The 15th Annual International Conference of Gambling & Risk Taking (“ICGRT”) was held the last week of May at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The ICGRT is the brainchild of the late UNLV-Reno Professor William R. Eadington, whose commitment to the study of gambling and risk taking was outline and honored at the conference dinner. The ICGRT is typically held every three years under the auspices of UNLV, although this year’s conference was delayed a year due to the passing of Dr. Eadington last year. The ICGRT, which encourages submission and discussion of substantive academic research papers at the conference, is recognized as the most multi-disciplinary gambling conference in the world. This year’s conference hosted the largest turnout of academics and industry representatives in the history of the conference under the leadership of Professor Bo Bernhard of UNLV-Las Vegas. The special strength of this conference is the presentation of fundamental worldwide academic research in gambling and risk taking. A highlight of the conference was a mock trial on the question of whether or not social gaming should be regulated. In addition, Dr. Bernhard hosted a gathering of representatives of the various associations and organizations participating in the conference to discuss ways in which the dialogue between academia and related academic research can more effectively interplay with the casino industry in addressing problem gambling issues and effective problem gambling identification and treatment.
