Pantages Hotel Toronto, Ontario March 10 th -11 th 2016 Social casino gaming and problem gambling: Is protection/regulation required? Jeffrey Derevensky McGill University International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors www.youthgambling.com March, 2016 Hosted by
The Millennials
So what s so different???
Technologically sophisticated
Convergence of social media sites and gambling
Casino type games have become the most popular social gaming genre In 2010, 338 applications that allowed wagering using virtual credits were found on Facebook (Korn et al., 2010) Top 5 Facebook casino games attract almost 50 million active monthly users Zynga Poker alone attracts 34.8 million monthly players; 6.8 million daily players Of the top ten grossing iphone apps in the US, three are currently casino games - Slotomania, Zynga Poker, and Texas Hold em Poker Social media games are the new darling; their corporations are the most sought after by gambling companies
Social media simulated gambling games originally played for virtual money are now being played for real money
Convergence of Social Media & Gambling Poker/card games Casino games Sports wagering Reality shows Celebrity adoptions, arrests, etc. Any form of contest/political race
Internet gambling without money: A few examples
Practice sites This website does not permit players to wager real money. Chips in players' accounts have no monetary value, and cannot be exchanged for anything of value. Any and all references in the website to "pots," "limits", "betting or the like are solely for instructional or illustrative purposes and do not involve wagering real money.
ZyngaPlusCasino brings players more than 160 slots games and a variety of table games including Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat and Video Poker as well as the first-ever FarmVille-themed slots game. This is just the beginning for us and that its long-term vision is to offer our players the next generation of real money games on multiple platforms in regulated markets worldwide. The company also claims players have been asking for real-money games and it is simply giving them what they want.
DoubleDown has more than 6 million players Survey of casual players (N=10,000) 25% indicated casino games are unique amongst other games 19% reported wanting the look and feel of a real casino increases entertainment value Player prioritize load times, gaming quality, graphics and variety 31% preferred slot games; especially those found in casinos
Is this a problem: Some empirical evidence
Frequency of Play on Internet Gambling Sites Without Money in the Past 12 Months by Gambling Severity (McBride & Derevensky, 2006) Gambling Groups*** N = 2205 Internet Gambling Without Money 1 (n = 1082) Internet Gambling With Money 1 (n=183) Non Gambler n = 726 33.9 0 Social Gambler n = 1278 56.6 9.5 At-Risk Gambler n = 129 74.4 21.6 Probable Pathological Gambler n = 72 80.6 34.7 Total 49.1 8.0*
Age of Onset for Internet Gambling Without Money by Gambling Severity 1 Percentage. Gambling Groups are based on DSM-IV and DSM-IV-MR scores. a DSM-IV score (0-2); DSM-IV-MR-J score (0-1). b DSM-IV score (3-4); DSM-IV-MR-J score (2-3). c DSM-IV score ( 5); DSM-IV-MR-J score ( 4). *** p<.001. Age*** Under 10 years Social Gambler a (n = 1333) Gambling Groups 1 At-Risk Gambler b (n = 138) Probable Pathologica l Gambler c (n = 72) 4.4 13.1 16.9 10-11 years 8.8 10.9 16.9 12-13 years 15.2 19.0 25.4 14-15 years 17.2 15.3 15.5 16-17 years 9.1 7.3 2.8 Over 18 years 2.8 0.7 2.8
Another study (Meerkamper, 2010)
Past-Year Gambling Participation (On and Off the Internet) by Gender and Problem Gambling Severity among college students (McBride & Derevensky, 2013) Gender*** N Offline gambling Practice sites Internet gambling Male 305 66.2 49.8 11.8 (90) Female 160 46.9 30.0 0.6 (90) Problem Gambling Severity Non gambler a 186-22.0 (90)*** - Social gambler b 262 99.2 55.3 (90)*** 11.8 (90)** Problem gambler c 17 100 82.4 (90)*** 35.3 (90)** Total 465 59.6 (90) 43.0 (90) 8.0 (90) 1 Percentage, participant numbers in parentheses. a DSM-IV score = 0, no gambling activity (on or off the Internet) in the past 12 months. b DSM-IV score (0-2). c DSM-IV score ( 3). ***p <.001 ** p <.01
Student-Athletes Reporting Playing Any Simulated Gambling Activity (Past Year) (Paskus & Derevensky, 2013) 2012 Study Males 28.1% Females 10.2%
Perceptions 68% of young people report winning is easy 60% report probability of winning is high 81% gambling can make you rich
Facts & Concerns
Gambling sites permitting playing without money have been shown to have differential payout rates represent training ground for future players Much social media gambling incorporates videogame technology Social gaming sites remain unregulated, have few age prohibitions, and provide indirect marketing to consumers Recent studies suggest young male adults are more likely to engage in both simulated Pantages gambling Hotel Toronto, Ontario March and 2016 actual Internet
Playing on Internet gambling sites without money is a common practice amongst adolescents and young adults At-Risk and PPGs play on Internet with and without money more often than non-gamblers and social gamblers Regulation would change the face of the industry Online gambling and social gambling business models are essentially identical (Morgan Stanley Report, 2012)
There is concern that with many gambling simulations is how the odds are often geared to benefit the players, which may provide a false impression of the ease of winning. (Australian Government Review of the Interactive Gambling Act, 2012). Gambling operators are continuing to expand into social gambling Ipsos MORI study in the U.K. found 15% of children (age 11-15) played simulated gambling sites during past week 51% of children playing these games gambled for real money compared to 18% who had not played
Engagement with social casinos games has been found to be a risk factor for increased gambling (Kim, Wohl, Salmon, Gupta & Derevensky, 2015; Gainsbury, King, Delfabbro, Hing, Russell, Blaszczynski & Derevensky, 2015). Individuals who played these games for connecting with other players or to build skill were more likely to gamble (Hollingshead, Kim, Wohl & Derevensky, in press). 26% of social casino gamers who never gambled migrated to online gambling 6 months later (Kim, Wohl, Salmon, Gupta & Derevensky, 2015).
Social casino gaming sites might require monitoring (Derevensky & Gainsbury, 2015) Advertising these sites seems to promote play among moderate to severe problem gamblers (Gainsbury, King, Russell, Delfabbro, Derevensky & Hing (in press). Morgan Stanley report on social gambling (Nov., 2012) suggests that social gambling offers the potential to teach young people to gamble
Australian Government Review of the Interactive Gambling act (2012): The public policy argument for prohibiting access to such gaming simulations is that it potentially normalises gambling amongst children and may lead them to become problem gamblers in the future.
U. K. Gambling Commission (2015) The boundaries between social gaming and commercial gambling have become increasingly blurred and are of concern for young people as a result of: the growth in use of social media for social gaming and gambling an increasing convergence between the products of traditional gambling and social gaming businesses significant investment by companies developing new products or ways of marketing existing products
U. K. Gambling Commission (2015) The boundaries between social gaming and commercial gambling have become increasingly blurred and are of concern for young people as a result of: the growth in use of social media for social gaming and gambling an increasing convergence between the products of traditional gambling and social gaming businesses significant investment by companies developing new products or ways of marketing existing products
Social Policy Implications Need to continue to monitor changes in gambling behaviors as new technologies develop Need to help protect vulnerable populations Need to help educate youth about the warning signs associated with problem gambling Need for more prevention/education initiatives Greater public and parental awareness This is an area in greater need for collaboration between policy makers, regulators, the industry and researchers Regulation???