Business Commons^™

Investment Fraud In The Mountain West, Riley Ruff, Vanessa Booth, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet focuses on investment fraud data in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. The original report includes data from “The 2023 State of Investment Fraud” study conducted by Carlson Law.

Headwinds And Tailwinds: The Present And Future Of Work For Women, Molly Kinder

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West presents a lecture titled "Headwinds and Tailwinds: The Present and Future of Work for Women” by Brookings fellow in the Brookings Metro, Molly Kinder. Women comprise nearly half of the US labor force, and today outnumber men on college campuses. Yet the gender pay gap persists and women are overrepresented in the lowest paying occupations. In what ways are jobs and economic opportunities changing for women in the labor force? Over the next decade, how will demographic changes like the aging of the baby boom generation and technological changes …

The Covid-19 Pandemic And Work From Home, 2019-2021, Maryam Raja, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet presents data from the American Community Survey (ACS) Report, “Home Based Workers and the COVID-19 Pandemic,” which examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected commuting patterns and workplace systems. The data examine how the pandemic shifted norms in work culture and conditions in Mountain West states and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).

A Comparison Of Clustered And Isolated Casino Performance In Missouri, Douglas M. Walker, Todd M. Nesbit

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

This paper utilizes data on Missouri’s casino industry to examine how clustered casinos, such as those in Kansas City and St. Louis, perform compared to dispersed or isolated casinos, such as those in Boonville, Caruthersville, La Grange, and St. Joseph. Missouri limits the number of casino licenses allowed; however, it does not explicitly mandate casino locations. Missouri provides a unique natural experiment for comparing location model performance. Although there is no published research on which type of casino location model is more effective for generating industry revenues and associated taxes, state legislatures have nevertheless been following an isolated casino location …

Priced Out Of Housing In The Mountain West, 2022, Maryam Raja, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This fact sheet presents data from the National Association of Home Builder (NAHB) 2022 report on "priced out estimates" and the consequences of increased prices and interest rates on homes. Data are included from NAHB on home affordability for median home prices in five Mountain West states and 25 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).

Smart Growth Strategies: Mountain West Metros, Issac Hernandez-Alcaraz, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet examines data on smart growth strategies provided by the Brookings Institution’s Smart Growth Tool and includes data on the economic and industry overview of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in five Mountain West states (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah). The Smart Growth Tool identifies high-impact economic and workforce development strategies that may help states and MSAs achieve inclusive and sustainable growth.

Third-Party Responsible Gambling Accreditation Programs Are Related To Short-Term Improvements At Casinos But No Ongoing Gains: Evidence From Rg Check, Kahlil S. Philander

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

This study examines how casino operators’ responsible gambling program performance changes after entering a third-party assurance program. Using de-identified responsible gambling accreditation data from the 75 casinos employing the “RG Check” program from 2012 to April 2019, this study finds that casino scores improved in the first reaccreditation period (p < .001, d = 0.92), but failed to improve in the second reaccreditation (p < .78, d = 0.38). Much of the first reaccreditation changes appear to be a result of one-time improvement in the scores of lower performing venues. There also appears to be inconsistent improvements in tactical areas of RG …

Problem Gambling And Cognitive Distortions Among Macao Vip Hosts: A Brief Report, Tiange Xu, Brett Abarbanel, Mehmet Erdem, Bo J. Bernhard, Shane W. Kraus

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

This report investigates the understudied group of VIP Hosts in Macao casinos, who cater to high rollers and may be more vulnerable to problem gambling due to their exposure to heavy betting. To comprehensively profile their gambling behaviors and cognitions, we conducted an anonymous online survey using the Chinese Version of South Oaks Gambling Screen (C-SOGS) and the Gambling Fallacies Measure (GFM). Given the difficulty of accessing this population, we employed the snowball sampling technique to recruit eligible participants. Our analysis included data from 41 participants, and the findings revealed high levels of gambling-related cognitive distortions among VIP Hosts. In …

Payments Transaction Data From Online Casino Players And Online Sports Bettors, Kasra Ghaharian, Piyush Puranik, Brett Abarbanel, Kazem Taghva, Shane W. Kraus, Ashok Singh, Alan Feldman, Bo Bernhard

International Gaming Institute Faculty Publications

Raw datasets were sourced from a U.S. based provider of digital gambling payments systems, who has demanded to remain anonymous. The raw datasets cover a time period of 6-years (2015-2021), representing over 300,000 customers and approximately 90 million transaction records. One of these raw datasets is a transaction log file representing customer payment transaction data across a variety of gambling merchants (e.g., online casinos, sportsbooks, and lottery providers). With this article we describe the transaction log file and provide two filtered subsets of the data. The subsets contain 1-year of customer payments transaction records for two gambling merchants: (1) a …

The Critical But Overlooked Player Protection Tool: Self Care For Customer Facing Staff, Stacy Shaw, Jay Robinson

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

BACKGROUND

Like many things, the need for self-care for staff came to light because of the pandemic. Every day, Oregon Lottery staff would go out and deal with angry, frightened, confused, frustrated, and sometimes aggressive players and retailers. People struggling with all kinds of stress, acting out and exhibiting behaviors that might normally suggest the need for an RG conversation. We started to hear that the staff was feeling overwhelmed, burned out, powerless, unheard, unappreciated, unable to connect. We were asking them to promote RG during this difficult time - but we had not given them the tools they needed …

Finding The Invisible At-Risk Player - Using Technology To Help Identify Customers Spending Beyond Affordable Limits, Tony Schellinck Dr.

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract:

This session will highlight the value of a new EGM Affordability Model specifically adapted for changes in play due to COVID-19. Affordability of play has become a critical regulatory priority that is gaining greater traction worldwide as a gaming provider responsibility. The research presented here can inform a more sophisticated approach that is easy to operationalize, does not require a burden of proof on operators, and simultaneously yields greater results in identifying players spending beyond their abilities. The authors conducted research from 2014-2020, interviewing 10,500 regular electronic machine gamblers in land-based casinos in three countries administering the PGSI and …

Covid-19 In Casinos: Analysis Of Covid-19 Contamination And Spread With Economic Impact Assessment, Anastasia (Stasi) D. Baran, Jason D. Fiege

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous disruption for casinos, with the virus causing various lengths of shutdowns, capacity restrictions, and social distancing strategies such as machine removals or section closures. Although most of the world has now eased off these measures, it is important to review lessons learned to understand, and better prepare for similar circumstances in the future. We present Monte Carlo slot floor simulation software customized to simulate players spreading COVID-19 on the slot floor. We simulate the amount of touch surface contamination; the number of potential surface contact exposure events per day, and a proximity exposures statistic …

The Las Vegas Loyalty Battle Is Over. What’S Next?, Oliver Lovat

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

The strategic mission by Las Vegas casino operators to capture customer loyalty over the past decade has been a success. In 2021, 57% of visitors were generally loyal to a particular resort, compared to 32% in 2011. Only 7% of visitors were not a member of any rewards program in 2021, compared to 16% in 2011.

This has consequences for new market entrants who face a greater challenge to capture customers in a more mature, consolodated and strategic business environment.

Moreover, the drivers of loyalty remain different within the various customer segments, with the new generation of visitors responding less …

Payments Data In Gambling Research, Kasra Ghaharian, Mana Azizsoltani

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

A considerable body of gambling-related research has leveraged gamblers' behavioral tracking data to address a broad set of research questions. These data have typically comprised of gamblers' betting-related behaviors including, for example, the frequency and volume of betting. The analysis of gamblers' payment-related behavioral data is far less common, but provides a fruitful avenue gambling-related research.

In this presentation we discuss a selection of potential research opportunities that payments transaction data presents. We supplement this discussion with specific analyses that have been performed by our research group. We also discuss knowledge gaps and areas for future research.

Calling Their Bluff: Misplaced Loyalty Is A Problem For Gamblers, Jonathan Ross Gilbert, Marla B. Royne Stafford, Leonard Hostetter

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract

Due to the ubiquity of casinos, both brick and mortar and online, problem gambling has emerged as a significant public health issue. It is estimated that 30% - 50% of all casino revenues are generated from problem gamblers who tend to be disproportionately male, young, and minority group members (Welte et al. 2014). Although prior research has examined the mediating role of gambling behaviors in the relationship between casino marketing strategies and problem gambling, it is not clear what role casino loyalty programs play in predicting problem gambling, particularly in underserved and minority populations. Prentice & Wong (2016) examined …

Exploring The Effects Of Gamblification On Esports Betting, Cecilia Diaz Dr, Violet Justine Mtonga Dr

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract:

There is a growing trend of gambling/betting organisations attempting to secure a position in the fast-growing and profitable sector of Esports by becoming an inherent part of the sports culture and its community of fans. This alignment is raising concerns due to the community lifestyle and consumption of experience intrinsic in sports/Esports (Gordon, Gurrieri, & Chapman, 2015).

Diffusion of gambling in society is triggered by digital/technological disruption on gambling and changing consumer behaviour and cultural trends. This environment offers innovative opportunities to experience gambling and “gambling-like” experiences online (King et al., 2010) with the extra incentive of ease of …

Social Capital And Gambling Risk Perception 'A Social Marketing Dilemma', Otila Osborne, Maree Thyne, Kirsten Robertson, Janet Davey

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

AIM: To explore the relationship between social capital (social networks, familial and close relationships) and risk perception amongst older female gamblers (50 years+)

BACKGROUND: Despite significant investment in social marketing initiatives gambling harms persist. Predicted to live longer, poorer, and less healthy lives than men, older women are increasingly gambling online with gambling harms rising accordingly. Typically, older women are portrayed as being risk averse. However recent studies across several jurisdictions reveal significant shifts in risk perception in the domain of social risk. Yet little is known about how older women perceive gambling risk. This study provides an alternative to …

The Rocket: Analyzing Rtp (Return To Player), Payoff Distribution And Player Behavior In Crash Games, Mikhail M. Sher, Robert Haywood Scott Iii, Jonathan A. Daigle

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract

Rocket is a crash game developed by DraftKings, an American publicly traded online casino, sports betting and fantasy sports company. DraftKings Rocket is a game played with a rising rocket. Players must exit the rocket at any point before the rocket crashes. In that case they receive the payoff in accordance to the multiplier of their exit point. If the rocket crashes before the player bails, player’s payoff is 0 (and they lose their bet).

The game boasts an unprecedented 97% RTP (Return to Player). For comparison, Atlantic City casino slots typically have a 91-92% RTP, while Vegas casino …

The Locals Casino As A Social Network – Can An Interconnected Community Of Players Detect Differences In Hold?, Jason D. Fiege, Anastasia (Stasi) D. Baran

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract

It is difficult for individual players to detect differences in theoretical hold between slot machines without playing an unrealistically large number of games. This difficulty occurs because the fractional loss incurred by a player converges only slowly to the theoretical hold in the presence of volatility designed into slot pay tables. Nevertheless, many operators believe that players can detect changes in hold or differences compared to competition, especially in a locals casino market, and therefore resist increasing holds. Instead of investigating whether individual players can detect differences in hold, we ask whether a population of casino regulars who share …

Caesars Entertainment Responsible Gaming Messaging, Carolene Layugan

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Our Responsible Gaming (RG) messaging is far from elaborate, but provides an important message on responsible gambling, prevention of underage gambling, and unattended children at our gaming facilities, along with the problem gambling helpline number.

These messaging standards at Caesars goes above and beyond many required gaming regulations and our goal to create awareness on these three areas and provide help resources to the thousands of customers we serve every day.

These posters are strategically placed at various locations at a Caesars Entertainment brick and mortar facility.

Thank you again for your consideration.

The Effect Of Name, Image, And Likeness (Nil) Policies On Sports Gambling, Keith Lowe, Allen Gilbert

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

ABSTRACT

Issues surrounding the amateur status of college athletes and the restrictions on receiving revenue beyond educational expenses are among the most widely discussed topics in public policy. Known as name, image and likeness (NIL), these three elements contrive a legal concept known as “right of publicity.” Economists have long recognized college athletics as an industry where individual institutions enjoy substantial monopsony power with defined restrictions on cash and related benefits to players. Although individual players continue to be very limited in receiving cash or in-kind benefits, athletic department revenues continue to rise at a rapid rate. The sheer size …

Rg Smart Gambling Machines: A Prevention Model To Respond To Risky Play In Real Time, Tracy Schrans

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract:

In collaboration with industry, public health, and regulators, Focal Research developed an effective modelling process using player data and technology to identify and assist customers at-risk of having problems with their gambling. The system was originally designed using account-based player data to accurately assess play patterns. Complex algorithms scan the player data stored in an operator’s member data system, alerting operators to play behaviours typically observed among those scoring 8 or higher on the Problem Gambling Severity Index. During a live trial, the system was found to help staff interact with at-risk customers leading to measurable improvement in outcomes …

Analysis Of The Changing Behaviours Of Chinese Genz Towards Casino Tourism: Implications To The Asian Markets, Linqian Huang

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract

While the Chinese GenX spend largely in gambling activities during their visits to the destinations which are famous for their casino tourism industry, the GenY have shown less enthusiasm to be the high rollers. Regarding the Chinese GenZ, their spending behaviours in casino tourism will continue to exhibit changes and differences comparing to the GenX and GenY, especially for the non-gaming expenditure. Considering the potential purchasing power of GenZ, it is important for integrated resorts operators to understand the changing consumption behaviour of this new generation. For this, online questionnaire survey and analysis of narratives are employed to explore …

The House Doesn't Always Win, Jennifer Owen

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

In June 2015, fourteen South Korean casino executives were arrested on charges of soliciting Chinese players to gamble in their casinos. This single event foreshadowed a seismic change in the Australian casino market that few would have anticipated. The events which unfolded led to the two largest casino operators in Australia being found unsuitable to operate their casinos, and unable to hold their licenses. Collectively, these two casino groups reported revenues of $5.0bn in 2019, accounting for 92% of the total Australian casino market.

Both are now operating under various forms of special supervision until it can be demonstrated that …

Do We Need To Broaden Rg To Esg Or Is There Too Much On The Operator's Plate At The Moment?, Pieter Remmers

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Since 35 years Responsible Gambling is one of the issues the industry is dealing with. However it is still something the greater part of the industry is still struggling with no matter if we talk about the land based casino industry or the lotteries or the online gambling and betting industry.

A couple of years, under the influence of the United Nations, ESG came up. Environmental, Social and Governance criteria comprise a set of standards socially responsible investors/ operators use to evaluate a company/ operator based on the three main criteria. Combined they help assess the social responsibility effort of …

Global Self-Exclusion System, Simon Vincze

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract:

Casino Guru has launched the non-profit Global Self-Exclusion Initiative in 2020 with the goal to create a global self-exclusion system, which will allow players to block their access to all online gambling options at once simply and effectively, thus decreasing overall gambling harm and making gambling safer.

The limited scope of current self-exclusion possibilities tends to cover only a single operator or a single jurisdiction. Consequently, these cannot create an effective barrier for players that choose to self-exclude to minimize further gambling harm because their gambling habits have gotten out of hand. A global scheme is much better positioned …

Caring Hurts, Otila Osborne

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

‘Caring Hurts’

The Effects of Social Capital on Gambling Risk Perception

AIM: To explore the relationship between social capital (social networks, familial and close relationships) and risk perception amongst older female internet gamblers (50 years+)

BACKGROUND: Despite significant investment in social marketing initiatives gambling harms persist. Predicted to live longer, poorer, and less healthy lives than men, older women are increasingly gambling online with gambling harms rising accordingly. Yet little is known about this vulnerable demographic or the factors that underpin the behaviour. This study provides an alternative to the psychological approaches that dominate gambling research. A social capital paradigm …

The Neuroscience Of Safe Gaming: How To Use Wellness Content, Mary Donohue Dr.

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Anselme and Robinson suggest that “the motivation to gamble is strongly (though not entirely) determined by the inability to predict reward occurrence and is linked to having too much dopamine in the brain.” An excess of dopamine in some parts of the brain and lesser amounts in others is linked to mood changes, and in particular a decrease in impulse control and an increase in competitiveness. The gaming business wants to avoid reckless gambling and is engaged in research to find evidence-based tools that lower the reactions associated with high dopamine levels. One such tool is a digital therapeutic called …

A System Thinking Model On The Sustainability Of Online Betting Business In Taiwan Sports Lottery, Day-Yang Liu

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

A Systems Thinking Model on the Sustainability of Online Betting Businesses in the Taiwan Sports Lottery

Day Yang Liu , Chia Yang Chang

Abstract

The Taiwan Sports Lottery began in 2008 and has grown yearly ever since. Its sales are the sixth highest among the hundreds of other sports betting services worldwide. In the Taiwan Sports Lottery, there exists both stores and online platforms. In their early years, online betting businesses did not attract players and were opposed by most retailers running betting stores, leading to low profits. However, after several years, online betting businesses earned retailers’ support, and the …

How Observed Customer Mistreatment Of Supervisors Affects Employees’ Service Sabotage: A Cross-Cultural Examination From The Deontic Justice Theory, Wen Jiang, Cass Shum, Hyounae (Kelly) Min, Ye Ding

Hospitality Faculty Research

Research on customer mistreatment has focused on victims’ perspectives with scant research on third-party observers’ reactions, especially their reactions to customer mistreatment of supervisors. Drawing on the deontic justice theory, this research investigates how and when customer mistreatment of supervisors impacts frontline employees. Using a mixed-method of three studies (experiment, time-lagged survey, field survey) from two countries (the U.S. and China), this research demonstrates the spillover effects of customer mistreatment of supervisors on employee’s service sabotage via moral anger. Study 1 showed that hospitality employees’ moral anger mediated the relationship between customer mistreatment of their supervisors on employees’ service sabotage. …