Bulletin 6, November 3
This Bulletin is published by the Campaign to Ban Ads for Gambling, a group of individuals interested in securing legislation to ban advertisements for gambling, just as has been done for tobacco and cannabis.
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In this Bulletin:
1. Weaponizing Psychology for Gambling
2. Alberta’s Gambling Addiction
3. Where we are, six months in
4. Subscribe to the Bulletin
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1. Weaponizing Psychology for Gambling
“Sports gambling is so dangerous because of the psychological power of random rewards… [Players] “never know when that next win is coming. They start chasing that next win. At the neuroscientific level, the hormone dopamine is released when one is chasing a desired outcome and this release feels good, literally the thrill of the chase. Each loss can make the player feel one step closer to that next win, which always feels like it’s just around the corner.”
“The best way to prevent gambling addictions is to minimize the number of people who try gambling in the first place. As every gambling institution knows, their only real challenge is to get people playing. If they can do that, the psychology of random rewards will do the rest.”
Read the article by U of T psychology professor Steve Joordens, here.
2. Alberta’s Gambling Addiction
“Inside the province’s 24 casinos are the descendants of a limited Video Lottery Terminal trial in the 1990s. Alberta now has some 15,000 VLTs. The machines can be found at another 740 locations in Alberta, in rows of four or eight or a dozen next to bathrooms or kitchen swing doors everywhere from Boston Pizzas to dive bars. Alberta has the second-highest concentration of VLTs in Canada and the highest concentration of casino table games.”
“But these are all the old ways. Since October 2020, hundreds of thousands of Albertans have been gambling from the comfort of their living-room couch (or bus seat or office chair) through a Crown-owned online casino, Play Alberta. This “people’s casino” has already expanded to include single-event sports betting..”
“(In the words of one provincial official as Play Alberta was being launched: “Just imagine the excitement of the Labour Day Classic or Battle of Alberta and walking over to a licensed sports betting area to bet on who makes the next touchdown or goal!”) The local industry is worth $3.4-billion annually and employs an estimated 13,000 people. Three-quarters of Albertans say they gamble every year, 40 per cent through multiple methods, e.g., playing the 6/49, visiting a casino and betting on hockey. That is probably an underestimate.”
3. Where we are, six months in
Ban Ads for Gambling went public on May 1, just six months ago. Some days it feels like a long slog, but already a bill has been introduced into the Senate. Bill S-269 would require the federal government to develop a framework that would identify measures to regulate and restrict the use of advertising for single-event sports betting. It would also set national standards for the prevention and diagnosis of problem gambling. It seems like there will be public hearings on the bill in January with the hope it can be approved and then sent to the House of Commons. Hard to complain about how our small group has been seeing change occur relatively quickly.
Writing a Senator to support Bill S-269 and keeping in touch with your member of Parliament is a good to keep things moving.
4. Subscribe to the Bulletin
There is no charge for the bulletin, and we will not share subscriber names. We need as much support as we can get, so please send this bulletin to your friends and colleagues. Subscribe at info@banadsforgambling.ca