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By Helen Keane How to cite: Keane H. (2019). Rethinking Stigma and Gambling.  Critical Gambling Studies . https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs13 Stigma is an unusually successful sociological concept. Not only has it flourished in public health and social psychology by capturing the powerful effects of social exclusion on wellbeing, it has become part of vernacular language . The downside of this success is a loss of precision and diminishment of critical incisiveness. Rather than designating a political and social relationship based on the exercise of power, stigma is commonly used to refer to general reactions of social disapproval and/or the negative associations linked to particular conditions or identities. The critical element that remains intact is the idea of unjustified disapproval: to say that an attribute is stigmatised is to claim that is wrongly subject to discrimination or devaluation. However, stigma has recently benefitted from revitalising sociological attention ...

By Garry Smith How to cite:  Smith G. (2019). Money Laundering in British Columbia Casinos. Critical Gambling Studies . https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs12 The Issue For the past decade Vancouver casinos have been a haven for loan sharks and money launderers seeking to camouflage and exploit the proceeds of drug trafficking. These activities have made Vancouver casinos a cesspool of financial crime. High rolling Chinese organized crime members were recruited in Macau casinos to gamble in Vancouver. Millions of dollars from illegal drug sales in China were first deposited into illegal Canadian banks, then later retrieved by gang members to gamble in lower mainland British Columbia casinos. Preferring to play baccarat in exclusive VIP rooms with a maximum wager of $100,000; win or lose, after cashing out, ‘dirty’ drug money is converted into ‘deodorized’ untraceable casino chips. An estimated $2 billion in ill-gotten gains was washed through Vancouver gambling outlets (much of it in...

By Fiona Nicoll and Mark R Johnson How to Cite:  Nicoll F., & Johnson M. R. (2019). The Walking Dead: Conflicts of Interest in Gambling and Video Gaming Reviewing.   Critical Gambling Studies . https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs11 One of the most successful media franchises of recent years is  The Walking Dead , a set of stories focused on survival in a zombie apocalypse.  TWD  originated as a graphic novel before expanding into a television series (just finishing its ninth season), a number of video games, and a series of “electronic gaming machines” (EGMs) designed by major gambling company  Aristocrat . At this link –  https://www.aristocrat.com/games/the-walking-dead-ii/  – the trailer for the slot machine makes clear both its connections to the franchise as a whole, and how traditional elements of slot machines have been “rebranded” in the  Walking Dead  context.  These multiple media adaptations make  The Walking Dead ...