Category Archives: Predatory Gambling

PHAI to Host International Webinar on the Myth of the Responsible Gambling Model

It’s Not the Dough, it’s the Dopamine:
The Dangerous Myth of the Responsible Gambling Model

How the gambling industry misleads regulators and imperils the public’s health. . . and what we can do about it

An unprecedented Zoom event during Problem Gambling Awareness Month

March 15, 2023 from 1:00 – 3:00 PM EDT

Presenters:

Dick Daynard, University Distinguished Professor of Law at Northeastern University, has long been at the forefront of an international movement to establish the legal responsibility of the tobacco industry for tobacco-induced death, disease and disability. He is president of the law school’s Public Health Advocacy Institute, chairs its Tobacco Products Liability Project and helped initiate its Center for Public Health Litigation. Recently, he has worked with PHAI on issues involving obesity, gambling, opioids, gun control and e-cigarettes.

 
Jim Orford is Emeritus Professor of Clinical and Community Psychology at the University of Birmingham. His books on addiction include Excessive Appetites: A Psychological View of Addictions and An Unsafe Bet?: The Dangerous Rise of Gambling and the Debate We Should Be Having, and, most recently, The Gambling Establishment: Challenging the Power of the Modern Gambling Industry and its Allies, published by Routledge in 2019. 

 Mark Petticrew is director of the National Institute of Health and Care’s Public Health Research Unit and Faculty of Public Health and Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine where he heads the Department of Public Health, Environments and Society. His research on commercial determinants of health extends from alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and fast food to gambling.

Matt Gaskell is a consultant psychologist and a clinical lead for addictions for the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and serves as clinical lead for the National Health Service Northern Gambling Service.


Liz Ritchie, along with her husband Charles, founded Gambling with Lives in 2018 to support bereaved families, raise awareness of the devastating effects of Gambling Disorder, and campaign for change.
Will Prochaska is the Strategy Director for the charity.

Harry Levant of Ethos Treatment, LLC is an Internationally Certified Gambling Counselor and policy advocate working with people and families struggling with gambling disorder; also a person with lived-experience in recovery from gambling addiction, and a doctoral student at Northeastern University who researches the impact of gambling on public health.

Mark Gottlieb is the executive director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston where he teaches public health advocacy. His research and advocacy have focused on tobacco litigation as a public health strategy, examining legal and policy approaches to food policy, and considering public health approaches to gambling and gun violence.

Register today

Boston Globe Publishes Op-Ed on Sports Gambling by PHAI’s Daynard and Gottlieb

On August 15, 2022, the Boston Globe published an op-ed written by PHAI president, Richard Daynard, PHAI executive director, Mark Gottlieb, and Northeastern University Law and Policy doctoral student, Harry Levant. The subject of the piece is the public health threat posed by sports betting with continuous action.

The piece is titled: Massachusetts makes a losing bet on gambling. A bill legalizing sports gambling was signed into law on August 10th in Massachusetts and the authors urge the regulatory agency, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, to lower the risk of addiction that sports gambling offering bettors constant action can pose.

Gambling Disorder is an addiction not unlike addictions to drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. Allowing legal betting on every play of every game of every sporting event is not a responsible way to regulate these products. The authors note that, “rigorous enforcement of age restrictions, barring in-game betting, regulating advertising, and creating basic affordability checks can eliminate most of the problems that all too often turn fun into tragedy and despair.”

The op-ed can be viewed here.

PHAI Submits Comments on Proposed Fantasy Sports Regulations in MA

Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healey, has proposed regulations to protect consumers from deceptive practices of daily fantasy sports operators in Massachusetts.  These include provisions to prevent youth access, limit monthly betting, and prevent professional players from using special tools to dramatically improve their chances of winning.

The Public Health Advocacy Institute previously argued to Ms. Healey that daily fantasy sports is illegal under Massachusetts law.  At this time, 10 states have taken that position.  Rather than take that approach, General Healey has staked out a moderate position of permitting the games while protecting consumers.  We argue that some of the most important protections in the proposed regulations may be impossible to effectively enforce.  Were it enforced, we argue, the industry’s business model would fail because it is built on practices that are unfair to the consumer.

Download PHAI’s submission here.

PHAI’s Gottlieb Discusses New Fantasy Sports Legal Developments on “Broadside” TV Segment

Mark Gottlieb, the executive director of PHAI, discussed the impact of the Cease and Desist orders issued by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman  to shut down daily Fantasy Sports sites FanDuel and DraftKings in that state as well as related developments in Massachusetts.   This segment of New England Cable News’ “Broadside with Sue O’Connell” aired on November 12, 2015.
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PHAI’s Gottlieb Discusses Fantasy Sports as Gambling on “Broadside” TV Segment

Mark Gottlieb, the executive director of PHAI, discussed the legality of paid daily fantasy sports games in Massachusetts on New England Cable News channel’s public affairs show, “Broadside” with Sue O’Connell.  The segment aired on November 3, 2015.
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Boston Globe Published Gottlieb Op-Ed on Legality of Daily Fantasy Sports in Massachusetts

The Boston Globe has published on opinion piece by PHAI’s executive director, Mark A. Gottlieb, which summarizes the organization’s legal research concluding that paid Daily Fantasy Sports games are illegal under Massachusetts law. The piece, entitled, “Fantasy Sports Gambling is Illegal Under State Law,” explains the law and several reasons why it is important to enforce it.

Gottlieb argues that Daily Fantasy Sports games operated by DraftKings and FanDuel are a consumer rip-off as currently operated with almost all of the winnings going to full-time professionals.  He goes on to criticize Internet gambling as posing a threat to current and potential compulsive gamblers, and that it is inconsistent with the limited casino gambling authorized by the state.

Massachusetts is among several states considering regulatory approaches to these games.  Six states have banned them entirely.

PHAI Finds Online Fantasy Sports Gambling Operators in “Clear” Violation of Massachusetts Law

A review by a prominent public interest law organization based in Boston revealed that online sports gambling operators like DraftKings are in “clear” violation of Massachusetts law.

The findings were included in an October 16th legal memo to Attorney General Maura Healey’s office that was prepared by the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) at Northeastern University.

PHAI, led by Northeastern University Distinguished Professor of Law Richard Daynard, is nationally-recognized for its effective legal advocacy combating the epidemics caused by tobacco and obesity.

In contrast, Attorney General Healey, has publicly said the law regarding online fantasy sports gambling is “unclear.”

“The lack of any action to stop the illegal business of online fantasy sports gambling and look the other way or wait until some future legislative action allows it sends the wrong message: that it is acceptable to engage in an illegal business now and, if it generates enough revenue, wait until lobbyists and corporate interests change its legal status,” said Mark Gottlieb, Executive Director of PHAI.

PHAI conducted its review after being contacted by Stop Predatory Gambling, a national government reform group against state-sponsored gambling operations.

The findings of PHAI’s review include:

  • “Daily Fantasy Sports” constitutes illegal internet sports gambling under Massachusetts law and is legally indistinguishable from a privately run lottery or numbers game.
  •  The Supreme Judicial Court has long ago settled what constitutes illegal gambling and online fantasy sports gambling operators clearly fall into this category
  •  The profit model for online fantasy sports gambling operators is based on the mass recruitment of unskilled players, which is why state residents have been blanketed with nonstop advertising
  •  Online fantasy sports gambling operators are targeting Massachusetts youth
  •  Other states have recognized that online fantasy sports gambling IS gambling

“The internet gambling operations run by DraftKings and FanDuel are predatory, deceptive, illegal and coming at the expense of everyday citizens,” said Les Bernal, National Director of Stop Predatory Gambling.

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After Settlement, PHAI Continues Commitment to Ending Youth Access to MA Lottery Ticket Vending Machines

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Mark Gottlieb at (617) 373-2206

-Boston

As part of its mission to end youth access to lottery ticket vending machines in Massachusetts, the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) announced today that it has settled a lawsuit with Star Markets.

In March, PHAI, a non-profit organization based at Northeastern University, brought suit against the supermarket chain in the Massachusetts Superior Court on behalf of the Stop Predatory lotteryGambling Foundation and Cambridge City Councilor Craig Kelley, who alleged that his teenage son had been able to use lottery ticket vending machines at two Star Market stores.

Under the settlement, Star Markets commits to using an age verification device that the Massachusetts Lottery Commission recently installed on all lottery ticket vending machines in Star Markets’ Massachusetts stores.  The device prohibits a person from using the vending machine until a driver’s license or government-issued identification card demonstrating that the user is at least 18-years-old is scanned.

Plaintiff Councilor Kelley observed, “My son and I are very happy to have been part of this effort to protect children in Cambridge and throughout Massachusetts.”

Andrew Rainer, Litigation Director of PHAI, applauded Star Markets for ensuring that the vending machines in its stores are not used by children.  “Unfortunately,” he noted, “there are still almost 1,200 older lottery ticket machines in the state that don’t yet have the age-verification technology,” He continued by noting that “some of those machines are located in kid-friendly locations, like bowling alleys and convenience stores.”

 

Stop & Shop Responds to PHAI’s Demands to Prevent Sales of Scratch Tickets to Kids

In 2014 and 2015, the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) conducted testing to determine whether kids could purchase lottery tickets from the vending machines located in a number of area supermarkets.  At markets in Cambridge, Somerville, and Arlington, Massachusetts, a teenage tester was easily able to purchase lottery tickets in every attempt.

Massachusetts law expressly prohibits the sale of lottery tickets to “any person under age eighteen.” Yet the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling reports that over two-thirds of teenage boys (aged 14-17) have gambled in the past year, and over half of teenage girls have done so. About a third of these children gambled by playing lottery games.

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Stop & Shop lottery vending machine with scanner in Somerville, MA

On March 10, 2015, PHAI sent Stop & Shop a legal demand under Massachusetts’ consumer protection law, on behalf of the father of the teenage purchaser, Cambridge City Councilor Craig Kelley, and on behalf of the national non-profit Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation, seeking steps to prevent children from using the lottery ticket vending machines in the company’s stores. According to the demand letter, selling the tickets to minors is an unfair and deceptive sales practice prohibited by law.

The action drew media attention and led to an editorial in the Boston Globe urging that the problem be addressed.  Representatives from Stop & Shop responded by working with the Massachusetts Lottery Commission to activate drivers’ license scanners in the lottery ticket machines, which operate to confirm that a lottery ticket purchaser is at least 18 years old before the machine will vend a ticket.  Stop & Shop informed PHAI last week that all of its lottery ticket vending machines would have these protections in place by the end of July, 2015.

PHAI staff spot checked Stop & Shop machines in 3 counties and found that its machines will, in fact, not operate without first scanning an adult driver’s license.

Cambridge City Councilor Kelley said he was pleased to see some progress made. “It’s a real problem,” Kelley said. “As a father and as a city councilor, I was truly shocked at how easy it was for a kid to buy tickets from these machines.”

Mark Gottlieb, executive director of PHAI, noted that “While Stop & Shop’s efforts to quickly address the problem are laudable, the vast majority of lottery ticket vending machines in the state don’t have driver’s license scanners. This includes many places like bowling alleys and convenience stores that are frequented by kids.” Gottlieb added that “we will continue to work to prevent sales of scratch tickets to kids through vending machines as a public health policy measure.”

PHAI Mentioned in Boston Globe Article About Efforts to Prevent Underage Lottery Vending

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In recent months, PHAI has worked with concerned parents and a national anti-predatory gambling group to address youth access to instant lottery tickets through unattended vending machines. Fears around easy access to scratch tickets by kids grew when we found that a 14-year-old was able to easily purchase tickets from lottery vending machines in supermarkets in Arlington, Cambridge, and Somerville, Massachusetts.  Each attempt was made in the late afternoon without any effort to conceal the sale.  In each instance, the teenager was able to approach the machine and make a slow and deliberate purchase while customers and store personnel were nearby.

PHAI filed a lawsuit on behalf of the father of the teenager as well as Stop Predatory Gambling against one of the supermarket chains, Star Markets, and has initiated legal action against Stop & Shop. In the story published today in the Boston Globe, the Massachusetts Lottery Commission announced that some vending machines will now use a scanning technology feature to verify the age of purchasers through their drivers’ license or state-issued identification.  The executive director of the Commission, Beth Bresnahan, indicates that, “following some incidents of underage play that recently transpired . . . the Lottery is activating this feature across all of the approximately 500 PAT machines currently in the field to fully protect the integrity of ticket sales at retail locations.” “PATs,” or “Player Activated Terminals,” represent less than 30% of all lottery vending machines in Massachusetts.

The “incidents” Ms. Bresnahan referred to are, presumably, those that were brought to the attention of the Commission through PHAI’s litigation and coverage of the lawsuit by the Boston Globe as well as its strong editorial calling for effective age-restriction enforcement by the Commission.

It remains to be seen whether these new measures will be effective, particularly because they affect only a fraction of the vending machines that are in places frequented by youth.