Sars lead gamming addiction stakes

The prevalence of problem gamblers seems higher in Macau than in Hong Kong. And in both SARs the prevalence of problem gamblers is higher than in foreign countries One of the authors of a recently published book states that ‘the responsible gambling measures [in Macau] are insuffi cient’.In Problem Gambling in Hong Kong and Macau – Etiology, Prevalence and Treatment (Springer), Chi Chuen Chan, William Li and Eugene Leung explain: ‘All casinos in Macau operate 24 h daily all year round. Self-exclusion policies are minimal, passive, and symbolic in nature. ATM facilities are easy to ac-cess in the casinos. Very often, security offi cers do not check the identity and age of patrons when they enter casinos (the fi rst author of this book has visited the casinos in Macau on numerous oc-casions. He has never seen a security of-fi cer check the age of arriving patrons). Responsible gambling measures such as the installation of clocks inside casinos and the statutory exclusion of problem gamblers have never been practiced by the casinos. The pamphlets of responsi-ble gambling measures are often placed in the dark corners of the casinos. Very few patrons pick up these pamphlets’.Psychologist Chan, with a Ph.D. from Victoria University, Australia, rec-ognises that ‘as part of their responsi-ble gambling policies, casino operators have also offered continuous education opportunities in scientifi c casino man-agement for their workers’. But he also says, ‘we believe that the Macau SAR Government needs to increase its efforts with gaming op-erators, local non-profit organisations (NGOs) and academic in-stitutes to work on responsible gambling and harm minimisation strategies’. That’s why they have highlighted a number of recommendations in the last chapter of the book such as ‘restricting the number of casino visits for local residents’,‘putting a time-out period on casino operation so that no casino can oper-ate 24 hours a day’ and ‘reducing the number of ATMs available in casinos and prohibiting all kinds of credit card transaction inside the gaming halls’ (see text in these pages).To Macau Business, Chi Chuen Chan explains: “I would say that the government can do more, especially in the area of responsible gaming”. Absence of toilets and dining facilities The book is about problem gam-bling in Macau and Hong Kong and, as the visiting professor in the Univer-sity of St. Joseph tells Macau Business, “there are more similarities than dif-ferences between Hong Kong gamblers and Macau gamblers”.However, Hong Kong has more good measures to help gamblers, espe-cially from Hong Kong Jockey Club, the only government-sanctioned and not-for-profi t gaming operator in the HKSAR. ‘We believe that the future of gambling lies with the decisions and strategies of the HKJC. (…) When compared with the integrated resorts in Macau, the HKJC has a number of ef-fective responsible gambling measures’. And the authors underline ‘the presence of reality checks: installation of clocks in gaming halls and the use of glass windows (instead of curtains or walls in Macau casinos) in the off-course bet-ting centres so that patrons can see the world outside’ and ‘strict laws on illegal loan sharks’. But ‘the absence of toilets and dining facilities in all off-course betting shops (the purpose is to ‘force’ patrons to return home for meals and toilet needs)’ or the fact ‘staff members in HKJC are prohibited from giving gaming tips to patrons’ receives praise from the authors 2.8 per cent potentially pathological gamblers? The problem is ‘Chinese people love gambling’ so the government needs ‘to strike a balance between Christian and Confucian morality and public in-terest and concerns. The HKJC can nicely fi t into this role’.But is there enough scientifi c evi-dence to prove that ‘Chinese people love gambling’?According to consultant psycholo-gist Chi Chuen Chan: “In Hong Kong and Macau the prevalence of prob-lem gamblers is higher than those in foreign countries. For example, the prevalence rate of problem gamblers in Australia and Britain is lower than that of Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, the prevalence rate for problem gamblers is 1.4 per cent (in a major prevalence study reported in 2012) whereas in the US the rate is only 0.6-0.8per cent. In Australia and Britain, the rate is under 1 per cent’.In Macau there’s no consensus about the fi gures of the prevalence of problem gamblers: The fi rst prevalence study of gambling in Macau (reported by researchers at the University of Macau, Fong and Ozorio, 2005) indicat-ed that about two-thirds of the respond-ents had gambled within the previous year. The three most popular forms of gambling were social gambling, the Mark Six, and soccer/basketball.betting. They concluded that ‘1.78 per cent of the respondents were classifi ed as probable pathological gamblers and 2.5 per cent were considered probable problem gamblers’.In 2010, another prevalence study was undertaken by researchers in the University of Macau (Fung and Ng, 2010). ‘In a random survey of 2,011 lo-cal residents aged between 15 and 64, individuals assessed to be potential pathological gamblers amounted to 2.8 per cent of respondents, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 4th edition, text-revision (DSM-IV-TR) (American Psychiatric Association 2000)’.The latest research on gambling participation of the residents of Macau was undertaken by the Social Welfare Bureau of the Macau Government (So-cial Welfare Bureau, Macao SAR Gov-ernment 2013; University of Macao 2014). ‘In a random telephone survey of 2,158 Macau residents aged between 15 and 64 years, individuals assessed to be probable pathological gamblers were at 0.9 per cent (compared to 2.8 per cent in 2010) and 1.9 per cent (com-pared to 2.8 per cent in 2010) could be classifi ed as probable problem gam-blers’, says the book.There are points of convergence be-tween Hong Kong gamblers and Macau gamblers, concluded the authors: ‘Mark Six is a favourite game here. We also like casinos and horseracing’.The last data available indicated that ‘Mark Six’ (33.1 per cent), ‘social gambling’ (21.7 per cent), ‘Macau ca-sino’ (11.9 per cent), ‘slot machines’ (7.2 per cent), and ‘soccer/basketball matches betting’ (4.5 per cent) were the fi ve most popular forms of gam-bling activity. Casinos are only third or fourth most popular?“Yes, it’s because Chinese peo-ple love a variety of games. We like horseracing, mahjong and soccer bet-ting. Betting on major international soccer matches is a very popular game here”, underlines Chi Chuen Chan, tell-ing Macau Business that, “the situation in Macau is more serious as we have 36 casinos in an area smaller than London. Being close to a casino can be a deter-mining factor in the increase of problem gamblers”. Fund more research ‘When compared to other coun-tries, the prevalence rates [on gambling participation] in Hong Kong and Macau are higher than the U.S., Australia, and most European countries. One reason is that commercial gambling is more available and accessible in Hong Kong and Macau. Also, social and recreation-al gambling is often accepted as a fam-ily activity during festivals and gather-ings’ is one of the main conclusions of the book.But the three authors also state that, ‘the major limitation of the ma-jority of the prevalence studies is that the data were often obtained by tel-ephone interviews and by personnel with little training in social work and psychology. In order to have a better understanding of the problem gam-blers in these two jurisdictions future prevalence studies should include qualitative interviews and testing per-formed by qualifi ed psychologists. These interviews can provide a more complete picture of the personality structure and the subjective worlds of individual gamblers’.In an interview with Macau Busi-ness, Chi Chuen Chan, research fellow with the Mother Mary Social Studies Centre in Macau, says: “As gambling research is a new research topic among local academia, the government needs to fund more research”