BETTER CHANGE STATESIDE
be becoming uncontrolled or unaffordable. Organisations like Better Change can help them to upskill those employees to make that task less daunting. This is the same for the online and offline gambling world, although gambling in Casinos, bookmakers or at the racetrack doesn’t afford as much data to the operator as it can effectively be done anonymously, the ‘Gamblewise’ product by Better Change allows the individuals to have responsibility for their gambling and work with the bricks and mortar establishments. This does not only give the consumer a sense of control equalling enhanced enjoyment, but it also allows the operators to work with data to continually improve land-based RG initiatives. The Better Change team have a wealth of experience in
the gaming industry; we often reflect how the sector’s approach to responsible gambling has progressed and how far away are we from a satisfactory level of player protection across the board. It is obvious that it is certainly more of a focus, and we
have noticed a huge improvement in the approach to RG across the industry. We’re now seeing dedicated safer gambling teams within most operators and compliance is increasingly visible at board level now, which hadn’t always been the case in our experience. While there are players suffering from gambling harm, we’ll never have a satisfactory level of player protection, but we are certainly more aware and alert to the markers of harm today which is great to see. I think the industry has moved on from seeing basic compliance with the licence conditions and codes of practice as being enough and they have also wised up to the idea that being wealthy doesn’t mean you can’t have a gambling problem. A lot of Better Change’s work is based on clinical science
and research but it’s certainly not being leveraged enough by the industry. The fact is gambling has changed enormously over the last two decades and there is still so much that we don’t know and understand about the
psychology of gambling. There are many studies taking place, but sometimes by the time they are concluded and published they risk being out of date given the incredible speed the industry progresses at. Also, there are so many great pieces of work done by academics which ultimately sit on a shelf gathering dust (or the digital equivalent!). If we are going to invest in research as an industry lets be proactive is acting upon what the research is telling us and not allow it to go to waste. We have had some great conversations with our partners at the Centre of Excellence for Responsible Gaming at The University of Gibraltar and with the right funding and support so much more can be done to make research a real tool to protect from harm. Many regard the gambling sector as a vice industry,
therefore, having a polarising reputation is an intrinsic element that can’t be removed. It is possible to change our industry’s reputation for the better and operators need to be better at telling this narrative and shouting about the amazing work in communities that the gambling industry does. This is an issue that has plagued the industry for many
years and is hard to change, but not impossible. If you take the casino sector, it’s typically seen either as being all about the James Bond world of tuxedos and cocktails, or it’s seen as being all about the Krays’ world of crime and corruption. The truth is that it’s a valid, legal, taxed, regulated part of mainstream leisure. That makes it sound rather dull, but gambling can be good, healthy fun for many adults. And that’s easy to lose sight of amid all the bad press we get! And the answer to try and change this? As an industry let’s be loud and proud that we know that what is fun for many is risky for some and we’re dealing with that. So, as well as promoting what the industry has to offer to people whose gambling is healthy, let’s be clear that we’re working in partnership between the gambling operators and the safer gambling organisations to head off harm before it happens or step in and call a halt when necessary.
david@better-change.org
SEPTEMBER 2022 31
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