ABSTRACT The Massachusetts Model represents an approach to funding gambling research that addresses concerns about industry influence while advancing evidence-based policy and harm reduction initiatives. Developed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC), this model integrates mandatory industry fees, an open procurement process, and a robust commitment to open science principles. The Massachusetts Model aligns research with public health priorities and ensures rigorous oversight through its Research Review Committee. This paper explores the model’s development, its unique legislative provisions – including access to player-level data – and its impact on advancing gambling research and policy. Comparative analyses highlight the advantages and limitations of alternative funding approaches worldwide. We contend that the Massachusetts Model offers a viable path forward for other jurisdictions seeking to engage in rigorous scientific inquiry using indirect industry funding, while maintaining independence and transparency. In doing so, it addresses broader challenges in securing sustainable funding for independent research in the field of gambling studies, providing a framework that prioritizes public health and ethical governance in the research process and its outcomes.

ABSTRACT Australian gaming venues host almost one Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) per 100 adults. To mitigate the transmission of the COVID-19 virus, Australian governments closed gaming venues and imposed reopening restrictions. We examine the impact of these closures and restrictions in Queensland and Victoria. These states differed in their responses to the pandemic, and they both make their gaming revenue data public. We use two alternate predictions to establish how they responded: one without the pandemic and another with the government-imposed restrictions on EGM availability. By comparing these forecasts against actual EGM expenditure, we assess how gaming expenditures recovered after gaming venues re-opened. Our analysis reveals that since March 2020, Queensland expenditure rebounded by 24.9% when accounting for COVID-19 restrictions and 19.4% when comparing expenditure to the no-COVID-19 scenario levels of gambling spending. In Victoria, expenditures were 4.8% higher than the COVID-19 restriction-adjusted forecast but dropped by 5.8% compared to the no-COVID-19 scenario. Given the significance of EGM-related taxes to state revenue, we propose that these changes had differing impacts on the two state government tax receipts. This paper provides insights into the effects of pandemic-related restrictions on gaming behavior and their impacts on state finances.

ABSTRACT In some Danish schools, gambling is talked about as a normal part of being a young man. Why do some young men gamble? This paper examines the role of community in the gambling practices of young men to expand our knowledge on the motivations behind gambling. Other research points to social motives as one of several motivations for gambling, but more knowledge is needed on social gambling practices. This paper presents empirical data from ethnographic fieldwork in a Danish upper-secondary school collected spring 2023. Specifically, I analyze data from a class where young men play on digital slot machines and sports betting. I understand the young men’s group as an affinity space, and through this framework analyze their norms, identities and practices. These connect the men to each other, the rest of the school and a culture beyond the school. Through these analyses, I show an example of a socially constructed gambling space in Danish school. I argue that social motives and a sense of belonging are important motivational factors in these young men’s gambling. By showing actual practices, I expand our knowledge on social motivation for gambling. I argue that this knowledge has implications for prevention.

ABSTRACT Given the risk and prevalence of excessive gambling, stakeholders have developed educational resources and tools to promote responsible gambling (RG) and minimize gambling-related harms. However, the effectiveness of such programs relies on players’ awareness of, and their engagement with, such programming. This research investigated factors that influence player engagement with the GameSense RG program. We surveyed 1109 regular players across three casinos in Massachusetts where GameSense is used. We found that most players (73.1%) were aware of GameSense and that 17.6% had engaged with the program. In terms of reasons for visiting a Center, Latent Class Analysis revealed two distinct classes: ’Information Seekers’ and ”Curiosity and Swag Inspired’. As for those who had yet to visit a Center, three classes emerged: ‘Invitation Responsive’, ‘Self-Assured Non-Believers’, and ‘Self-Assured’. Although GameSense is for the broad spectrum of gamblers, we found that players who engaged in more RG behaviors were less likely to engage with the program. The results suggest encouraging all players to engage with GameSense may be a challenge. Efforts are needed to increase awareness and engagement of the program across the broad spectrum of gamblers.

ABSTRACT Responsible Gambling/Harm Minimization (RG/HM) measures have the potential to reduce population level gambling harms. The present study examines Canadian casino electronic gaming machine (EGM) players’ (n = 2808) awareness of a selection of the available RG/HM measures, and the impact they believed these measures had on their gambling expenditure and enjoyment. The results showed that Canadian casino EGM players were generally aware of most of the measures, with this awareness being significantly higher among at-risk and problem/pathological gamblers. However, these measures had very little perceived impact on their gambling expenditure or enjoyment. Subsequent multivariate analyzes found that a) increased levels of overall awareness of RG/HM measures were related to male gender, younger age, and higher importance of gambling as a leisure activity; b) that decreased perceived expenditure from RG/HM measures were related to younger age, being an at-risk gambler, and the frequency of limit setting in the context of gambling play; and c) increased perceived enjoyment from RG/HM measures were related to lower household incomes. Messages targeted at Canadian casino EGM players who appear sensitive to the potential and actual harms of gambling, and messages relating to limit setting frequency in the context of gambling play, may impact gambling perceptions.

ABSTRACT Laboratory studies reveal that participants’ expectations influence the relation between acute alcohol consumption and gambling behaviors. However, specific expectations have not been explored. To fill this gap, people who gamble frequently were asked about their expectations for how alcohol influences their gambling behaviors. Individuals who gamble frequently (n = 472) were recruited via MTurk and completed a survey that included current gambling behaviors and alcohol expectancies while gambling. As many as 55% agreed to some extent that they were more focused, had skills increase, felt calmer, and won more when gambling under the influence of alcohol. Additionally, positive alcohol expectancies significantly predicted percentage of time spent simultaneously consuming alcohol and gambling. Several specific expectations were related to percentage of time gambling while drinking. Individuals who gamble weekly hold both positive and negative expectations about how alcohol consumption impacts gambling. Responsible gambling practices might target these expectations in efforts to educate consumers. Providing resources regarding the effects of acute alcohol use on gambling might curb both alcohol and gambling-related harms.

ABSTRACT Participation in various types of gambling is associated with age and gender. Younger men tend to be drawn toward online gambling whereas women and older individuals tend to engage more in land-based gambling such as electronic gaming machines (EGMs). The present study examined how annual trends in theoretical loss, a robust measure of risk propensity/gambling intensity, varied according to age groups and gender among an EGM-population in Norway (N = 195,318, 26.5% women, age range 18 to 103 years [M = 40.13, SD = 16.29]). Quantile regression on the 25th percentile, median, and 90th percentile theoretical loss showed that higher theoretical loss at these quantiles were associated with older age. At the 90th percentile: Individuals aged 60–69 years had highest theoretical loss at 15,343 NOK (1,784 USD). Compared to men, women had higher 90th percentile theoretical loss (1,658 NOK≈193 USD). Interaction analyses showed that the positive association between age and theoretical loss was stronger for men compared to women. Gambling expenditure is positively associated with disordered gambling and the findings suggests that older individuals and women represent more vulnerable groups among the EGM population.

ABSTRACT Both personality factors (e.g. impulsivity) and structural game characteristics impact decision-making on games of chance. We examined the relationship between impulsivity and decision-making on a slot machine task programmed with different near-miss frequencies. Fifty-eight college students entered a simulated casino environment and played a slot machine pre-loaded with 30 credits. Unbeknownst to participants, the slot machine was programmed so that several larger wins occurred early in the sequence, followed by a pattern of diminishing returns that reduced credits to zero on a predetermined trial. Participants were randomly assigned to two conditions, the first with up to 19% of trials set as near misses and the second with only 2% as near misses. After controlling for gender, race, and lifetime gambling frequency, the near-miss condition was found to moderate the relationship between impulsivity and the number of trials played. When there were fewer near misses, impulsivity did not appear to impact decision-making. However, when near misses were frequent, individuals with higher impulsivity persisted longer, even when other characteristics of gameplay remained constant (e.g. bet size, prizes). These findings suggest that certain features of slot machines may capitalize on impulsive gamblers’ vulnerabilities and should be regulated.

ABSTRACT When gambling, people tend to speed up after losses. This ’post-loss speeding’ is in contrast with ’post-error slowing’, which is often observed in behavioral tasks in experimental psychology. Importantly, participants can control the outcome in most behavioral tasks, but not in gambling tasks. To test whether perceived controllability over the outcome influences response speed after negative outcomes when gambling, we ran two online studies in which we created an illusion of control without changing the nature of the chance-determined gamble. Using the manipulation by Langer and Roth (1975), whose effect is replicated in Part I, we presented three groups of healthy participants (N = 600 per experiment, crowdsourced samples) with three different sequences of outcomes in a coin-tossing task. We replicated that participants presented with more wins at the beginning of a sequence estimated their ability to predict the outcome of a coin-toss higher than participants presented with more losses at the beginning, or those presented with a random sequence. Additionally, participants generally responded more quickly after a loss than after a win. However, the illusion of control did not influence post-loss speeding. This result is not consistent with several theoretical accounts for changes in response speed after sub-optimal outcomes.

ABSTRACT This study explores how various gambling motives are complexly typified among young adults and examines the difference between gambling behavior and problems and mental health according to typed groups of sub-gambling motives. With 243 young adults as subjects, latent class analysis using M-plus was employed to check how the gambling motives of young adults are typified, and chi-test and one-way ANOVA were performed on the differences in gambling behavior, gambling problems, and mental health according to the derived latent group (typing). As a result, the parallel and complex aspects of gambling motives were derived into four types of gambling motives, and according to group characteristics, they were named as follows: low overall motivation group (29.8%), high level of avoidance-focused-complex motivation group (36.4%), high level of excitement and social motivation group (19.0%), and high level of monetary and amusement motivation group (14.9%). According to the types of gambling motives, differences in gambling behavior, gambling problems, and mental health were higher in the high-level avoidance-focused-complex motivation group than in the other groups. Based on these results, we suggest establishing an intervention strategy by carefully evaluating the level of avoidance motivation and its causes when various motives are combined in clinical settings.