Gamblor’s World

The Problem Gambling Community Program purpose is to strengthen the capacity of communities to respond to the negative impacts of gambling. The program works in collaboration with Saskatchewan Health to deliver the public education and community development components of Saskatchewan’s problem gambling program.
Bill Ursel Director
On Line Gambling and Problem Gambling Review 106th Edition: Internet Gambling Bill Opposition, Personal Story of Loss, Church of England Opposition, Jamaican Study
1)     Opposition to HR 4411 Grows
Opposition to Congressional Bill HR 4411 continues to grow. Senator Bill Frist is pulling out all stops to seek passage by tacking the bill on to various Department of Defense initiatives. http://tinyurl.com/es2q9
Internal jockeying for position continues with various Senators weighing in to the debate. http://tinyurl.com/j5pty  The major challenger, or so it appears on the surface, is Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, a Virginia Republican. All avenues are being considered by Frist. It is believed that Senator Frist and other proponents of HR 4411 are looking at the pending measure to bolster port security against potential terrorist attacks, as a new method of success. http://tinyurl.com/fl3pf
 
HR 4411 is the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act.
2)     Jamaican Lotteries Commission to Study Problem Gambling Jamaican Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission Chair Walter Scott stated that "One of the things that the commission has done over the last three years is to look at the dark side, because there is a dark side, and it is a fact that there is a dark side to gaming," The study will begin soon at a cost of 4 million dollars.  http://tinyurl.com/hhzut
3)     Bodog.com CEO will Avoid U.S.
Calvin Ayre The Canadian-born founder and chief executive officer of Bodog Entertainment Group, one of the top global players in on-line gambling, knows it would be risky for him to set foot in the United States now that law enforcement officials there are putting the heat on companies in the business. "You’re not going to find any more senior executives of any on-line gaming companies going inside the United States in the near future, including myself." said Ayre. http://tinyurl.com/mh7ub
4)     Moscow Thespians Act on Gambling
Russian actors are being paid to pretend to be destitute beggars in a government scheme to discourage people from gambling. Vladimir Platonov from Moscow city council said the plan would see the actors sent to stand outside casinos dressed as beggars.
http://tinyurl.com/jy3yv
5)     Personal Story and the Challenge of Problem Gambling
Di is a gambler and has lost the family $ 32,000 playing online slot games and Poker. This is the equivalent of her husband’s annual income, and he has been forced to take a second job to pay off his wife’s debts. The problem started after the couple purchased the family computer. Bob, Di’s husband, played at an online casino occasionally and introduced his wife to the website one evening when there was nothing on television. "He regrets that, I’ll tell you," she says, giving the computer a wary glance. She first started playing with small amounts of money during the daytime when her youngest child took his afternoon nap. "It was just $2 bets and sometimes I was lucky." But soon Di began playing for higher stakes.
http://tinyurl.com/gxwq5
6)     School Refuses Lotto Cash
The Parent Advisory Council of South Park Elementary refuses to accept grants funded by gambling. B.C. Lottery Corp. money has funded PACs since 1998. Until 2003, PACs needed to complete complicated forms to qualify for funding of $40 a student. Now the government distributes funds to all PACs based on $20 per student. This year more than 1,500 PACs will receive almost $12 million from the proceeds of casinos, lottery tickets and online gambling. Gaming can be problematic for some people, and is the message that we want to be sending to our kids that we are making money off gambling?" said Rosemary Mann, a parent at the school and former PAC chairwoman.
http://tinyurl.com/hw94h
7)     Church of England calls for Public Health Warnings
Taking the same position as other churches, most prominently The Salvation Army and the Methodist Church, the Church of England reiterated its long-held concern for the potential damage to individuals and families if more people become problem gamblers. The church is continuing its stand against gambling, this time calling for all advertisements that promote gambling to carry health warnings about the potential to fall into addiction.
http://tinyurl.com/jyrlb
8)     Gambling in Australia
Thanks to Rhys Stevens http://www.gamingresearch.blogspot.com
for passing on this link. The publication presents a range of statistics in respect of businesses engaged in the provision of gambling services for the 2004–05 financial year. Previous releases of this publication were in respect of the 1994–95, 1997–98 and 2000–01 financial years.
http://tinyurl.com/paxvl
9)     Ontario Report on Gambling and Problem Gambling
The report presents the results of a survey regarding the nature and extent of gambling and gambling problems in Ontario. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of gambling and problem gambling, to describe the characteristics of individuals experiencing gambling related problems, and to compare trends with the 2001 Ontario gambling prevalence study (Wiebe, Single, & Falkowski-Ham, 2001) with regards to levels of gambling and problem gambling.
http://tinyurl.com/flknx