UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

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Introduction

It is difficult to believe it has already been another year at the International Gaming Institute and the UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal. The IGI has continued our international research reach, sending four delegates to Japan this Fall to discuss our recent work in the social and economic impacts of new integrated resorts, and the lessons learned from regulating out organized crime in Nevada. The GRRJ has similarly grown. Our articles are downloaded and distributed on six continents – we’ll get you one day, Antarctica – with hotspots in the US, Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, and Southeast Asia.

I am thrilled to introduce our new Managing Editor, Marta Soligo. Marta is a Ph.D. student in the Sociology department at UNLV, and a rockstar research assistant at the IGI. She has been working on our gambling and globalization research, as well as some of her own pet projects, looking at the role of heritage in gambling spaces. She has kindly allowed me to tag along for on-site data collection across the Las Vegas valley, investigating how culture is represented in different integrated resorts. And a note from Marta:

I love when I have tasks that allow me to learn and have fun at the same time. This is how I would describe my first year as Managing Editor at GRRJ. Every step of the publication process teaches me so much, from the instant I get a notification email of a new submission, to the moment the article is ready for press. Coming from a multidisciplinary background, I am thrilled by how every manuscript we receive makes me comprehend gaming from a different and new angle. I see research as a synonym of innovation, and I think this volume mirrors this idea. There are so many people I would like to thank. Firstly, thank you to the authors for the great contribution they gave to the journal. Secondly, thank you to the reviewers for their fundamental suggestions. Finally, last but not least, thank you to Brett and the IGI team, who gave me this great opportunity and guided me through the GRRJ adventure.

Our Current Issue

With the transition into new staff, the IGI’s expansion, and our dedication to publishing only rigorously peer reviewed manuscripts, we have chosen to publish Volume 21 as a joint 1 & 2 issue, rather than separately. This has allowed us to maintain the high standard of publication while also efficiently expanding the limited resources of our small operation. And thus, we are pleased to open Volume 21:

We begin with Myongjee Yoo, AK Singh, and Kasra Ghaharian’s look at how fluctuations in foreign exchange rates impact international demand in the Las Vegas market, focusing on one Las Vegas Strip casino property. We don’t want to give away too much here, but spoiler alert – they do!

Next, Tony Lucas and Kate Spilde continue their streak of successful collaboration with a data-driven look at the tax impacts of free-play offers at casinos. The authors consider the implications of a variety of options for tax deduction on free-play campaigns, making several suggestion and encouraging an evidence-based choice for an equitable balance between regulators and operators.

Volume 21 continues with Kahlil Philander’s short report on Entry Fees – the first formal academic look at entry fees from an economic perspective. Dr. Philander warns against use of entry fees without an empirical approach, as they have the potential to increase the share of gaming revenues generated by players with a gambling disorder. Pauliina Raento follows with an article she has developed through years of research on James Bond, a qualitative look at the narrative agency of gambling in the 24 EON-produced 007 films, demonstrating its role in conveying character identity, power hierarchies and communication, atmosphere, and sense of risk and danger.

Melissa Rorie closes the research section with a look at current contradictions in gambling regulation, with a particular focus on regulatory responses to licensee violations. Dr. Rorie provides a background on the Responsive Regulation approach, outlining its potential for the gambling industry.

The Volume closes with a book review from Andrew Gustafson, of Jessalyn Strauss’s book “Challenging Corporate Social Responsibility: Lessons for Public Relations from the Casino Industry,” detailing her close look at the use of CSR for strategic bottom line interests compared to purely ethical reasons.

And our gratitude, as always, to our authors, our reviewers, and our fellow editors, who work hard to make the UNLV Gaming Research and Review Journal a success!