He completed his PhD thesis on fruit machine addiction at Exeter University in 1990, under the supervision of Paul Webley and Stephen Lea.
Some of these companies include the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, the Canadian Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation, the Irish National Lottery, and Casino Cosmopol.
He also described the proclivity of adolescents to develop addictive behaviours through playing free, casino-style games on social media platforms (e.g. Zynga Poker).
For example, he has reported that demo versions and online "skill schools" where players gamble with points rather than money appeal more to teenagers than adults.
The study also showed MMORPGs "can be extremely social games, with a high percentage of gamers making lifelong friends and partners".
The study concluded that "virtual gaming may allow players to express themselves in ways they might not feel comfortable doing in real life because of their appearance, gender, sexuality, and/or age".