AUSTRIAN ONLINE GAMBLING GIANT DETAILS HARVARD STUDY
ON ADDICTION
24 April 2009
Two year study debunks the myth that Internet
gambling is more addictive
With the results of its two-year collaboration on
addictive gambling with Harvard University due for
publication in the near future (see previous InfoPowa
reports), the Vienna-listed online gambling giant Bwin
has released a statement on the project.
The
statement notes that the results constitute the first
ever epidemiological analysis of the actual gaming
behaviour evidenced by a large sample of 3 445 online
poker players over the span of 2 years. The study was
conducted by the Division on Addictions, Cambridge
Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching
affiliate.
The partnership between Bwin and the
Division on Addictions was established in 2005 to
provide a scientific basis for the assessment of
conspicuous gaming behaviour and its consequences for
responsible gaming. Two key findings beginning to emerge
from the research initiative are:
1) The myth of
online gaming as a powerful seductive force has been
empirically refuted. Online gaming has no greater
problem potential than offline gaming.
2)
Responsible gaming measures are effective.
The
current research, which statistically analyses in detail
the behaviour of Internet poker players, is the world's
largest longitudinal and the first ever epidemiological
study of its kind, a Bwin spokesman claimed.
Howard Shaffer, PH.D., Associate Professor, Harvard
Medical School, Director, Division on Addictions is
quoted in the statement as saying: "In this research we
provide additional evidence in support of our previous
research showing that most subscribers who gamble on the
Internet do so moderately. In fact, correlation analyses
indicated that as Percent Lost increased, Duration,
Total Gambling Sessions, and Total Amount Wagered all
decreased, suggesting that individuals moderated their
behaviour based on their wins and their losses -
exhibiting "rational" betting behavior."
Dr.
Shaffer gave some interesting advance titbits from the
study:
* The average age of the sample was 27.9
years and almost 95 percent were male. The typical poker
player was an active poker player for a median duration
of six and a half months and participated in a median of
one poker session every three days. The median Euros per
session gambled was Euro 13 and the median cost of
playing poker was Euro 1.80 per session.
* The
gaming behaviours of the most involved poker players
show that this group, representing 5 percent of all
players, was active for a duration of 18.5 months and
participated in ten sessions per week. This subgroup had
a smaller percentage lost than the sample majority,
suggesting that skill is a factor in poker play and that
players are able to improve their performance compared
with chance.
* When examining the most involved
poker players who devoted more time and money to this
activity than the norm, the study found that like the
rest of the sample, they reduced Euros per session and
reduced Total Wagered as Percent Loss increased.
"In our intention is to replace speculation with
scientific evidence," said Manfred Bodner, co-CEO of
Bwin. "This study takes us a big step closer towards
understanding the behaviour of online poker players.
Ultimately we are interested in developing algorithms
capable of identifying behavioural patterns or
identifying risk patterns associated with disordered
gaming."
Online Casino News Courtesy of
Infopowa
More news here.
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