NEWS
For addicted gamblers, is a trip to the doctor a better pill to swallow?
Charity says health workers, as well as casinos, must learn to spot – and then help – problem gamblers
Most casinos do their best to curb problem gambling, for example by policing voluntary self-exclusion. But that doesn’t help everyone hooked on betting, and one British charity is suggesting that the way to reach out to them is not through the gaming industry, but via the medical profession. And The Responsible Gambling Fund (RGF) is certainly
putting its money where its mouth is, pledging more than £1m ($1.6m) over three years to raise awareness of problem gaming among health workers and agencies that tackle social issues. A three-year programme aimed at general practitioners
(GPs, the British term for family doctors) across England, Scotland and Wales will help them spot patients with gambling issues, and refer them for specialist treatment. The RGF hopes to train 1500 medics during the first two years of the scheme, and later to extend it to workers in other services that might encounter problem gamblers, such as debt advice agencies, mental health services, organisations dealing with drug and alcohol dependency, and prisons. It has commissioned the Royal College of General
Practitioners (RCGP) to develop and run the project, with a budget of around £192,000 ($308,000) annually. The RCGP’s Chair, Clare Gerada, confirms there’s a need for it: “Gambling is a serious problem but it does not get the same attention as other forms of addiction,” she said. “This new training programme opens up a new front in
the battle to combat gambling-related harm,” added Baroness Julia Neuberger, the RGF’s Chair. “Only a small proportion of people get the help they are looking for by going direct to specialist treatment services. We want to
see them being identified earlier and helped to get access to services they need. “GPs are well-placed to identify people experiencing
problems or harm related to gambling. People may go to their GP with problems such as depression, anxiety or stress, and these are sometimes associated with gambling-related harm.” Another RGF project, meanwhile, will focus on one
region particularly hard-hit by problem gambling: the area around Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city. There, a local charity – the RCA Trust – will receive £160,000 ($256,000) annually for three years to lead community organisations in an awareness campaign. The British Gambling Prevalence Survey in February
showed that 75 percent of Scots had gambled in the previous year, slightly above the British average of 73 percent. And many forms of gaming – including football pools, Bingo, real and online slots, and sports betting – were most popular in Scotland. Usage of fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in Scotland was also almost double the national average. “Relatively few gamblers are passed on to specialist
support and treatment services,” said Alex Crawford, chief executive of the RCA Trust. “This is probably because of lack of awareness and uncertainty about how to deal with gambling-related problems. And only a very small percentage of those at risk of developing a gambling problem get the treatment or counselling they need. “We aim to increase awareness of gambling-related
harm amongst the communities on our patch. We also want to develop the ability of front-line health and other community-based bodies to spot, support and refer problem gamblers to specialist treatment services.” The project, along with further RGF-funded pilots in the
West Midlands of England and in south Wales, would also help develop evidence on the effectiveness of early intervention in dealing with gambling-related harm, said RGF Chief Executive Carol Stone.
European e-gaming: indecision time EU critics argue that cross-border gaming requires international policy
The European Union has published its green paper on online gambling, which will serve as a basis for discussion of future regulation. Fewer than 15 percent of Europe’s approximately
15,000 online gaming Websites are properly licensed, and a “significant unauthorised cross-border market” exists, the EU said – including sites not licensed at all in the EU, and others which are licensed in one member state yet operate without authorisation in others. Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of the European Gaming and Betting Association, said: “We welcome the
8 APRIL 2011 PEOPLE
BALLY TECHNOLOGIES has promoted Ramesh Srinivasan to President and Chief Operating Officer, responsible for games, systems, and server- based products worldwide, along with customer service. Srinivasan joined Bally in 2005 as Executive VP of Bally Systems. Meanwhile, Bally has also promoted Bryan Kelly, who has been in charge of its Innovation Lab, to Senior VP of Technology. He will continue to take the lead role in innovation as well as networked gaming. Derik Mooberry has been named Senor VP of Products and Operations, while Robert J. Parente becomes VP and Managing Director of Canada. John Connelly, who in the past has been VP of International, returns to Bally as VP of Business Development, and two new members have joined the board: Josephine Linden from Columbia Business School, and Andrew McKenna, a former Home Depot executive.
THE GAMING STANDARDS ASSOCIATION has a new board member, Jeanne-Marie Wilkins from Isle of Capri. The association has also recruited Michael Bonakdar as Senior Director of Standards Development, following a career that has included stints at Epic Gaming, Caesars Palace Las Vegas, MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, and IGT.
GARY PLATT MANUFACTURING Chief Operating Officer Skip Davis, who has held that role since 2008, becomes President, while the former holder of that position, Bob Yabroff, becomes Chairman. The chairmanship was previously held by Gary Platt himself, who retired in January.
Commission coming forward with a green paper and a factual discussion on all aspects of online gambling. We are deeply concerned, though, that the focus of the paper seems to be on a national rather than an EU approach despite the clear cross-border nature of this sector.” And the continued differences of opinion among
European governments over online may emphasise the need for pan-EU policy – or the difficulty of formulating it. For example, the Cypriot government is standing by its
plans to ban e-gaming despite warnings from politicians who say that it would give an effective monopoly on gambling to the Greek state-owned operator OPAP. The government says that a ban would hit criminal gangs. The Dutch administration, by contrast, has confirmed that it will go ahead and issue licences for online gaming.
NEWAVE has named Claudia R. Winkler as Senior VP of Professional Services, shortly after Bart A. Lewin took over the reins as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer. Winkler, who has held positions at firms including Boyd Gaming, Caesars Entertainment and Stations Casinos, will be charged with expanding Newave’s IT offering.
SHUFFLE MASTER has a new Chief Executive Officer in Gavin Isaacs, who has been Bally’s Chief Operating Officer for the past four years.
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