Digital Gambling [Hardcover]

This book develops the concept of gamble-play media , describing how some gambling and gambling-like practices are increasingly mediated by digital technologies. Digital gambling brings gambling closer to the practices and features of videogames, as audio-visual simulations structure users experiences. By studying digital gambling from media studies, videogame and cultural studies approaches, this book offers a new critical perspective on the issues raised by computer-mediated gambling, while expanding our perspective on what media and gambling are. In particular, it critically analyses terrestrial, mobile and online slot machines, online poker and stock trading apps through a selection of case studies.

Preface: The VIP Lounge

Introduction. Digital gambling as media

Part I. Gamble-play theory

1. Towards a theory of gamble-play

2. Smoke and mirrors: procedural rhetoric in gamble-play

3. Gamble-play media and practices of consumption

Part II. Gamble-play platforms

4. Gamble-play and popular culture: when slots meet Hollywood

5. Gamble-play as Second Life: the case of PKR

6. Mobile gamble-play apps: a casino in your pocket

7. Gambling with markets: stock trading apps and the logic of gamble-play

Postface: Gamble-play in the societies of control

I am thrilled to recommend a book that is essential reading for students and scholars working across gambling and gaming studies. At last, we have a rigorous, creative and thought-provoking study to help us make sense of proliferating platforms and products that are blurring the lines between entertainment and investment in everyday life. Albarr?n-Torres concept of digital gamble-play is quite literally a game-changer. &nló0