'If thinking about addiction is going to change, the study of excessive gambling is likely to be one of the richest sources of new ideas' (Jim Orford). In this 2006 book the authors present research into gambling, showing the psychological variables that govern the erosion or maintenance of self-control over gambling behaviour. These studies provide an empirical basis for a model of impaired control of gambling. Impaired control, in its broadest sense, is considered to be the defining psychological construct of all the addictive behaviours and occupies a central position in conceptualising the addictive aspects of gambling.