Gambler jailed
Christine Caulfield
15oct05

HeraldSun

A CHRONIC gambler found guilty of tricking a Chinese businessman out of $1.5 million has been jailed for at least four years.

Convicted con artist Yi Wang, 53, of Preston, posed as an investment adviser to swindle the money and play the tables at Crown casino.

A County Court jury deliberated for just two hours before convicting Wang of 11 counts of obtaining property by deception and one count each of making and using a false document.

Wang tricked Zhan Qing Zhang into investing in two Victorian properties sight unseen, then gambled the money away.

Judge Leo Hart sentenced Wang to a maximum of six years' jail.

International

Packer's hand in UK's liberalised gambling laws

By Colin Kruger
Sydney
October 17, 2005

The Age

DOCUMENTS obtained by a London newspaper reveal that Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer, was no idle spectator when it came to convincing the British Government of the need to liberalise its gambling laws.

According to documents obtained by The Sunday Times, Mr Packer's venture hired Michael Stephenson, a former adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair, to lobby for the changes.

The paper said these efforts included a visit to Mr Packer's Crown Casino in Melbourne by a British minister and MPs charged with scrutinising the new laws, and culminated in meetings with Treasury and Culture Department officials last year.

Mr Packer's private investment vehicle, Consolidated Press Holdings, and its joint-venture partner in Britain, Damian Aspinall, are well positioned to capitalise on the changes to gambling laws, which were passed this year.

The partners are lobbying for Government approval of a casino costing from £150 million ($A350 million) to £200 million being proposed as part of a £700 million development in Cardiff.

They have also announced plans for a £50 million casino in England's Midlands, and have proposals approved for Newcastle and Swansea.

Last year the partners stated that they intended to have a portfolio of 12 to 16 British sites.

The investment is being made through the Aspinall Packer Group, in which the Packer family is believed to hold a 35 per cent stake.

It is believed Mr Packer started lobbying in 2002, when Richard Caborn, Minister of State in the Culture Department, visited Australia to study deregulation.

This included a visit to Crown Casino, which is operated by Mr Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd.

The more recent efforts were aided by Mr Stephenson, Mr Blair's former political secretary and London representative for lobbyists Hawker Britton.

The Sunday Times obtained the documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

Book Review: Problemg gambling – opposing viewpoints
by David Zander, Council Asian Pacific Minnesotans

www.insightnews.com

There are lots of books on gambling in the local library, but inspect their table of contents for a chapter on ‘problem gambling’ or the index for topics like social costs of gambling and you will rarely find adequate discussion of the dangers of problem gambling or resources listed for the problem gambler. For instance, in Gambling for Dummies, you might optimistically expect a whole chapter on the risks of compulsive gambling, but there is only a brief reference for the Gamblers Anonymous website buried in one page.

Gambling, edited by James D. Torr, in the Opposing Viewpoints Series, published by Greenhaven Press, San Diego, California (2002), however, is an exceptional resource The book is organized under four major issues: 1) Is gambling immoral?; 2) How serious is the problem of compulsive gambling?; 3) How does legalized gambling affect communities?; and 4) How should the government regulate gambling? There are also bibliographies and a list of organizations to contact.

Under each chapter the reader will find a variety of opposing positions, arguments, key definitions, details and facts. For example, In Minnesota, two thirds of people seeking help for problem gambling blamed casinos for their addiction. A mere 5 percent cited lotteries. Readers will learn the gambling industry puts at least $4.5 million into national political campaigns, and that based on the average results of 22 population surveys conducted in sixteen states, it appears that about 4.3 percent of the adult population are problem gamblers. Members of Gamblers Anonymous report an attempted suicide rate six times higher than that of the general population.

Ronald Pavalko, professor of sociology in Wisconsin, sees problem gambling as a hidden addiction, similar to alcohol addiction, whereas Michael Walker, a professor of psychology in Australia, argues that compulsive gambling is different from drug or alcohol addiction. Bernard Horn, communications director of the National Coalition against Legalized Gambling, writes that the gambling industry preys on compulsive gamblers, but the American Gaming Association says it is working to reduce compulsive gambling.

Henry Lesieur, president of the Institute for Problem Gambling, writes that the social costs of compulsive gambling include medical problems, psychological disorders, substance abuse, crime, family and marriage problems, and are enormous. Lesieur found that 18 to 28 percent of males and 8 percent of females in treatment and GA declared bankruptcy. An Illinois study of 184 GA members found that the average amount stolen was $60,700. In Wisconsin, excluding one person who took $8 million, the average stolen was $5,738. Leseiur writes that the amount of debt is staggering, ranging from an average of $38,664 in Wisconsin to $113,640 in Illinois. Female gamblers had a lower level of debt. Losses place an enormous stress on the gambler’s family, work, emotional life and health. While admitting that stories such as that of a 40-year-old teacher and mother of two shooting herself in the head, are undeniably tragic, Nick Gillespie says that the problem of compulsive gambling is exaggerated, and that horror stories, however bleak, should not guide public policy. An Economics Resource group writes that Indian Gaming benefits Native Americans, while David Pace, a reporter for the Associated Press, contradicts that it benefits only a minority. Poverty remains high in reservations without casinos. Other issues debated are internet gambling and betting on college sports.

Gambling was a refreshing primer on the viewpoints that need to be included so as to have a more comprehensive state legislative debate on casino gambling expansion. Some of the surveys were dated, and would need to be updated, but the book is good background reading for those wanting to testify on casino gambling issues. There is much truth in the series message that those who do not know their opponent’s arguments do not completely understand their own. I found my opponent’s arguments reflected right here in this volume. It is my hope that after reading this book, testifiers will be more aware of the basis from which they argue, of the counter-arguments that might be leveled against them, and of how to defend a point of view against others.