Using Technology to Assist Player
Control - An Example from Sweden
Discovery 2009, Niagara Falls, Canada
Thomas Nilsson, Spelinstitutet, Sweden
Gambling in Sweden
• Turnover for the Swedish gambling market
in 2008: 4,6489 billon USD
• Top three:
1) VLT:s (7 000 in bars, restaurants and
bingo halls)
2) V75 (trotting. Live trotting on TV or via
your computer two times every day
3) Triss (scratch card)
• We have 4 casinos
• There is approximately 9 000 independent
retailers in the country
•Svenska Spel ( wholly owned by the Swedish
State) introduced internet poker March 2006
Problem Gambling in Sweden
2% the Swedes have an ongoing
gambling problem
(Rönnberg et al 1997/98)
Games associated problems:
• VLT:s
• Poker online
(The Helpline 2008)
Support for Problem
Gamblers in Sweden
• A hand full of treatment centers
•National Helpline
• Self help groupself
•Shelp program online
• Some therapists and counselors'
work with PG
• Out home treatment
For every complex problem there is
an easy answer, and it is wrong.
H.L Mencken
Definition of responsible gambling
Ethical, regulatory requirement, expected by customers,
or
Responsible gaming is about giving people the choice to play well
designed games in a secure and supportive environment
Principal 1 | Focus on the normal gamblers
PP gamblers
Problem gamblers
Normal gamblers
• Offer gaming - not treatment
• Incidence - not prevalence
o Working on incidence means “prevention”
o Working with prevalence means shutting down business
• The PG and PPG will benefit from that work
Principal 2 | Voluntariness
• Help players make there own informed decisions
o Guide them - don't rule them
o Offer help
o Keep promises
• Creates trust and reciprocity
• Strengthen motivation
Principal 3 | Responsible gambling tools
• Proper age checks
• “Risk of game” announcements
• Restricted methods of payment
• Include and offer references to help
• Accreditation by external organisation
• No encouragement to regambling
• Realistic and restrictive “play for fun”
• Visible and accessible betting history
• Use local currency instead of “credits”
Principal 3 | Responsible gambling tools (continued)
• Spend limits
o Net spending
o Changes up | depends if it is for a day, week or month
o Changes down |immediately
• Time spend limits
o Changes up | depends if it is for day, week or month
o Changes down |immediately
• Self assessment
• Self exclusion
o SOS button
o Different choices
• If possible, live experts on line to help problem gamblers
• Play scan™ (monitoring)
Principal 4 | Educated staff and partners
• Basic training for everyone
• Special training for;
o Support teams
o Developers
o Board members
o Marketing
• Don't forget to train retailers and advertising agency
Principal 5 | The normal gamblers should be the standard
• The tools and policies implemented must be adapted and
accepted by those who are green, but tools should be clever
enough to help for those who are yellow and red
• The responsible gaming features must be visual and useful
• Marketing of responsible gaming is crucial
Principal 6 | Don't put shame and guilt on the gamblers
Communication is vital!
• Players who feel that shame or/and guilt is put on them
stops communicate and will probably stop using the tools
• Hand out information in all kind of formats; text,
pictures, movies, sound and combinations
Principal 7 | Cooperate with the those affected
Cooperate with those effected by problem gambling. It creates:
o Relations
o Information
o Feedback
They can offer:
o Self help groups
o Treatment
o Counsellors
So what have been done?
Let's have a look!
Tools for the player
The weekly budget
Self assessment
Poker tools
Limits
Self exclusion
More Poker Tools
Poker School
Navigator
An advanced CRM-solution designed to keep customers safe
from negative aspects of gambling
Player’s card provides customer behaviour
350
loss
Lotto
Responsible gaming research define risky
behaviors
Bingo
Poker
350
loss
650
loss
Lotto
Time
Lotto
”Chaser”
Find risky behavior patterns for known
problem gamblers
?
Customers voluntarily participate. Free of
charge
ACTIVATE
Individual data is used to predict my future
behavior
90%
Accuracy
Players are encouraged to do the self test
Self test results are fed into the model
90%
accuracy
91%
accuracy
Prognosis with information and advice
“Traffic light”
Details
Working on tailor made models
Bingo, IVT, new games
Support for the players (and staff)
Hot line
GamContact
Some fact's
Internet Svenska Spel
•
•
•
•
About 320 000 internet users
About 125 000 internet poker players
About 40 000 use PlayScan
Obligatory weekly budget introduced
September 15 2008. Result? 10 %
decrease in income (Bingo live -18%).
Poker player and limits':
• 36 % has a weekly limit under 56 USD
• 25 % has a weekly limit under 24 hours
• The
average bet/week, poker excluded, is
36 USD
Poker - At risk and problem gamblers –use of
responsible gaming tools 1 (=all)
Tool
Opinion
Very good/good
Degree of efficiency
Navigator
57 % (65 %)
52 % (57 %)
uses wholly/partially
Limits - time
61 % (63 %)
53 % (60 %)
reasonable limits
Limits - money
75 % (79 %)
64 % (67 %)
resonable limits
Poker - At risk and problem gamblers –use of
responsible gaming tools 2 (=all)
Tool
Stopped from
gambling
Degree of efficiancy
Limits
59 % (45 %)
50 % (63 %)
not played internet poker
71 % (67 %)
not changed limits
Self exclusion
11 % (5,4 %)
70 % (76 %)
not played internet poker
Poker - At risk and problem gamblers –use of
responsible gaming tools 3 (=all)
Tool
Use
Poker school
22 % (22 %)
Self assessment
24 % (16 %)
(25 % of red and yellow on self test reduced
their gambling)
Collective sit-out
6 % (6 %)
Self exclusion
- poker
Limit
12 h
1 week
1 month
3 month
6 month
1 year
Total
Average
2008
231
610
383
165
50
182
1512
January 09
317
524
404
165
57
184
1651
February 09 322
530
443
183
62
193
1733
March 09
572
475
169
51
214
1810
329
Figurs and facts training
•
•
•
•
Retailers: 6553
VLT: 3754
Casino Cosmopol: >1441
Staff Svenska Spel: > 800
Thanks!
Figures and facts
Hotline 2008
•11 000 calls to the nu
•Nearly 3 000 is answered
Problem games:
1.VLT
2.Poker on Internet
3.Other games on Internet
4.Trotting
Self help program
•Started in October 2004
•Two CBT therapist
•More then 820 problem gamblers in
the program so far
•Most problematic games:
•Internet poker
•VLT
•Casino games on Internet
More facts - Self help program
Quality of life index
“How many got well?”
Basic facts | Spelinstitutet
Short facts
What's our skills
Started 1999 (but an idea since 1989)
• Situated in Piteå, but spread all over
Sweden (Piteå, Klankliden, Umeå,
Stockholm and Malmö)
• 19 on the pay role list
•
•
Psychologists
• CBT therapist
• Producers
• Webb designer
• Animators
• Programmers
Basic facts | Spelinstitutet
What do we do?
Who do work for?
National hotline
• Treatment online
• Education on problem gambling, live and
online
• Research
• Responsible gaming activates, live and
online
• Seminars and conferences
• Consulting
• And computer games
•
•
The Swedish National Institute of Public
Health
• Treatment centres
• Gaming operators
• Schools and University
Basic facts | Spelinstitutet
Why do we do it?
Does it work?
Our interested is to
prevent problem
gambling and help
those effected by
problem gambling
Yes, we are convinced
that we make a
difference!
Prognosis with information and advice
You seem to have your
gambling habits under
control.
Your behavior has changed in a
negative way.
It seems your gambling is no
longer enjoyable.
Enjoy your future gambling!
You will not receive offers from
Svenska Spel any more.
You should stop gambling
completely.
Something about the past
The struggle
Maine principals | Responsible gambling
1. Focus on the normal gamblers
2. Build on voluntariness
3. Responsible gaming tools
4. Educated staff and retailers
5. Make sure that the normal gamblers accepts the
responsible gambling program
6. Don't put shame or/and guilt on the gamblers
7. Involve those problem gamblers
The evaluation
Random selection of Svenska Spel active poker players:
• All poker players: 8% problematic, 15 risky gambling habits
• Svenska Spel poker players: 3% problematic, 9% risky gambling habits
• Only other site: 11% problematic, 16% risky gambling habits