Traditional and innovated gambling products: an exploration of player preferences

There is concern that recent innovations of traditional face-to-face gambling products may lead to increased harm because of the tendency for innovated products to share certain structural features with electronic gaming machines (EGMs). The VICES framework focusses on several mechanisms known to influence gambling behaviour: visual and auditory enhancements, illusions of control, cognitive complexity, expedited play and social customization. The current study applied the VICES framework to an investigation of player experiences with both traditional and innovated gambling products. Through a series of six focus groups (N = 40) with regular bingo, poker and casino table game players and sports bettors, we examined the characteristics of innovated gambling products and their influences on player experience and the risk of gambling harm. Findings suggest that traditional games are perceived as more social, more enjoyable and less harmful. This was largely attributed to the low social interaction, expedited play and increased potential for consumption that is associated with EGM-type gambling activity. Further, we suggest that VICES, pending some revision, is a valid and applicable framework by which to identify characteristics of innovated products that influence player experience and behaviour.     

Gangster,victim or both? The interdiscursive construction of sameness and difference in self‐presentations

The paper conceptualizes two contradictory discourses, both used by ethnic minority drug dealers in a street drug market in Oslo, Norway. Oppression discourse includes personal narratives of unemployment, racism and psycho-social problems, often combined with stories about the government and city council being unwilling to help. Drug dealers use the discourse to justify drug dealing and violence, both for themselves and in meetings with welfare organizations. Gangster discourse , on the other hand, includes a series of personal narratives emphasizing how hard, smart, and sexually alluring the young men are. Drug dealers use this discourse to gain self-respect and respect from others, and it dominates interactions on the street. An important argument in this paper is that the discursive practice of criminals inspires theoretical perspectives on criminal practice. Oppression and gangster discourses have inspired, respectively, neutralization and subculture theory. When the same people use both discourses, however, the picture becomes more complicated. The 'bilingual' discursive practice of the street drug dealers reflects the ambivalent role of the researcher, and a Scandinavian institutional and social context where street drug dealers have extensive contact with a welfare state apparatus. The paper still suggests that similar interdiscursivity may have been sacrificed in previous research to produce more coherent theoretical frameworks.     

清代盐商笔下的汉口镇

清代徽商出自学术之邦,儒家文化底蕴深厚。徽商的主体和代表是盐商,他们与江浙的盐商同样溯江而上,往来于维扬与川陕之间。他们热爱汉口的大市场和城市山水,写下了很多描写汉口城市的诗文。本文依据清代盐商范锴《汉口丛谈》的记载,着重反映了这些盐商的儒雅风范,同时也为读者展现了这些盐商描绘的有关汉口镇的市场、街道、山水、名胜、人文景观的美丽历史画卷。     

Securitization vs the yearning for peace in the Israeli casino discourse

This study analyses the controversy in Israel in the years 1958–2003 surrounding the legitimacy of casino gambling, with particular focus on how it was affected by the operations of Casino Oasis in the Palestinian Authority territory between 1998 and 2000. An interpretative narrative analysis of debates in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) and in the local press reveals that, prior to the casino's opening, most of the arguments raised were similar to those seen elsewhere in the world, with opponents objecting on moral, religious and social grounds, and those in favour emphasizing its economic and tourism benefits. However, once Casino Oasis opened its doors, the controversy took on a character not seen anywhere else in this context – opponents raised concerns about terrorism, while proponents championed the casino as a promoter of peace and coexistence – reflecting a broader, more fundamental national debate within Israeli society over the country's physical boundaries.     

The Relationship of Ecological and Geographic Factors to Gambling Behavior and Pathology

The current study examined the effect of neighborhood disadvantage and gambling availability on gambling participation and pathology. A national telephone survey included 2631 US adults. Census data was used to characterize the respondents neighborhood, and the distance from the respondents home to gambling facilities was calculated. Logistic and linear regressions were performed to predict gambling participation and pathology. Results showed that the neighborhood disadvantage was positively related to frequency of gambling and problem/pathological gambling. The presence of a casino within 10miles of the respondents home was positively related to problem/pathological gambling. The permissiveness of gambling laws was positively related to any gambling in the past year, as well as frequent gambling. These results were interpreted to mean that the ecology of disadvantaged neighborhoods promotes gambling pathology, and that availability of gambling opportunities promotes gambling participation and pathology.     

Loyalty programmes in the gambling industry: potentials for harm and possibilities for harm-minimization

The field of gambling studies has been remarkably silent on loyalty programmes in the gambling industry. This article reviews the scant empirical literature, with an aim to stimulate discussion and research about the impact of loyalty programme membership on players. Preliminary evidence suggests that disordered gamblers are more apt to join a loyalty programme and be disproportionately rewarded (due to the amount of money they spend gambling) relative to recreational and at-risk gamblers. As such, loyalty programmes in the gambling industry may generate harms in vulnerable individuals. However, loyalty programmes may also be well positioned to facilitate harm-minimization by promoting behavioural tracking that is collected on every member – information that can be provided to players to advance responsible gambling. Additionally, members could be rewarded for engagement with responsible gambling tools, which may increase the currently low rate of tool use. That said, structuring loyalty programmes to reward the use of responsible gambling instruments with time on device or even non-monetary prizes may be incompatible with harm-minimization efforts. There exists a need for empirical research on the antecedents and consequences of loyalty programme membership as well as the possibility that loyalty programmes have some responsibility gambling utility.     

The family exclusion order as a harm-minimisation measure for casino gambling: the case of Singapore

Singapore is one of the first jurisdictions in the world that has implemented a harm minimization model based on third party exclusion known as the Family Exclusion Order (FEO). Unlike other forms of third party exclusion practiced in other countries, family members in Singapore are able to apply for FEOs to prevent a gambler from entering the casinos, if the family has experienced harm caused by his/her gambling. In this study, 105 applicants for the FEO were sampled from all successful FEOs granted within a five-year period. Using a qualitative approach, this study attempts to illuminate the intricate issues experienced by family members that provided the impetus for them to apply for the FEO. While the extant literature posits self-exclusion as a superior tool of restraint as it involves the gambler’s personal motivation to curb gambling, this paper reports initial evidence of benefits resulting from family-imposed restraints from the perspective of family members. In particular, positive ratings of the FEO stemmed from a sense of relief experienced by mother and wife applicants. Possible reasons behind these positive outcomes are explicated using intrinsic motivation theory, with sensitivity to gender relations within the family.     

A generational comparison of problem gambling and gambling attitudes among older adult gambling venue patrons

Gambling is a popular leisure activity for older adults (55+), and existing research suggests that overall older adults are less prone to problem gambling compared to younger cohorts. People born after World War II are now beginning to reach retirement age. The purpose of this article was to explore age-related cohort differences between people born from 1943 to 1960 compared to those born from 1925 to 1942 in their attitudes and behaviours related to gambling. This study employs a large sample (2103) of older adults collected at gambling locations across Southern Ontario, Canada in 2013. Comparisons were made using Pearson’s chi-squared tests for categorical variables and independent samples t-tests for continuous variables with logarithmic transformations for highly-skewed variables. Those of the 1943 to 1960 cohort showed significantly higher problem gambling scores and per visit spending, but lower numbers of visits per year. There was no discernible pattern between cohorts in terms of attitudes toward gambling. Assumptions of lower risk of problem gambling among older adults will have to be re-evaluated as the post-war generation becomes an ever greater proportion of older adults.     

我国券商业务风险成因的比较分析

证券公司是一种风险相对较高的金融机构.对于高速成长但毕竟又很年轻的我国券商而言,风险防范具有重要意义.本文采用比较分析和实证分析相结合的方法,归结出我国券商资产规模过小,资产缺乏流动性,业务范围过窄以及缺乏健全的风险防范机制,是导致其业务高风险的主要原因,从而为寻求我国券商业务风险防范途径提供了相应的思路.     

论我国债券市场的发展

我国的债券市场经过20多年的发展已经初具规模,但在市场结构、流动性、法律制度、市场监管等方面还存在问题。对发展我国债券市场的建议是:完善法律体系,统一市场监管;发展公司债券,丰富债券品种;促进对外开放,扩大投资队伍;完善做市商制,增加市场流动;联通二级市场,统一托管结算。