The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

The WAGER, 3(30) - The Great Gene Hunt (and its implications)

To those on both sides of the perpetual “nature vs. nurture” debate and to those who deny the usefulness of such a rigid dichotomy, recent work by geneticist David Comings will be of particular interest. His recent study, “The Molecular Genetics of Pathological Gambling,” provides insight that will pique the interest of researchers and clinicians across a wide spectrum of disciplines.1 There is always a danger of reductionism when trying to distill and discuss etiological research (and genetics, in particular), but his major findings can be summarized as thus: 1) Pathological gambling is a spectrum disorder; that is, a disorder... Read more →

The WAGER, 3(29) - Repainting the Town

"Remember how much fun summer vacation used to be?" So reads the headline of a full color advertisement intended to tantalize this summer's USA Today readers into visiting “America's best vacation value (1)." Perhaps an ad from the National Park Service promoting Yosemite or Yellowstone? Maybe a mouse-adorned plug for Disneyworld? Nay, the destination pictured is Las Vegas and the ad is part of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's marketing program for the summer of 1998. Yet, rather than being an adman's prescription to whitewash and repackage the Strip for a new market, the LVCVA's campaign is instead... Read more →

The WAGER, 3(28) - On the Street, Out of Luck

If pathological gambling can wreak personal, social, and economic havoc on the average American who brings home $2038.40 in pre-tax income every four weeks (1), how much more so for those among us for whom $200 must last the month? Such is one of the questions posed by Robert J.Tekniepe in his masters thesis, Preva­lence of problematic gambling behavior: An exploratory study of the low income population of Las Vegas, NV (2). Tekniepe's methodology is reasonably simple; He conducts face-to-face interviews using a questionnaire comprised of the DSM IV criteria for pathological gambling and his own demographically-oriented questions. The surveys... Read more →

The WAGER, 3(27) - All Eyes on France: World Cup ‘98

Much like the Olympics, the World Cup championships unite the global community in an international fellowship of skill, agility, strength... and betting. With expanded television coverage and Internet attention, World Cup soccer has become more fan-accessible than ever before. But accompanying this information technology is a parallel development of the international sports gambling infrastructure. Recent months have borne witness to a proliferation of gambling activity, legal and illegal, focusing on the World Cup championship and its preliminary matches. In addition to the usual office betting pools, soccer bettors can now place their wagers using an elaborate network of cyber-casinos and... Read more →