What Constitutes a Robust
Responsible Gambling Program?
Engaging the Big Questions in Gambling Studies
AGRI 10th Annual Conference
Banff, Alberta
Rachel A. Volberg, Ph.D.
Gemini Research, Ltd.
Northampton, MA
USA
9 April 2011
Whose responsibility is it?
“In the case of gambling, the liberalization and
deregulation of the industry and the simultaneous
expectation that individual players govern themselves
express the tensions inherent in consumer capitalism … ”
Reith, 2007
“While individuals retain the ultimate responsibility … the
gaming industry, in collaboration with government and the
community, must ensure that individuals receive sufficient
information to enable them to make responsible gambling
choices”
Blaszczynski et al, 2008
Elements of a culture of
responsible gambling
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Informed choice—a process in which choices related to a product
are made on the basis of adequate information about foreseeable
consequences
Information has several clear aims
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Increase awareness of risks
Increase understanding of how gambling products work
Encourage responsible gambling practices
Help people recognize problem gambling behaviors
Inform/educate people about available assistance
Science can contribute to determining which information is
effective in promoting informed choice in gambling
Blaszczynski et al, 2008; Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, 2004
Challenges
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Gambling is heterogeneous
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Variations in activity & venue will dictate different options for providing
information
Presence of gambling problems may affect capacity to make
informed choices
Attitudes & intentions mediate between information & choice
Nevertheless, the concept of informed choice has served as the
basis for numerous public health marketing campaigns
Blaszczynski et al, 2008
Responsible gambling programmes
range widely
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Public & player education
Signage promoting responsible play
Ethical codes of advertising
Exclusion programs
Pre-commitment programs
Limits on machine numbers
Prize structures
Staff training
Environmental & machine design modifications
Policies re alcohol service & access to cash
Improved referrals to treatment services
Closer liaisons with treatment service providers
Are these programmes effective?
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Few initiatives have been systematically evaluated
Responsible gambling measures often introduced without
evidence of their effectiveness
There are legitimate concerns that implementing responsible
gambling measures will negatively affect non-problem gamblers
Exclusion programs
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Exclusion programs adopted in 9
states & 14 international
jurisdictions
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However, there is considerable
room for improvement
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15 empirical studies completed
(all since 2000)
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Some trends are evident:
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From punitive to assisting
orientation
From lifetime bans to bans of
varying length
Better links forming btw venues &
treatment programs
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Better promotion of programs
Better regulatory oversight & clear
penalties
Coverage of multiple venues,
activities
Management of reinstatement
process
System needed to generate
performance data for evaluation
purposes
Responsible Gambling Council, 2007; Volberg, 2009
What do we know about pre-commitment?
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Not many people use it if voluntary
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Venue staff struggle to sell & promote pre-commitment
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Strong brand association between pre-commitment & PG
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Reasonable evidence that EGM players find it useful (if they use it)
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Reasonable evidence that higher-risk users find it more useful
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Opt-out may be better than opt-in
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PGs may not have the capacity to select affordable limits
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Players may set limits higher than their typical spending
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If players want to circumvent the system, they probably will
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System design plays a key role in pre-commitment system
effectiveness
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Venues adapt and don’t find it that burdensome
Hare, 2011
Where are we heading?
PC for PG
(player protection)
PC for informed
consent
Compulsory PC
Voluntary PC
Limits set by
players
Limits set by
government
Psychological
contract
Full control
over players
100% player
privacy
Identifiable
data stored
PC for
EGM play
PC for all
gambling
Hare, 2011
Certification efforts emerging …
Moving forward: RG & regulation
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Gambling regulation is increasingly focused on protecting the
public interest
Transparent & inclusive consultation processes prior to
implementation growing
However, enforcement depends on regular assessments (audits)
of responsible gambling measures with specific metrics of
performance
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Assessments must be published
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Data must be made available to researchers
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Procedures needed for funding & commissioning research on
responsible gambling measures
Conclusions
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Widespread agreement that responsible gambling should be a
fundamental principle guiding gambling industry & regulatory
practices
However, as yet little consensus about how responsible gambling
should be defined or what measures are most effective
Good feedback systems & disclosure needed to generate data so
stakeholders can assess the performance of responsible gambling
measures
In other words, more research is needed …
For more information:
[email protected]