Unlawful Gambling

“Current estimates suggest that three percent of the adult population will experience a serious problem with gambling that will result in significant debt, family disruption, job losses, criminal activity or suicide. Pathological gambling affects the gamblers, their families, their employers and the community. As the gamblers go through the phases of their addiction, they spend less

Gambling can be done at a casino, racetrack, or online. Compulsive gambling addiction can lead to criminal behaviors. There are several phases in gambling. The winning phase lead gamblers to win several winnings, which leads them to believe that they will keep winning. The loosing phase often begins with bragging about their past wins and start gambling alone and begin to borrow money. The loosing phase leads to debts. The desperation phase can lead to suicidal thoughts, arrests, divorce and alcohol and drug abuse.

Twenty-one is the premier age an individual turns in order to try first hand at gambling in the United States, unless eighteen and on vacation on a cruise ship. Gambling brings suspense, excitement, enjoyment and most of all, money, to those who participate. Although the excitement of hitting “blackjack,” wears off after the weeks following a twenty-first birthday, the downside can last a life time. Gambling has become an overnight sensation and continues to grow throughout the United States and around the world. The addicting highs of gambling have consumed numerous individuals towards downward spirals and tribulations. Some researchers, and psychologists, suggest that gambling is a victimless crime, however,

There are many different forms of gambling. Whether one is betting on a lottery ticket, a horse race, a sports game, or slot machines, to name a few, they are spending money with unfavourable odds of winning that money back. Many people cannot control when they walk away from gambling, as they will continue to bet in an attempt to win back the lost money. The issue is - for the most part - that the losses continue to increase. In Victoria, in the fiscal year of 2000-01, gamblers lost a total of $14.38 billion, including $2.36 billion on the leading cause of losses, poker machines (11). This can result in problem gambling. Based on different surveys in Canada, it is estimated that approximately 1 in 20 Canadians either have a gambling problem, or are at serious risk of obtaining one. 1 in 20 Canadians adds up to 760,800 problem gamblers (12). In the US, an estimated 3 million people are problem gamblers, and another 15 million are at risk of developing gambling problems (13). Problem gambling would not be as severe of an issue if it only harmed the gambler themselves, as it is their choice to gamble and displays a only a lack of self control. The issue is that people are indirectly affected by problem gambling. It can result in problems with personal relationships, neglect of ones family, bankruptcy, and stress related disorders such as depression, or insomnia (14). Problem gambling also has a positive correlation with crime. This means that the more problem gamblers there are, the more crimes are being committed. Statistics from a published survey show that only 3.3% of responsible, low frequency gamblers have been convicted of committing a crime, while a staggering 28.3% of problem gamblers have been convicted at least once (15). These numbers show that problem gamblers do not only harm themselves, but the consequences have a continuous ripple effect,

“The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene conducted a study before the first Maryland casino opened in 2010, and published it in 2011. They found that nearly 90 percent of Marylanders had gambled, and that 3.4 percent were either pathological gamblers or problem gamblers.” (Massimo) There has been numerous stories of addicted gamblers in debt, gamblers that have lost family and friends from their addictions. There was a man $400,000 in debt, his wife threw him out of the house and told him he could not see his kids again unless he gave up gambling. Also, another gambler went on a 48 hour binge without sleeping and barely eating. A woman faced a jail term for stealing $135,000 to feed her gambling

Gambling is seen as a psychological problem affecting millions of Americans across the country. It is estimated that 20 million Americans have or could develop gambling problems, and about half of these are young adults. Gambling is sometimes connected to spouse and child abuse, bankruptcy, mental breakdowns, substance abuse, theft, divorce, and suicide. It is estimated that people are twice as likely to be a problem or pathological gambler if a casino is within 50 miles of their home. Citizens will also experience alcohol-related problems, as the casinos will be permitted to sell or provide complimentary alcoholic beverages during all hours that they operate (Amend. 5, Sect. 10E).

Based on information from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), the National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) states that there are two and a half million individuals who fall into a state defined as a pathological gambler, another three million are considered problem gamblers, and roughly fifteen million more could be considered “at-risk” (NORC, 1999). A pathological gambler is one who has a severe uncontrollable urge to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. This project proposes to address the need to keep a casino patron from developing a pathological or compulsive gambling problem. The project will entail investigating the driving factors for a person gambling themselves into problems and

Relating to the issue of subgroups, pathological gambling was originally classified as an impulse control disorder by the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000), though, based on its criteria similar to substance dependence, some researchers preferred to consider it a behavioural addiction (Blanco et al., 2001; Potenza et al., 2002). Goudriaan et al. (2006) provide a similar argument, stating that pathological gambling and alcohol dependence share common EF deficits, and it has since been amended to be a behavioural addiction the in the DSM-V (APA, 2013). The divisive topic of screening and diagnosis could have serious consequences on the quality of care, or form of therapy, a pathological gambler may receive or decide to enter. Whether they legitimately

Other surveys draw on the characteristics of pathological gambling, now called ‘gambling disorder, which also could be categorized to the kind of behavior we see in youths who show addiction type Internet use. Again, the surveys often simply swap the words ‘Internet use’ for ‘gambling’. Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire, for example, contains eight yes-or-no items drawn directly from the criteria used to identify pathological gamblers. One question asks: “Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use?” Another asks, “Have you lied to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet?” This survey was later expanded to a 20-item questionnaire, called the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) with a five-point scale so that subjects could indicate the extent to which they engage in behaviors that suggest addiction. For most of the surveys, researchers have established cutoff scores to

“Pathological gambling is excessive risk taking exaggerated to an especially destructive extreme.” This is the way Dr. Ted and Brad Klontz open their chapter on the destructive behavior that is gambling (Klontz, B., & Klontz, T, 2009). As the authors describe gambling is a habit that becomes like a drug as people, mostly men, continue to gamble to make themselves feel better about themselves or to escape their present reality. The biggest danger of this disorder is that it is one that people try to hide from others the most, and are very hesitant to admit that their gambling is an addiction.

There are many reasons as to why there are such varying results in the current body of research surrounding the notion of a relationship between problem gambling and personality traits. One of the reasons explored in some papers, is the fact that there are possible subtypes of problem gamblers, with each subtype producing different results in personality tests, showing that there are further differences within the population of individuals with gambling issues (MacLaren, Best, Dixon, & Harrigan, 2011; Myrseth, Pallesen, Molde, Johnsen, & Lorvik, 2009). The differences in the results of the subgroups indicate that it may not be feasible to generalise problem gambling and certain personality traits (MacLaren, Best, Dixon, & Harrigan, 2011).

To avoid the negative feelings associated with withdrawal, the addict continues to gamble. (+) Orford et al. (1996) found that gamblers and alcoholics both experience similar withdrawal symptoms and levels of perceived strength of addiction. (-) self-report methods (-) addicts are likely to lie (-) Potenza et al. (2003) found, from MRI scans, differences in blood flow to the brains of non-gamblers and gamblers when watching a gambling tape compared to a happy or sad film. (-) cause and effect RELAPSE Gamblers experience similar withdrawal symptoms to addicts with substance addictions, so a theory stands that gamblers relapse in order to stop the withdrawal symptoms. (-) Ciarrochi et al. (1987) found gamblers often have other addictions, such as alcoholism or shopping addictions. Cues associated with the behaviour, i.e. chips or dice, often cause a relapse of dopamine that the original gambling behaviour did. This causes prediction of a reward, which can cause a relapse. (-) Reductionism: biological approach reduces addiction, a complex phenomenon, to simple terms.

To assess risk based on gambling we will use 10 questions from the NORC DSM-IV Screen for Gambling Problems (NODS). Past scores of this test have been very reliable, with scores r= 0.99 and 0.98, by Gerstein et. al (1999). This test assesses 10 different categories of risk taking while gambling (preoccupation, tolerance, withdrawal, loss of control, escape, chasing, lying, illegal acts, risked relationships, and bailout). To account for the difference in the number of test questions we will use one question from each category. In accordance with the measurement will use with the original scale we will rate high risk behaviors as those that occur in three to four of the previously mentioned categories, moderate risk as those that have behaviors occurring in one to two categories, and low risk as no problem in any category. To make these scores compatible with the ones previously mentioned, we will assign high risk behaviors six points, moderate risk two points, and low risk zero

     Gambling addiction is an issue found in numerous areas where gambling is legal. People who are addicted to gambling, also know as problem gamblers, face many health risks including depression, suicidal thoughts, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, migraine and anxiety in addition to marriage breakdown, problems at work and bankruptcy (9). About 2 percent of adults are thought to be problem gamblers (1). In today’s society this costly addiction is not often considered to be a common problem among those who gamble. Only a small amount of states in the U.S. give enough attention toward this rising problem of people that are sometimes even willing to commit crimes just to aid their addiction. In the past our

What about numbers games? In a three-number game, the odds of your number coming up are 1 in 1,000. In a six-number game, it is 1 in 10 million. What about “Super 7,” which is seven numbers in a row? It is 1 in 100 million.