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Gambling addiction closely linked to exposure: Professor


Jurisdictions that offer wide and frequent access to gambling, such as Australia’s pokies clubs or Japan’s pachinko parlors, may see more cases of problem gambling than gaming meccas such as Macau and Las Vegas, says Professor Bo J. Bernhard, executive director of the UNLV International Gaming Institute.

“Not all gambling is created equal when it comes to problem gambling,” said Bernhard on the sidelines of Sands China’s annual Responsible Gaming Team Training Program at The Venetian Macau, quoted by Macau Daily Times.

“Integrated resorts that are tourist-focused have shown to bring [relatively] reduced social costs, compared to widespread local convenience gambling, like fruit machines in the UK or pokies in Australia… Convenience gambling in every neighborhood creates more problems. Take Japan and its Pachinko parlors for example. Lots of machines, but no tourism and no job creation,” he said.

Bernhard said that in his opinion, problem gambling was more tied to exposure to gaming in terms of time and frequency, with a prime example being that of frontline casino employees in Macau.

“There is definitely research that suggests that casino employees have slightly higher rates of problem gambling,” he said.

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