The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

The WAGER, Vol. 3(34) - The Neurobiology of Reward

David Comings’ research (1998), reviewed in WAGER 30, discussed the relatively higher prevalence of a particu­lar genetic configuration in pathological gamblers. Similarly high incidences were found in subjects with disorders such as PTSD, alcoholism, and autism. Comings proposed the existence of a spectrum disorder which transcends discrete diagnostic categories to include a wide range of impulsive, compulsive, and addictive maladies (1). But the mere presence of a particular allele does not automatically produce addiction, just as the presence of clouds does not automatically lead to rain. The neural mechanisms at work are complex, and deserve attention. Blum, Cull, Braverman, and... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 3(33) - Raging Hormones

The significance of economic exchange has long fascinated anthropologists. Mauss dedicated an entire volume to the social functions served by gift-giving, Malinowski’s seminal work focused its attention on the kula transactions of the Trobriand Islands, and Benedict interpreted the potlach festivals among the Kwakiutl. Gambling, too, has its own anthropological literature that documents and discusses the logistics, functions, and meanings of gambling in cross-cultural settings. But Schmitt, Harrison, and Spargo (1998) have taken the subject of gambling out of the anthropological realm of the social and into that of the physical and biological (1). The authors conducted their study among... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 3(32) - The State of the Industry, 1998

Each year, a major trade publication of the gambling industry releases a supplement to its monthly publi­cation. The magazine, International Gaming & Wagering Business, features advertisements for roulette wheels and slot machines nestled between articles about the future of the lottery in India and horse racing in the United Kingdom (1). The United States Gross Annual Wager, the annual supplement, serves as a state-of-the-industry report and provides various gambling data and indices. This year’s report opens with this observation, “American gambling appetites are satiated. Casinos excepted, Americans now have all the gambling they want. The economy is booming, but consumer... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 3(31) - 80,000,000 to 1

The Powerball drawing in West Des Moines last Wednesday marked a new beginning for 13 winning Ohio machinists and a long-awaited end to the troubles of Greenwich, Connecticut (1). Powerball tickets are sold in 20 states and in the District of Columbia. Connecticut, geographically convenient to the non-Powerball, densely populated states of New York and New Jersey, has long served as a point of purchase for local and regional lottery players. Greenwich, accessible by I-95 just across the New York border, has often shouldered much of the Powerball traffic. But when the jackpot climbed toward a quarter of a billion... Read more →