BETTER CHANGE Andrey Popov/Adobe Stock
The current state of play… …while we wait for
the you know what!
David Richardson, Strategic Partnerships Manager at Better Change, looks at the promised Gambling Act Review. Because it’s got to come at some point, hasn’t it??
W 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 published soon (ith the Gambling Act Review due to be surely it must be soon?!?!),
there are mixed feelings in the industry about the impact its results will have on safer and responsible gambling going
forward. By looking at what we expect from the review we have been assessing the impact it might have on Better Change’s ability to reach its objectives, of ultimately helping operators have safer gambling at the forefront of their operations while protecting the consumers of their products but not interfering with their own experience and positive journey. We expect there to be a heavy focus on the concept of
VIPs within the review as the DCMS have made it clear that they loathe ‘rewarding gambling.’ We wouldn’t be surprised if stake limits are also a key focus with something similar to the £2 FOBT limit being equalised to remote gaming. This would also suggest affordability checks will still be required although likely just on gaming and not as strict on sports betting. If they are applied, we would imagine they will be implemented on a fi xed basis i.e. a daily/weekly/monthly limit across the board. Finally, there are likely to be advertising restrictions on tv and shirts etc but I suspect this will primarily impact the Premier league and will still allow lower leagues to access these funds, a whole different debate that is getting a lot of media space with both sides of
the camp making powerful representations. In terms of how it affects Better Change – the biggest
impact is the repeated delays. Understandably, operators are reluctant to invest heavily in innovative RG initiatives until they know what their obligations are going to be. One of Better Change’s core focus areas is
‘Intervention’. Traditionally most operators’ RG strategies have been known to be more reactive than proactive. As an industry we can still improve our ability to intervene with problem gambling at the earliest possible stage. There needs to be more focus on encouraging
innovation. There isn’t the motivation for operators to go above and beyond in terms of their problem gambling strategies which is a real shame. There’s a fear that if something is tried, but doesn’t work, they will be penalised and so it’s safer to err on the side of caution and stick to what they have always done if it is having the greatest impact or not. We don’t give credit where credit is due and perhaps look equally at the characteristics of positive play as well as focusing on the markers of harm. Once we can identify healthy players, we can look to attract more of them which will be much more proactive rather than reactive. The best gambling operators are now using their employees on the ground to monitor customer gambling habits to allow early intervention when it looks like it might
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