is known about the impact of casino proximity on northeast corridor urban casinos in the megalopolis, even less is known about the relationship between proximity of urban casinos and their impact on host communities. Further investigation, particularly on the socio-economic outcomes for urban casino communities, is warranted.

Pro-Gambling culture

Abstract This paper analyses gambling within the notion of culture. Examining its origins, we find out that gambling is strongly intertwined with culture. Due to human development and cultural complexity, the perceptions of luck, taking risk and chance change over time, but still have an important impact on gambling activity and detecting its codes. Historical evidence of gambling shows that gambling developed with different intensity, and has been mostly affected by European colonization. Gambling culture can be distinguished depending on the historical backgrounds, institutional structure and religious backgrounds (among other factors). The secondary analysis was prepared by taking raw data from the World Value Survey (2014) and analysing the correlations between gambling components. The selected components prove to be significantly correlated with the Taking Risk factor (secularization factor) and represent a significant contribution to the finalization of our findings. The final results propose four types of gambling culture present today, i.e. Simple Gambling Culture, Denied Gambling Culture, Transitioning Gambling Culture and Pro-Gambling Culture. Simple Gambling culture has the least gambling characteristic, whereas Pro-gambling Culture is a newly introduced term which represents the contemporary gambling cultural orientations.

A Swiftly Changing Tide: Fantasy Sport, Gambling, and Alternative Forms of Participation

The fantasy sport industry has seen tremendous changes in the past five years, thanks in large part to increased participation, media acceptance, easing of legal pressure, and the proliferation of daily fantasy sport. Similarly, sports gambling recently moved further into the spotlight with a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a 1992 law allowing Nevada to be the only state to legally house sports betting. Having once been advised to steer clear of each other, gambling and fantasy sport interests are now becoming increasingly intertwined. Utilizing quantitative data from a national survey of 519 fantasy sport participants, this study explores attitudes of and participation in alternative forms of fantasy sport and sports betting. Insights can be gleaned regarding familiarity in the activities, reluctance in participation, sport consumption, future participation, and connection points between fantasy sport and sports gambling cultures.

Baby boomers as gamblers: recognizing and preventing gambling harm with intersectional approach

ObjectivesThis study aims to discuss and analyse the gambling habits and perceptions towards gambling cultures and problems among the large ‘baby boomer’ generation in Finland from an intersectional approach. These people born between 1945 and 1955 in their retirement or approaching retirement may face new risks regarding gambling. The results of this study support the designing of harm prevention among this ageing generation. Study designTwenty-five people were interviewed in six focus groups. Participants' gambling experience varied from non-gambling to having experienced some problems. Three of the focus groups had participants with second degree education the highest, and three of the groups had participants with second degree education the lowest. Four interviews were conducted in the capital area and two in rural environments. MethodsThe group interview data were analysed with thematic content analysis. After initial coding in accordance with the research questions, subthemes and final themes were formed. Results are discussed through the final themes. ResultsThe main results concern the gambling habits on the participants’ life course: from shared, cultural experiences in their childhood to mostly minor gambling on the edge of retirement; the mutual understanding of the enormous growth in gambling supply during their lifetime, but emphasizing the importance of gambling monopoly for the society; and framing gambling problems as an individual tendency. ConclusionsThe prevention of gambling harm within this generation needs to take into account the historical changes they have lived: from few, harmless gambling products framed as an instrument to support ‘good causes’ to the current world of commercial gambling. The deterministic understanding of gambling problems as an individual flaw may prevent recognizing problem gambling and seeking help to tackle the problems. Risks for gambling harm relate more to the gambling structures and cultures this ageing generation lives in, and the deterministic, individual understanding of gambling harm they share, than to marginalized positions they may have through gender or education.

FUTURES OF GAMING: HOW CASINOS AND GAMBLING MIGHT EVOLVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE

FUTURES OF GAMING: HOW CASINOS AND GAMBLING MIGHT EVOLVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE

THE FAIR REWARD PROBLEM: THE ILLUSION OF SUCCESS AND HOW TO SOLVE IT

Humanity has been fascinated by the pursuit of fortune since time immemorial, and many successful outcomes benefit from strokes of luck. But success is subject to complexity, uncertainty, and change — and at times becoming increasingly unequally distributed. This leads to tension and confusion over to what extent people actually get what they deserve (i.e. fairness/meritocracy). Moreover, in many fields, humans are overconfident and pervasively confuse luck for skill (I win, it is skill; I lose, it is bad luck). In some fields, there is too much risk-taking; in others, not enough. Where success derives in large part from luck — and especially where bailouts skew the incentives (heads, I win; tails, you lose) — it follows that luck is rewarded too much. This incentivizes a culture of gambling, while downplaying the importance of productive effort. And, short-term success is often rewarded, irrespective, and potentially at the detriment, of the long-term system fitness. However, much success is truly meritocratic, and the problem is to discern and reward based on merit. We call this the fair reward problem. To address this, we propose three different measures to assess merit: (i) raw outcome; (ii) risk-adjusted outcome, and (iii) prospective. We emphasize the need, in many cases, for the deductive prospective approach, which considers the potential of a system to adapt and mutate in novel futures. This is formalized within an evolutionary system, comprised of five processes, inter alia handling the exploration–exploitation trade-off. Several human endeavors — including finance, politics, and science — are analyzed through these lenses, and concrete solutions are proposed to support a prosperous and meritocratic society.

Cultures and spaces of convenience gambling.

Background:In many countries, the bulk of gambling takes place in convenience spaces in relatively confined, local markets. Nevertheless, research on gambling locations has so far concentrated on destination gambling in casinos.Aim:This article studies convenience gambling and distinguishes special (e.g., gambling arcades) from everyday convenience gambling spaces (e.g., electronic gambling machines in supermarkets). Rather than geographically or functionally analysing the harm potential of convenience gambling, we approach the issue through cultural theory.Method:We conducted reception analytical group interviews with Finnish and French gamblers. This method is based on focus-group discussions stimulated by six short film clips. Our data consisted of 14 Finnish and 14 French groups, altogether 110 participants. The interviews were analysed thematically on the basis of the types of discourses the participants evoked.Results:The Finnish respondents discussed how their gambling culture was embedded in their everyday lives. They saw it as a harmless pastime if the sums used were small and otherwise unbudgeted. The French informants instead strongly connected gambling with the casino and were suspicious of the easy, cheap availability of convenience gambling. They also differentiated between exceptional and mundane spaces of convenience gambling, which the interviewed Finnish gamblers did not.Conclusions:Social or cultural availability is not only a matter of access; it also influences gamblers after they have entered the gambling venue. Structural characteristics interact with the gambler and the setting, but they are also mediated by the cultural context.

The Fair Reward Problem: The Illusion of Success and How to Solve It

Humanity has been fascinated by the pursuit of fortune since time immemorial, and many successful outcomes benefit from strokes of luck. But success is subject to complexity, uncertainty, and change – and at times becoming increasingly unequally distributed. This leads to tension and confusion over to what extent people actually get what they deserve (i.e., fairness/meritocracy). Moreover, in many fields, humans are over-confident and pervasively confuse luck for skill (I win, it’s skill; I lose, it’s bad luck). In some fields, there is too much risk-taking; in others, not enough. Where success derives in large part from luck – and especially where bailouts skew the incentives (heads, I win; tails, you lose) – it follows that luck is rewarded too much. This incentivizes a culture of gambling, while downplaying the importance of productive effort. And, short term success is often rewarded, irrespective, and potentially at the detriment, of the long-term system fitness. However, much success is truly meritocratic, and the problem is to discern and reward based on merit. We call this the fair reward problem. To address this, we propose three different measures to assess merit: (i) raw outcome; (ii) risk-adjusted outcome, and (iii) prospective. We emphasize the need, in many cases, for the deductive prospective approach, which considers the potential of a system to adapt and mutate in novel futures. This is formalized within an evolutionary system, comprised of five processes, inter alia handling the exploration-exploitation trade-off. Several human endeavors – including finance, politics, and science – are analyzed through these lenses, and concrete solutions are proposed to support a prosperous and meritocratic society.

Subtypes of Problem Gamblers, Sociocultural Factors, and Availability of Gambling

Finnish treatment-seeking gamblers were examined in light of predominant problem gambler subtype models. “Psy science” oriented problem gambler subtypes were found to be considerably influenced by gambling cultures and treatment traditions in the countries from which the mainstream problem gambler research originates. Thus, models that emphasize the psychopathology of the individual might cause some friction when applied to countries like Finland with a quite particular gambling culture and addiction treatment system that traditionally functions on a social work basis. It is suggested that specialists helping problem gamblers should acquire local knowledge with which to complete psychiatrically oriented scientific knowledge.

Risk Factors of Adolescent Pathological Gambling: Permissive Gambling Culture and Individual Factors

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the relationships between types of gambling activity, problem behaviors, and self-esteem with adolescent problem gambling in Hong Kong. From a sample of 2,258 students aged between 12 and 17, study results showed that playing Poker and gaming in Amusement Game Centers (entertainment venues with gaming machines) had the strongest predictive value, implying a gambling-permissive culture regarding gambling as an entertainment, with parental and societal support and availability of gambling opportunities, has more impact on adolescent problem gambling than other personal risk factors like problem behaviors and low self-esteem. Prevention strategies at individual and societal levels are discussed.

Saloons, Prostitutes, and Temperance in Alaska Territory. By Catherine Holder Spude.

Saloons, Prostitutes, and Temperance in Alaska Territory . By Catherine Holder Spude . (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2015. xvii + 326 pp. Illustrations, maps, tables, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. $24.95.) Historians have long assumed that the arrival of middle-class women in Alaska and the Yukon began to change the culture of wide-open saloons, gambling, and prostitution that characterized the early gold rush days. However, to my knowledge, only anecdotal evidence exists for this thesis. Now Catherine Holder Spude has done solid research into the archives, the city records of Skagway, and territorial court records to provide voluminous background and documentation on this fascinating topic. She provides … jhaigh{at}kpc.alaska.edu

Sports Betting-Motivated Corruption in Australia: An Under-Studied Phenomenon

With the continual rise of gambling methods there is a need to better understand sports betting-motivated corruption in the Australian context. This literature review highlights seven predominant themes: the Australian gambling culture, betting opportunities available, the threat of sports betting to the integrity of sport, corruption in sport, involvement of transnational organized crime groups in sports corruption, the theoretical perspectives used in sports corruption research, and anti-corruption strategies which are important in the prevention and law enforcement of this criminal behavior. The review identifies significant gaps in existing knowledge surrounding sports betting-motivated corruption, highlighting the need for further research in this area.Keywords: corruption, sports betting, gambling, law enforcement, sports integrity

Gendered construction of Macau casino: a social semiotic analysis of tourism brochures

This paper analyses the represented images of men and women in casino ads of Macau, examines the impact of gender power in the casino industry and discusses the social–cultural construction of masculinity and femininity in a culturally diverse context. A social semiotic analysis of a range of casino brochures and leaflets is presented. The analysis reveals that stereotypical portrayals of gender roles persist in Macau’s casino ads, which privilege the male tourist gaze and reproduce the gender power relations within the hetero-patriarchal system. Despite the trend of women’s involvement in public gambling, casino gambling continues to be upheld as a masculine activity in Macau. The study argues that the casino space is constructed through two aspects – the simultaneous masculinisation of gambling and feminisation of interactive service work, which reflect, respectively, the traditional expectations of the gambling culture and the demands of the modern service-intensive casino business.

Ethical Challenges in Participant Observation: A Reflection on Ethnographic Fieldwork

In this essay I reflect on the ethical challenges of ethnographic fieldwork I personally experienced in a female gambling study. By assuming a covert research role, I was able to observe natural occurrences of female gambling activities but unable to make peace with disturbing feelings of my research concealment. By making my study overt, I was able to fulfill ethical obligations as a researcher but unable to get female gamblers to speak their minds. I responded to such ethical dilemmas by adjusting the level of involvement, participating in female gambling culture as an insider and observing it as an outsider. This fieldwork suggests that the ethics of participant observation should be addressed in relation to the sensitivity of the research topic, the vulnerability of the researched individuals, and the plasticity of field membership roles.

SY31-5 * TREATMENT OF GAMBLING DISORDER IN JAPAN

Each country has its own gambling culture; various types of gambling are found in Japan. Multitudes of people have the opportunity to come into contact with gambling (including gaming) in Japan. In the past, understanding of the risks of gambling, along with treatment and the necessity of recovery support, has been poor in Japan. However, the number of supporters interested in this issue has been increasing over the past 20 years. In 1989, Gamblers Anonymous (GA) held its first meeting in Yokohama, Japan. Since then, the number of GA groups within Japan has seen a tendency to increase. Rehabilitation facilities dealing with gambling-related problems engage in various initiatives to address addiction and recovery. Medical institutions have also been accumulating achievements by providing multi-disciplinarily support for those suffering from gambling-related issues. We report information on Japanese GA; Gam-Anon; and rehabilitation facilities, counseling rooms, administrative agencies, medical institutions, debt support facilities, and judicial organizations that deal with gambling-related issues. We hope to obtain information that will be beneficial for future support by clarifying the state of Japan and exchanging information with countries overseas.

Gambling Motives: Application of the Reasons for Gambling Questionnaire in an Australian Population Survey

The Reasons for Gambling Questionnaire (RGQ) consist of 15 items forming five factors: enhancement, social, money, recreation and coping. The RGQ was developed for use in the 2010 British Gambling Prevalence Survey (BGPS) and has now been employed in the second Social and Economic Impact Study (SEIS) of Gambling in Tasmania study conducted in 2011 in Australia. Given differences between Britain and Australia in terms of socio-demographic profiles, gambling cultures and attitudes, gambling access and availability, gambling regulation, and rates and patterns of gambling participation, the aims of this study were to analyse the RGQ data from the SEIS to: (1) determine the most commonly endorsed gambling motives in an Australian jurisdiction, (2) explore the factor structure of the RGQ in an Australian sample, and (3) explore how motives for gambling vary among different Australian population sub-groups. A representative sample of the Tasmanian population who had gambled in the previous 12 months (n = 2,796) were administered the RGQ via computer-assisted telephone interviewing. The five most commonly endorsed reasons for gambling were for fun (62%), followed by the chance of winning big money (52%), it being something to do with friends and family (48%), to be sociable (40%), and excitement (38%). A principal component analysis revealed a five-factor structure that is slightly different from that derived in the BGPS: money, regulate internal state, positive feelings, social, and challenge reasons. Finally, gambling motives varied according to socio-demographic factors, number of gambling activities, problem gambling severity, and participation on different gambling activities. Although some of these findings are consistent with those from the BGPS, there are also some slight differences, suggesting that there may be regional-specific variations in gambling motives.

Mobile social gambling: Poker’s next frontier

In this paper, we provide a history, analysis, and theorization of the emergence of mobile social gambling—a new form of media and cultural practice that fuses “social gambling” and “social gaming,” with the affordances of mobile platforms and social networking sites. Through the use of apps in mobile devices, the consumption of risk is experiencing a shift from space-bound betting to itinerant practices that open new spaces for leisure and socialization. Focusing on a case study of the mobile app Zynga Poker, this paper attempts to identify and describe these “leakages” in the “magic circle” of gambling, which bring together social gaming and longstanding gambling cultures and practices. Our argument is that mobile gambling on smartphones and tablets extends earlier cultural practices associated with gambling activities such as poker, and much deeper into the realm of the everyday. The expansion of gambling practices into the realm of the everyday, however, poses manifold ethical, cultural, and political implications: the availability of gambling products to minors and other vulnerable populations; increased normalization of wagering as entertainment; and the merging of gambling and mobile gaming industries and markets. Digital gambling is a pressing area for future study in mobile media and communication.