Gamblers Grace – Play It Well

Cigarette smoking is associated with increased severity of gambling problems among individuals seeking treatment for gambling disorders. Gamblers smoke because the same personality type that is drawn to gambling is also drawn to smoking. These activities appeal to people who adopt a fast life history strategy. This means they prefer the present over the future and engage in enjoyable behaviors that create long-term problems. Other studies that examined rates of smoking by peoples' gambling relationships showed more troubling results. Smoking Is Clearly Associated with Gamblers For instance, one study looked at smoking rates and severity of problem gambling among high school students in Connecticut, finding that about 20.1% of those classified as problem gamblers or high-risk players were current smokers, compared with only 12.1% of those who were at lower risk. There is only limited data looking at the rate of smoking among card players, but this suggests smoking is at least as serious an issue for gamblers as it is in the rest of society. It seems like smoking and gambling are inextricably linked, and smoking rates among gamers appear to back up this hypothesis. Based on that, it has been suggested that smoking every day, the central trigger of gaming and associated cravings, can impede treatment for problem gambling. It is possible that tobacco smoking (via nicotines effects on learning and reward systems in the brain) reinforces problem gambling, making this behavior hard to interrupt, particularly if it is repeated together with smoking. Gamblers' Personalities Are Drawn to Other Risk Behaviors These momentary effects might be very welcome for problem gamblers since they might feel an increased capacity for concentration and shifts of attention in the course of a gambling episode (after smoking). The drawback is that relief from the stress caused by smoking is only temporary, and nicotine withdrawal (cannabis craving) increases irritation and stress. Similarly, poor mental health may contribute to increased substance abuse, smoking, and addictive behavior. There are many sources of support and information that may be helpful if you are a smoker, a gambling addict, or use drugs or alcohol inappropriately. How about checking out some of our self-help strategies, which can help you quit gambling, as well as take your mind off of smoking. Therefore, priority should be given to the integration of smoking cessation treatments in evidence-based interventions to address problem gambling. Informed by the literature, our main objective will be to investigate whether the integration of comorbid tobacco smoking treatment enhances gaming outcomes for North Americans who are problem gambling, as opposed to the emphasis being solely on problem gaming. A major advantage is that this pilot study will be integrated--that is, it will utilize treatments for both problem gambling and tobacco smoking in order to address functional relationships between each behavior in the same treatment. Very few studies have examined the smoking prevalence and the association with treatment outcomes related to problem gambling. Smoking Gamblers Are the Most Valuable Type Among other findings, a report released on February 23 determined that smokers, accounting for 21% of Atlantic City gambling, are more valuable to casinos than non-smokers, as smokers tend to lose more money and spend more money on non-gambling items. The report released Feb. 23 also found that non-gambling revenues would drop as much as $93 million, or 6.5%, with a ban on smoking, and that tax revenues would drop as much as 44%. The report also acknowledged some non-smoking patrons would visit casinos more often if smoking was banned. The report, released Feb. 23, predicted smokers would make up 13% of the total number of visitors to Atlantic City casinos, who would also have an opportunity to play games online. A study published in 2008 looked at three different casinos, finding smoking rates at 20.3 percent in Las Vegas, at 21.5 percent in Reno/Sparks, and a lower rate at Lake Tahoe at 16.4 percent. Chris Pritsos, a biochemist who teaches at the University of Nevada, Reno, studied smoking rates in casinos across the state two years ago, finding the proportion of Vegas casinos and University of Nevada casinos that smoke is not substantially higher than the national average. Chris Pritsos said that his studies found higher rates of smoking among players, particularly among those who had gambling problems. Tobacco Compounds the Financial Troubles of Gamblers When Potenza studied individuals seeking treatment for gambling problems, those who reported using tobacco daily said they had lost $21,000 in the past year playing, $7000 more than the nonsmokers in the group. The Americans for Non-Smokers Rights organization cited a July Las Vegas tribal gaming conference where participants reported revenue lost during the first year of smoking prohibitions had bounced back in later years, at higher levels than prior to prohibition. Spectrum Gaming Group, an independent gaming industry research company, put together a report released on Feb. 23 about casinos. Darlene Mohns, the casino's vice president of marketing, said Darlene Mohns believes that players are more likely to smoke, but she doesn't have statistics on that. Many gambling facilities have places where people can smoke because of how strongly the correlation between smoking and gambling is. Casinos in Atlantic City argue that banning smoking will drive smokers to neighbor Pennsylvania, where many casinos permit smoking. Atlantic City briefly banned smoking for four weeks in 2008, but, unhappy with the results, soon reinstated the smoking rate at its current 25%.

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