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More Access to Gambling Leads to More Suicides, Study Finds

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A study by Dr. David Phillips, of the University of California in San Diego, has found that cities with increased gambling have higher suicide rates, and according to Dr. Phillips, this is no coincidence. It is already known that gambling losses can drive people to do things they normally wouldn’t, for example, embezzle large amounts of money to pay for their debts. However this study shows that gambling losses also causes an increased risk for suicide, which is seriously troubling news considering how much gambling has expanded in the US in recent years. Below is a copy of the study, as well as a New York Times article summarizing its findings.

Elevated Suicide Levels Associated with Casino Gambling

NYT Suicide Rate Higher in 3 Gambling Cities, Study Says

LesMore Access to Gambling Leads to More Suicides, Study Finds
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By Misleading Players, Slot Machine Design Spurs Problem Gambling

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This article explains how reel electronic gambling machines (EGMs) have been designed to mislead players and have directly contributed to the high rate of problem gambling: “Unbalanced reel design must be a major factor, if not the major factor, in the maintenance of problem gambling principally because the gambler unconsciously believes he or she cannot lose.” Unlike table games, EGMs offer widely different odds of winning, which the authors compare to loaded dice or rigged carnival games. “The fact that the players do not know the rules makes the reel gambling machine unique amongst gaming devices. Not only are the players ignorant of the rules but the rules vary from machine to machine and neither the gaming industry nor the regulators disclose them. As far as transparency is concerned, the standards applicable to reel gaming machines are totally out of step with all other forms of gaming.” The authors make a strong case for establishing uniform standards, banning biased, “virtually-mapped” reels on EGMs and providing more transparency regarding the player’s chances of winning.

Unbalanced Reel Gambling Machines

LesBy Misleading Players, Slot Machine Design Spurs Problem Gambling
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Government’s Monopoly of Commercialized Gambling

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Yale Law School’s Stephen Carter wrote a terrific column in April 2011 on state lotteries. Carter writes: “Why on earth do we allow the government to hold a monopoly on the very profitable (if rather disgusting) business of persuading the suffering to part with their money in the hope of a munificent return they are all but certain never to see? In other words, why is the government in the lottery business at all?”

The state lottery has been a spectacular failure and more and more intelligent thinkers like Carter are speaking the truth about it.

End the Government’s Lottery Monopoly

LesGovernment’s Monopoly of Commercialized Gambling
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Foxwoods Casino Targets Repeat Gamblers

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We know from Wall Street Journal reporter Christina Binkley that casinos make 90% of their profits from 10% of their customers. So, it’s no surprise that Connecticut’s Foxwoods Casino has developed a new business strategy to entice it’s “loyal” customers to gamble more of their money away, particularly those “customers living within 90 minutes of the…property.”

Foxwoods Business Strategy

LesFoxwoods Casino Targets Repeat Gamblers
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West Virginia Legislature Votes to Fund State’s Racinos

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In March 2011, West Virginia’s State Legislature voted on a bill that will use $10 million from an existing lottery to fund the state’s racinos for 10 years. Del. Mitch Carmichael, of Jackson, called the bill “the most ‘ridiculous’ he’s seen in several years.”

“Why should we single out a particular industry, the gaming industry and the Greenbrier Hotel, to give them special $10 million giveaways from the people of West Virginia,” Carmichael asked. “I just think it sets the wrong priorities.”

West Virginia Legislature Votes to Fund Racinos with Public Money

LesWest Virginia Legislature Votes to Fund State’s Racinos
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Poker Bots and Cheaters Make Online Gambling Even More Predatory

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In the summer of 2010, one the world’s leading online predatory gambling companies, PokerStars, refunded $2.1 million to its customers after discovering cheaters colluded to rig games. In another incident, PokerStars paid out another $80,000 to players who had unwittingly been up against poker “bots” – automatic card playing software. These bots are causing people to lose even more money than normal. Click on this link to the story and the podcast from BBC Radio 5. You will need to scroll halfway down the page to obtain the podcast.

Can the World of Online Poker Chase Out the Cheats?

LesPoker Bots and Cheaters Make Online Gambling Even More Predatory
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North Carolina Lottery Violates its Own State’s Lottery Advertising Laws

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When North Carolina introduced the lottery in 2005, it put in a measure that officials thought would prevent it from exploiting people with gambling addiction. A law was passed forbidding the the agency to advertise the lottery in a way that would entice people to play. However, the North Carolina Lottery has disregarded this law.

What is North Carolina After? Bucks, bucks, bucks!

LesNorth Carolina Lottery Violates its Own State’s Lottery Advertising Laws
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Taylor Branch Speech at the Stop Predatory Gambling National Convention

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This is a video featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Taylor Branch at Stop Predatory Gambling’s 2008 National Convention in Washington, D.C. He begins to specifically address the issue of government-sanctioned predatory gambling after the 6:00 mark. Daniel Hunter of Casino Free Philadelphia was invited to introduce Branch.

 

LesTaylor Branch Speech at the Stop Predatory Gambling National Convention
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One of the world’s largest accounting firms finds that gambling was the most common motivator of fraud

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This 2009 Australian report from KPMG (one of the world’s largest accounting firms) finds that gambling was the most common motivator of fraud with an average value of $1.1 million per incident.

KPMG Fraud Survey

LesOne of the world’s largest accounting firms finds that gambling was the most common motivator of fraud
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Money From Slots Has Done Nothing to Improve Horse Racing

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This Washington Post story spotlights how slot money has been used to simply prop up tracks that have virtually no fan base and couldn’t exist on their own merits. When slots were legalized, the machines proved to be so lucrative many track owners lost interest in the sport and viewed it as a nuisance. They made no effort to improve the game or attract new fans; slot players are more profitable customers.

While the money has benefited owners, trainers and breeders, it has done nothing to popularize or improve horse racing. On the contrary, it has hurt the sport in some ways. At a time when almost every track is suffering from a shortage of thoroughbreds, the horses who go to slot-subsidized tracks could be running at viable tracks, helping them to offer a better product, instead of racing in a place where almost nobody watches them.

2012 Money from slots has done nothing to improve horse racing

LesMoney From Slots Has Done Nothing to Improve Horse Racing
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