The Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI) is well known among gambling researchers for initiating, carrying out or otherwise to be associated with high quality gambling studies. In April 2018, AGRI organized its 17th annual conference in Banff, Canada.
About 100 people participated. The location of the conference is stunningly beautiful, high up in the mountains of the Canadian Rockies. Fortunately, I had two days of vacation in Banff before the conference begun and greatly enjoyed taking long walks along the forest trails.
This was a conference with plenty of very interesting presentations. Poster presentations were also given a prominent place at the conference.
The following three presentations were particularly inspiring to me:
> “Dark Flow” and “Reactivity to Rewards”: Distinct Routes to Slot Machine Enjoyment for Problem and Recreational Slots Players” (Mike Dixon)
> Back to the Future: Memories of the Non-Gambling Self Facilitates Behavioural Change Hyoun S. (Andrew) Kim.
> The Bemused Observations of a Veteran Battle-Scarred Gambling Researcher, Garry Smith
I presented a study on the association between specific forms of gambling and problem gambling, in relation to gambling involvement (i.e. participation in multiple forms of gambling).
> Risk of Harm as a Function of Type of Gambling
The presentation was based on a study made in collaboration with Ulla Romild from the Public Health Agency of Sweden and Rachel Volberg, at the University of Massachusetts. Results from the study have been published in the journal International Gambling Studies:
– Binde, P., Romild, U., & Volberg, R. A. (2017). Forms of gambling, gambling involvement and problem gambling: Evidence from a Swedish population survey. International Gambling Studies, 17(3), 490-507.
The article is open access. It is currently the most read article published in 2017, in this journal.
A list of the conference presenters at AGRI 2018 is found here.
