Courses/Computer Science/CPSC 203/CPSC 203 2007Fall L04/CPSC 203 2007Fall L04 TermProjects/Which Games Are Playing You?

Group Name
Gambling Ninjas



Group Members
Nicki Dober

Rebecca Hogan

Chuma Metuh

Teri Tetreault

Initial Project Statement
Our project will provide an understanding of the unique role of online gambling in today's society. We will discuss how people become and remain involved in gambling online compared to that of gambling within a casino. More specifically we will examine “Casino on Net”, and will focus on the adverse effects of this addiction on intermediate families, surrounding economy and controversially legal matters.

Introduction
Gambling can be defined as playing a game of chance for stakes. Gambling occurs in many forms, most commonly pari-mutuels (horse and dog tracks, off-track-betting parlors, Jai Alai), lotteries, casinos (slot machines, table games), bookmaking (sports and horse racing books), card rooms, bingo and the stock market. However, the advent of the Internet has provided the means to engage in nearly all of these gambling forms from the comfort of one's own home.

Argument
In the course of investigating Casino On Net and other websites of its ilk, we will demonstrate the negative effects of gambling in general as well as those issues peculiar to online gambling specifically.

Online Gambling vs. Live Casinos
There are several material differences between gambling in traditional brick and mortar casinos and gambling online. The most readily apparent is the fact that in order to gamble online, players need not leave the comfort of their homes. Certainly, the convenience of playing from home is a plus in many ways; players save money and time driving to a casino, they are less likely to spend money on food and beverages, they don't have to tip dealers and so forth. Indeed, it would almost appear as though gambling online might even be LESS expensive than heading off to the casino to test fate in person. And while this may seem like a proverbial feather in the cap for online gambling, the drawbacks far outweigh the benefits, when viewed objectively.

Speed Of Play
The negative effects of playing online, while fewer, are far more expensive, even in the short run. By far the biggest detriment to the online gambler is the SPEED of the game. This isn't to say that the speed causes more player errors, but we must bear in mind that the casino is playing with a statistical edge on every single hand dealt or game played. Consequently, the more hands that are dealt and the more games that are played, the more the house wins in the long run. Take a moment to imagine playing at a slot machine. The most "efficient" way to play is to insert cash and use the "Max Bet" button to play as quickly as possible. But it takes time to count down your money, or count it up when you win. It takes time to put in more money, and heaven forbid, if you win a large sum, you have to cool your heels while a casino employee brings you a chit for your winnings or reloads the machine with coins. Online, these factors simply do not exist, increasing speed of play and therefore the speed of the player's long-run losses.

Worse is a blackjack table. In a casino, the player has to wait for everyone at the table to player their hands, the dealer shuffles the cards, makes mistakes, acknowledges gratuities, chats with other players, et cetera. Online, the cards don't need to be shuffled, mistakes don't happen, and the game flies.

Far and away, the most dramatic difference between the live and online versions of any casino game are seen in poker. And since the house simply receives a percentage of every hand dealt, it behooves said house to deal as fast as possible. Having a great deal of experience as a player and employee (over 5 years of each) with both online and live casinos, this author can readily and accurately comment on the enormously increased speed of play online. In the casino, things seem to move with glacial slowness as players look at their cards multiple times, try to act a certain way to deceive their opponents, eat, talk on their cell phones, watch TV, or flirt with the waitress. The dealer shuffles every single hand, deals the cards, counts the bets, rakes the pot, waits for players, claims tips and goes on break. In a casino with good dealers, a player may see 30 hands per hour. Online, it's seldom less than 90. And the house rakes EVERY POT.

In other words, we do not hesitate to claim that the "long-run" arrives a heck of a lot faster online than it does in any form of live gambling.

Social Inhibitions
The subtle psychological nuances of online gambling cannot be overestimated either. It is a well-known fact that people tend to behave differently in groups or when the results of behavior are anonymous. This manifests itself in online gambling because individuals are uninhibited by many of the social conventions that they would encounter at a real casino. It frequently happens that people become angry online and begin to play foolishly, essentially throwing money away. In fact, there's even a slang term for this sort of behavior; we say the player is "on tilt." In real-life there is more accountability in the sense that when people can SEE another person acting a certain way, then that person is far more likely to be aware of his actions and temper them towards more acceptable social standards.

Reality Of Money
Finally, there is a tendency for online gamblers to have a less desperate hold on "virtual" money than real, tangible chips or cash. This is especially pronounced at poker tables, where one's welfare in the game is explicitly measured by the amount of chips he or she has. One cannot possibly fail to notice if the size of that chip stack is bigger or small than it was a moment ago. However, when playing online, the player only gets a number on the screen, from which it is often more difficult to see the relative changes in the amount. There certainly seems to be a tendency for players to have less respect for this number on a screen than a tangible pile of chips, coins or money.

Gambling Addiction
Here we will examine gambling addiction in general. We will look at possible sources of addiction, its effects on others and society at large, and possible ways to avoid or conquer it.

Becoming Addicted
There are no specific details as to what exactly causes addictive gambling. However, many observations have been made about about the personality profiles that succumb to it. It has been found that a great many of addicted gamblers are overwhelmed with feelings of intolerance, such as guilt, depression and helplessness. They often have a high capacity of self-deception, as well as a previous exposure to gambling in the first place.

Another aspect that could lead to an addictive personality is heredity, although it has never been proven as cause and effect case, there have been some suspicions of its existence.

This has ever been a tricky idea to prove, since it calls upon the age-old (and unanswered) question of Nature vs. Nurture in human psychological development. Is the tendency toward certain behaviors "hardwired" into us from birth or do these behaviors tend to arise as a result of more environmental circumstances?

As an aside, a physical study conducted by Alec Roy, M.D., found that a person who has a lower amount of a brain chemical called norepinephrine is more susceptible to addictive gambling. The arousal of the game causes the chemical levels to increase to a normal level, giving them a different feeling. This could then possibly explain on a more biological note why some people are more susceptible to the addiction of gambling.

Gambling begins to become a problem when it is used as an escape of certain feelings such as loneliness and depression. An addiction is always a way to cope with stress; it's a way out in the beginning phases. People also tend to gamble as a way to spend time, reduce boredom, or distract themselves from other thoughts or actions.

Signs of Addictive Gambling
There are 10 main symptons to look for in an addicted gambler:

Escape

Preoccupation

Withdrawal

Tolerance

Chasing

Lying

Risks losing relationships

Bailout

Illegal Acts

Loss of control

Progression Of Symptoms
These are the symptons that could destroy someone's reputation, trust, friendships, and life. The first is escape; a possible explanation of why gamblers may risk so much is that they need an escape from life, from certain feelings of helplessness and depression. So they may then preoccupy themselves with gambling. This includes what games they want to play next, how they are going to change or build strategies, when they are going to play, etc. And then because of their gambling preoccupation, they withdraw from those that love them. If someone makes them stop or interrupts their trains of thought they often become irritable and restless, they stop listening to those closest to them because gambling is continuously distracting them. Then their tolerance for spending goes up, they start to spend more to try to win more and increase the exhiliration of the game. However, once they begin to lose that money, they start to chase after it, try to win back what they've lost. This can be a telltale symptom of a pathological gambler. After chasing comes lying; in order to not get in trouble or alarm their family members they deny the extent of the time they spend in the casinos or on their computers at an online casino, such as Casino on Net. Continuing on, because of all the lies, they can jeopardize their closest relationships, or in extreme cases risk losing their jobs because of truancy or dereliction of duty. The eighth major sign of an addicted gambler is the need for a financial bailout. By this time they are extremely into it, and there is no other way out but to ask others for money to extricate themselves from a desperate financial situation. Perhaps then will then go to committing illegal acts, such as forgery and fraud in order to find more money for gambling and paying the bills. And finally, when addicts loses control of the situation, they cannot find a way to get out of the debt they've put themselves in, nor how to repair the damage caused to loved ones. By the time this last effect occurs, they are in desperate need of professional help.

The value of recognizing these symptoms of addictive gambling lies in our ability to help others see these downfalls and perhaps can prevent them by catching the addiction before it hits extreme levels.

If you see these signs showing in the actions of someone you love, you can tell the extent of their addiction. A study found that out of these symptons, if someon has one or two of them they are considered to be an at risk gambler. If they have between three or four, then they are a represented as a problem gambler. If they show signs of more then five, they are considered to be pathological gamblers and need help immediately to get out.

Phases Of Addiction
There are multiple phases to addictive gambling:

1. Winning phase: The gamblers win big, and they keep winning, they get extremely excited (and overly optimistic) and keep on playing while increasing their bets, in the hopes of gaining even more.

2. Losing phase: They begin to get too self-confident, and start to brag about their wins. They want to be able to keep doing this, so they begin to gamble more, alone, while borrowing money (illegally or legally). This is the phase where they start to lie about what they are doing and become irritable and withdraw from those that are close to them. They start to build debts, and the effects of the gambling begins to wear on their families.

3. Desperation phase: This is the phase were the gambling is at an extreme point. They have endured such losses that they may begin to engage in illegal acts finance the habit. Thoughts of suicide are often contemplated as an easy way to get out, They may become addicted to other substances such as alcohol and drugs. The amount of gambling is an incredible amount at this phase.

4. The final phase: This one is categorized as the hoplessness phase. This is where they can see no way out of their situation. The consequences have become to dire to endure anymore. This is sometimes known as "hitting rock bottom." About 20% of pathological gamblers commit suicide in this phase.

Crisis stabilization is very important at the beginning of treatment, because pathological gamblers have a much higher suicide rate than persons addicted to other substances or activities. Therefore, loved ones should be especially aware of the desperation phase of the disease, and monitor the gambler closely. Compulsive gamblers often have other addictions simultaneously, such as drug and alcohol abuse, compulsive shopping and even eating disorders like bulimia. The addicted gambler may be harder to treat than someone with only one addiction, because he or she may “switch addictions” and therefore leave the addictive personality traits untreated.

The Effects of Addiction
In reality, many entire books and studies have been completed in the analysis of the effects of gambling addiction. Here we confine our interests to the economic effects, as well as effects on loved ones and society as a whole.

Economic Effects
What are the social and economic effects of gambling addiction? In 1998 the National Gambling Impact Study Commission funded a study to determine the overall cost to society posed by problem and pathological gamblers in the United States. The results showed that approximately $5 billion was lost annually, with an additional $40 billion in lifetime costs for productivity reductions, social services and creditor losses. Studies have concluded that two out of three pathological gamblers commit illegal acts in order to pay gambling-related debts. This places a hardship on our legal systems, prison systems and public assistance programs, adversely affecting the ecoonomy as a whole.

Also, as can clearly be seen in the graph (from Christiansen Capital Advisors LLC) at right, worldwide expenditures on online gambling are increasing each year and expected to continue rising into the future. This trend should only exacerbate the negative effects of online gambling if it continues.

Some sobering facts: "Of the $586 billion spent by Americans annually on gambling, about $1.2 billion of that is spent on gambling via the Internet. It is expected that those numbers could potentially increase to $10 billion in the near future." This statement was made in 1997; it became a reality in 2006.

Canadians are also heavily involved in online gambling. In 2004, Canadians gambled roughly $12.4 billion on some form of government-run gambling activity. This was 4.5 times the level of $2.7 billion in 1992 and nearly double the $6.8 billion gambled in 1997.

The following consequences of problem gambling all result in economic costs for states, communities and individuals:

Job loss, unemployment Debt, bankruptcy

Embezzlement, fraud, check forgery

Eviction, forced home sales

Crime, arrest, incarceration

Poor physical and mental health, suicide

Effects On Loved Ones
Those who are addicted to gambling are not the only ones who are affected. Everyone around them is forced through obstacles, whether it's to try and help them stop or consequences of an abusive personality. It has been estimated that for every person who has a problem with gambling another five people are affected. The most common issues that occur due to gambling are:

Debt

Abuse

Health problems

Impacts

Negative influences on others

Debt is the most well known problem that accompanies gambling; whether in casinos or online, it is always a risk! Once gamblers begin to lose serious amounts of money, they may become desperate enough to start spending the savings, which could eventually ruin a family. This then would cause feelings of stress, betrayal, and fear. The amount of emotion that builds up inside addicts and those around them can cause extreme overloads which can lead to suicide and/or murder. Once a family is in debt, spousal or child abuse can easily follow. As the stress of having to pay the bills and repay gamblng debt increases tempers can dramatically change. If a child or relative gets in the way of an addict's rage, the results can be devastating.

A more physical problem that can arise from an addiction is health related. It is very common for addicts to lose sleep, and feel great amounts of stress during a continuous losing streak, causing anxiety, depression, ulcers, headaches and bowel problems. Health problems also arise in the family members affected. Those who are generally old enough and strong enough in a family will start to help out more with the different household and working tasks in order to try and keep the family together. Children who are put into these situations often ‘grow up’ faster, and then miss out on a childhood. Children can easily feel forgotten or angry towards their parent(s) for the troubles they are being put through. Many families and children go into isolation because of the shame that they feel. They are frequently afraid to tell someone because they don't know what will happen to their family members, so they go into withdrawal. Many common effects that children encounter when facing a family problem with addiction are feelings of anxiety, changes in behavior, a refusal to be obedient (rebellion), a drop in school grades, and a change in sleep patterns which could then cause further physical health changes as well.

One way to help an addicted gambler that you know push past these issues is to realize your family member or friend has a problem in the first place and talk to him or her about it. When bringing up the situation remember that addicts may not know or realize that they even have a problem. You need to be sympathetic, understanding, and listen to everything without showing judgment; this will give the other person a reason to talk and not feel the need to be defensive. If your family member seems responsive, you can then carefully bring up your own feelings of hurt and betrayal, as well as your fear about what may happen in the future; express everything that you are feeling in a calm and collected manner, but do not get angry and accusatory. Keep the communication open and encourage the person to come to you for anything, that you are there for help and support. If they don't feel comfortable talking to you about it, tell them that there are professionals that can help.

An excellent step to take beforehand is to research different addiction clinics that you would feel comfortable bringing your loved one to. Do this politely and in a way that is encouraging and reassuring that seeking treatment is for the best.

However, if the addiction does not seem like something that can easily be overcome, protect yourself. Discuss the creation of two separate bank accounts so that you are protected against his or her inevitable bad financial decisions. Further, it is wise to create accounts where two signatures are required for transfers of money.

How To Move On
In order to overcome an addiction, you first need to admit that you have a problem. If you don't believe that there is something wrong, you cannot find where to fix the problem. It is also important to have the support of loved ones to encourage through it all, and to provide understanding and support. After this, search for professional help. There are many of institutions and clinics that can help with this problem.

Many clinics go through different steps to help recover from an addiction, but a common way to go is with psychotherapy, especially in the form of cognitive-behavioral therapy. This means that they will identify negative thoughts and beliefs and attempt to replace them with healthy, positive ones. Group therapy is another alternative; this allows loved ones to get involved in the recovery. There are also residential treatment programs, as well as inpatient treatments, which are 24 hour services for those who wish help. For residential treatments the level of choice is optional, while inpatient treatments are in hospital settings which means more restrictions and supervision, as well as medical care. Another choice is counseling, which can be very effective.

If a gambler does not wish to seek assistance through a medical institution, there are also 24-hour helplines. Another option is Gamblers Anonymous (support groups for gambling problems), and other support groups that they may attend with friends and family.

Could YOU Be Addicted?
Take our quiz to find out:

Have you ever lost time from work or school due to gambling?

Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy?

Has gambling affected your reputation?

Have you ever felt remorse after gambling?

Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?

Has gambling caused a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?

After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?

After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?

Have you ever gambled until your last dollar was gone?

Have you ever borrowed to finance your gambling?

Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling?

Were you reluctant to use "gambling money" for normal expenditures?

Has gambling made you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?

Have you ever gambled longer than you had planned?

Have you ever gambled to escape worry or trouble?

Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling?

Has gambling caused you to have difficulty in sleeping?

Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble?

Have you ever had an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling?

Have you ever considered or suicide as a result of your gambling?

Do you think about gambling more than anything else?

Do you spend more money than you had planned when gambling?

Have I ever lied about gambling to my family?

Am I hiding my gambling from family and friends?

Has my gambling hurt anyone close to me?

If your answers to these questions make you worried that perhaps you have a problem, it is important to recognize the problem and begin to deal with it immediately, before anything happens that could potentially ruin your life.

Legal Perspective
Online gambling is one of the fastest growing online businesses. It’s said that online gambling has been such a success that it was one of the main factors to the growth of e-commerce in the late nineties and early twenty-first century. It is hard to believe that online gambling is so successful because online gambling in the US and Canada is very much illegal. The problem with regulation of online gambling is that the major of online gambling websites are located off of US land in countries that allow gambling. However in 2006, George Bush passed the Safe Port Act legislation that would prevent the use of credit cards on gambling websites, thus making transactions with online websites illegal for US residents. This legislation had exceptions for state run lotteries and for horse racing. The legislation seems to make a difference as several online gambling sites would suspend gambling operation for US customers. As well, some online websites reported drops in stock prices after the legislation was ratified into law. For instance, Casino on Net is a branch of the Cassava Enterprises. Cassava Enterprises is a company that operates many popular gambling websites such as Casino on Net, 888.com and Pacific Poker. Cassava Enterprises was granted a gaming license by the government of Gibraltar which is located on the Iberian Peninsula just below Spain, at the westernmost extreme of the Mediterranean Sea. Cassava Enterprises was established in 1997 and since then has served more than 13 million people. In 2006, Cassava announced that it would suspend any type of business with American customers because of the Safe Port Act passed in 2006.

In Canada, online gambling is not as legally black and white as in the United States. Canadian laws allow the government to manage and operate online gambling sites along with lotteries and other sorts of gambling activities. However, for anyone that conducts an online gaming operation there are criminal liabilities. Furthermore, in both the United States and in Canada it is illegal to have any advertisements of online gambling websites. The rationale is that such advertisements are considered to be aiding and abetting in the illegal operation and thus is a legal liability to any venue that pursue financial assistance thought that style of advertisement. This is a problem for the surrounding economy because advertising revenue have been decreasing for many website venues over the years and the online gambling advertisements have been filling the void of that lost revenue.

Conclusion
We have discussed some of the reasons that online gambling at sites like Casino On Net can be even more dangerous than gambling in real casinos. We have looked at the process and potentially disastrous effects of gambling addictions and seen how North American governments are reacting to deal with this increasingly expensive activity. Upon complete examination of our research, we certainly conclude that gambling in general, and online gambling in particular, are a major detriment to society today. Although an individual's losses and problems associated with online gambling are realtively minor in the context of society at large, the cumulative effect of millions of such losses, both quantitative (over $13.5 billion annually) and qualitative, are having a profound impact all over the world.

Glossary Of Terms
In action gambling, the gambler is addicted to the thrill of risk-taking as his or her “substance of choice,” much in the same way that a cocaine addict is hooked on cocaine. The action itself becomes the drug. Action gamblers typically engage in games with other players, since part of the adrenaline rush is in the appearance or identity as a “winner.”

Chasing occurs when a gambler has lost some money and begins to increase his bet size in order to try to win it back.

Escape gambling occurs when the gambler seeks to blot out some discomforting feelings or emotional life crisis. The action of gambling is secondary to the numbing effect of the activity. Escape gamblers prefer more singular outlets such as slot machines, where they can avoid human contact. Men tend more towards action gambling, and women tend to become escape gamblers.

The house is the facility providing the gambling experience. It may be a traditional casino or a website, as we have examined in detail.

A gambler is on tilt when his betting actions become extremely aggressive. The player will often bet more than he would normally, often chasing after recently lost money. The term is usually used in poker, but applies to all forms of gambling.

Pathological gambling is a progressive disease that devastates not only the gambler but everyone with whom he or she has a significant relationship. In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association accepted pathological gambling as a "disorder of impulse control." It is an illness that is chronic and progressive, but it can be diagnosed and treated.

A rake is the house's percentage of each poker hand played. Unlike other casino games, poker is not played between the player and the casino; rather the players compete against each other while the house provides the location and staff for the game. In order to recoup these expenses and earn a profit, a rake is collected.

The Safe Port Act was passed in 2006 by the Bush Administration to prevent the use of credit cards at online gambling websites by US citizens.