Myth of Problem Gambling in America - Preface to my study

[458 Lott]

Actually, I like being a sinner. Maybe that is why gambling has always been there for me. I like women capable of wild sex and fast cars and big firearms and all the drama that goes with it. Sometimes it's an adventure just to get broke.

[rakemeplz]

This guy reminds me of ayn rand.

Anyways, neverwinpoker.com that should clear up a few things.

[LA_Price]

The problem with their study is survivorship bias, meaning that he only look at one extreme end, in this case being the worst losers. In order to know if there is a gambling problem in America you would have to take a random sample of people and not just the people who have lost everything. This is pretty much the subject of the book Fooled by Randomness.

[otnemem]

[ QUOTE ]
Actually, I like being a sinner. Maybe that is why gambling has always been there for me. I like women capable of wild sex and fast cars and big firearms and all the drama that goes with it. Sometimes it's an adventure just to get broke.

[/ QUOTE ]
Wow, you sound like a winner.

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]
I feel like I've seen and heard enough to make a pretty informed judgment. I did say high stakes gambling.

[/ QUOTE ]

Grace, do you know what "OP" means? It means Original Poster. He wasn't replying to your post.

[questions]

As I see it, ministers and public servants want their hands on that money. They don't get a cut of the action, and that's why they object. Although if you are an ethical person who respects the law, then you are doing as much as can be expected (in terms of donating a percentage of your proceeds to philanthropy, and duh, paying taxes on the income).

[aejones]

I am going to be writing a paper on this during the week that pertains it to ethics and legality. It's a short 2-3 page paper, and I'll probably use some of these ideas if you don't mind. I think the introduction is well written and paints a good picture.

[Keyser.]

The intro might be written fairly well, but it doesn't make up for the fact that it's incredibly wrong. You think the anti-gambling movement started because of some unscientific studies about a handful of problem gamblers? You think there aren't thousands of people out there who really do gamble away much needed money?

I'm clearly not in favor of anti-gambling laws, but I can at least still realize that there are so many degens out there who gamble away their kid's food money.

[thehotspur]

I don't know what your study is for, I'm assuming you're either a 1st year college student or in high school because what you wrote is so utterly devoid of any informed research.

As someone who has done problem gambling research myself in Europe, and read innumerable epidemiological studies from America on it I can attest to the fact that there is an abundance of rigorous, scientific, random population prevalence studies from America both nationally at at state levels.

The figures, for those of you who are interested in more than just a misinformed polemic, from Shaffer & Hall's (Harvard) 2001 meta-analysis of all properly carried out studies on the prevalence of problem gambling in north America are:

For lifetime prevalence % -
Level 1 (no gambling-related problems) 93.9%
Level 2* (subclincial gambling problems) 4.2%
Level 3 (clinical gambling disorder) 1.9%

*Level 2 subclinical means a person experiences problems with their gambling but does not fulfill the conditions for a diagnosis of the psychiatric condition called pathological gambling, which is severe problem gambling.

For past year prevalence %
Level 1 (no gambling-related problems) 96.0%
Level 2 (subclincial gambling problems) 2.5%
Level 3 (clinical gambling disorder) 1.5%

Problem gambling is a greater population problem percentage wise than problem drug use in most countries where there is comparable data.

I'm not trying to grind an axe, but if you're gonna listen to someone on this topic I suppose you might as well listen to someone who knows what they're talking about unlike the OP.

[otnemem]

[ QUOTE ]
I am going to be writing a paper on this during the week that pertains it to ethics and legality. It's a short 2-3 page paper, and I'll probably use some of these ideas if you don't mind.

[/ QUOTE ]
That would be a very bad idea.