Researchers are hoping a new casino lab will help them hit a jackpot of data.
The University of British Columbia officially opened its new Centre for Gambling Research on Wednesday, heralding it as one of only a handful of research hubs like it in the entire world.
“This facility will transform gambling research in British Columbia,” said Luke Clark, the centre’s first director.
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Clark, a former Cambridge psychologist who led the U.K.’s largest study of pathological gamblers, was hired by UBC early this year to launch the centre.
At the time, he said his goal was to reduce the harms associated with gambling and influence policies to make treatment more effective.
“Our work will help us better understand the psychology of gambling games and problem gambling, which will bolster UBC’s strengths in addictions research and ultimate result in healthier communities,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
The new centre, established with $2 million in funding from the provincial government at the B.C. Lottery Corporation, features a casino lab full of slot machines and other games so researchers can measure player behaviour and physiological responses.
Upcoming research will include in-person interviews with gamblers at local casinos and recruiting problem gamblers as the centre studies decision-making, according to the school.
