This book analyses the voluminous and meandering case law on gambling of the Court of Justice from an empirical perspective. It offers a comprehensive overview of the legal situation of gambling services in the EU Single Market. Additionally, the book presents the current state of research on gambling addiction. It then seeks to answer the central research question as to what extent the views of the Court of Justice on gambling find support in empirical evidence. The Court of Justice granted exceptionally wide discretion to the Member States due to a so-called ‘peculiar nature’ of games of chance. With the margin of appreciation having played a key role, the book inquires whether the Court of Justice followed the principles and criteria that normally steer the use of this doctrine. Noting the Court’s special approach, the book elaborates on its causes and consequences. Throughout the book, the approach of the Court of Justice is contrasted with that of its sister court, the EFTA Court. Finally, the potential role of the precautionary principle and of EU fundamental rights in the area of gambling law is examined. Situated at the intersection of law and science, this book seeks to bridge the legal and scientific perspectives and the unique vocabularies common to each. It illustrates the direct relevance of science and empirical research for court cases and policy making. And it contrasts science-informed policy making with the on-going morality discourse on gambling.

"There is little doubt that members of the cryptocurrency community have all the hallmarks of cult followers. For cult members wishing to be deprogrammed, as well as those seeking sound information and analysis, Bitcoin: Unlicensed Gambling is a most edifying and useful read." - Prof. Steve H. Hanke, founder and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise, and a senior fellow and the director of the Troubled Currencies Project at the Cato Institute. Promoters claim that bitcoin is a new type of money, reduces transactions costs by abandoning intermediaries and will become a safe asset that they call "digital gold". In this book, we dissect these claims and explain what bitcoin really is. Economic theory states that money should reduce transaction costs for payments, loans, and relative valuations, which requires a stable value. We show that the extreme price volatility and the high transaction costs - especially the time component - make bitcoin almost useless as money. Bitcoin increases, instead of reduces, transactions costs. Furthermore, an intermediary exists - the miner - who charges a transaction fee. The fundamental value of assets is based on their cash flow or utility, which applies for shares, bonds, real estate, and intellectual property. Gold is the best-known store of value and a hedge against financial crisis and inflation. Bitcoin has no cash flow or utility, and statistics show that it is no hedge against anything. It is, in fact, pro-cyclical and its crashes of 50 % in 2018 and 2021 are unmatched by any of the main fiat currencies in the last 50 years. Bitcoin has no intrinsic value and is not anything at all like digital gold. Bitcoin is an open Ponzi scheme. The Ponzi is "open" since it is public knowledge that there are no assets at all backing a bitcoin. To the promoters of bitcoin, the lack of assets is "a feature and not a bug." The main function of the bitcoin network is simply unlicensed gambling, where new players redeem those who entered earlier. It is a zero-sum game. Finally, the bitcoin system has no responsible issuer. So, if the system breaks down, holders have nobody from whom to claim - or to whom to assign blame. Although bitcoin is nothing other than a public and decentralized ledger of accounts and transactions, the bitcoin network and its promoters have been very successful in increasing the market value of a bitcoin from 10 to 30,000 USD in 10 years. Promoters of bitcoin use methods that include: 1) distracting investors from which functions bitcoin has or does not have; 2) directing attention to irrelevant technobabble; and 3) manipulating trade and prices in the bitcoin market. Marketing of a strong brand and visual illusions in the form of physical glittering coins make the impression that bitcoin is something valuable. But we show that it is not. The average investor is succumbing to these successful methods and risks their house, savings, and pension. We show that bitcoin is also used for criminal activities such as ransomware payments, tax evasion, and money laundering. The bitcoin network consumes vast amounts of electricity and critical advanced computer chips, which consumption creates negative externalities in the form of higher prices and shortages in other sectors. With no fundamental function, not even providing governments with tax revenue specifically due from the unlicensed gambling that bitcoin really is, bitcoin's actual value for society is negative. We propose that, before there is more damage to the public, government gambling regulators immediately enforce existing regulations and take action to investigate those who operate the bitcoin network.

The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Disordered Gambling is a complete guide to the current empirical literature relating to the conceptualization, assessment, and treatment of disordered gambling. The international contributors are all experienced, practicing clinicians who discuss gambling within a global context. Best-practice guidelines for the clinical management of problem and disordered gambling Contains empirically derived findings that translate research into practical clinical applications that clinicians and counselors can use in understanding and treating problem gamblers Brings together a distinguished international group of scholars whose contributions discuss gambling as it occurs around the globe Clearly organized into sections that cover conceptualization, research, assessment, treatment, and special topics