The English seaside resort town of Blackpool was relieved when it lost a bid to host a “super casino.” Blackpool will now focus its efforts on maintaining its family friendly reputation.
The English seaside resort town of Blackpool was relieved when it lost a bid to host a “super casino.” Blackpool will now focus its efforts on maintaining its family friendly reputation.
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.
In a scathing 102-page report, a state grand jury in May 2011 slammed the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board as a patronage-filled, secretive agency that failed to safeguard the public by inadequately investigating casino operators and vendors, and succumbing to political pressure.
This February 2010 article from North Carolina’s Independent Weekly highlights the fact that sweepstakes cafes are flourishing in the state – particularly in low-income and minority neighborhoods.
In this 1990 article from New England Monthly, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Taylor Branch gives an overview of the development of state lotteries in New England and the danger this poses to our democracy.
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.
In this study, researchers at Duke University Medical School found that sleep-deprived individuals tended to make choices that emphasized monetary gain and were less likely to make choices that reduced financial loss. Sleep deprivation can also change the way the brain assesses economic value. Finally, the study also demonstrates that sleep deprivation increases sensitivity to positive rewards while diminishing sensitivity to negative consequences.
Sleep Deprivation Biases the Neural Mechanisms Underlying Economic Preferences
This article from Gizmodo.com discusses the interesting designs of casino carpets and how they may be designed to be purposely distracting to keep people gambling. Others believe they are deliberately designed “to obscure and camouflage gambling chips that have fallen onto the floor. The casinos sweep up a huge number of these every night. So the carpets are just another source of revenue.”
The Ugly Carpets of Vegas are Hideously Clever Social Engineering at Work
Dr. Bob Breen, a psychiatrist from Rhode Island Hospital, wrote a letter in March 2011 to Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee explaining that 50% of the state’s gambling revenue comes from addicts and warning that allowing table games would create 1,000 to 2,250 new addicts.
According to the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling, 7% of the state’s population are now problem gamblers.
Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling – 1.12.11 Press Release