Month: March 2021

Funded by the GBGA, the new Gibraltar Gambling Care Foundation (GGCF) will work with consumers, gaming industry leaders and government regulators to reduce the impact of gambling disorders in the Gibraltar market.

The GGCF will be operated independently from the GBGA, with the support of councillors Stephen Reyes and Selvan Soobiah. Belvedere Trustees Limited will act as corporate councillor and initially fund research at the new Centre of Excellence in Responsible Gaming (CERG) at the University of Gibraltar.

The Gibraltar regulator has already raised more than £2.5m (€2.9m/$3.5) from Gibraltar gambling companies to fund the setting up of the CERG, while funds will also support the facility for at least the next three years.

GGCF will primarily focus its research on the impact of problem gambling on individuals, families and society, and the means of mitigating negative impacts.

The new charity will also look at the prevalence of gambling addiction or other problem behaviours, and mitigation factors to prevent this, as well as practical solutions operators can implement to minimise the harm.

Other research areas will include standardised identification, monitoring and measuring criteria for problem gambling, as well as the creation, co-ordination and management of a database of igaming industry information to assist with research into problem gambling and responsible gambling measures.

“This is a pivotal step change for all Gibraltar licensed operators and the jurisdiction as a whole,” GBGA chairman Nigel Birrell said.

“The GBGA, via the GGCF will be supporting the creation of an industry leading research programme aimed at exploring solutions to minimise gambling related harm and the creation of open-source databases for academic studies.”

Reyes, who will chair the GGCF added: “Gibraltar is known globally as a premier jurisdiction in the online gambling area, so it is great that as an industry the operators have come together and set up and formed this charitable foundation to invest in academic research to inform effective initiatives to encourage responsible gambling and prevent gambling harm.”

In the study, the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) worked with 888, Gamesys, Buzz Bingo, Betfred and Genting in order to implement and evaluate interventions.

The interventions used were developed through practices created in the Gambling Commission’s Safer Gambling Messaging Project in 2017.

Each operator implemented their interventions in a different way.

888 introduced two interventions to encourage deposit limits. The first was an option to set a deposit limit when signing up. This proved to be very successful, with 10.3% of those who saw the option setting a limit compared to just 1.00% of the control group.

However, the BIT also noted that players who set limits and those who did not ended up depositing similar amounts.

888 also showed some customers a pop-up message encouraging deposit limits, but here the increase in limits set was not statistically significant.

Gamesys introduced a widespread campaign encouraging players to take breaks from play after winning. This was promoted through social media and email and led to an extremely large increase in users enabling session length reminders. While less than 10 players typically enable these reminders in a week, 781 did so in the week after the email.

Buzz Bingo similarly saw a major jump in players using safer gambling tools after it implemented an advertising campaign around them.

Like with 888’s deposit limits, these changes at Gamesys and Buzz did not lead to statistically significant changes in play time or deposits, however.

At Betfred, a series of intervention messages were sent to customers via email, text message and on-site inbox. The BIT said these had  “no detectable effect… on the amount of money customers deposited” or on length of play time or play time during “antisocial hours” late at night.

The only interventions which did lead to statistically significant changes in play time were emails from Genting Casino. 

The most significant of these were two different affordability check emails for new customers, which led to average play time reductions of 48 and 132 minutes, respectively.

However, the BIT said that, when combined with other results, it was more likely that these changes were down to selection effects than the emails themselves.

“The emails did not cause their recipients to change the amount of time they spent playing,” the study said. “Instead, the fact that a customer received one of those emails indicates that they were more likely to be on an upwards or downwards trajectory of their play time.

“For instance, customers receiving affordability emails would be likely to increase their play time once they had passed the affordability process.”

The BIT concluded that the study showed that improved interventions increases the uptake of safer gambling tools, but may not reduce harm.

“The ultimate aim of this programme is to develop interventions which will reduce gambling harm to customers,” it said. “We cannot say definitively whether that has occurred, but we can say that at least some of the interventions have caused significant differences in the uptake of safer gambling tools.

“Further research should focus on establishing the causal link between increased uptake of safer gambling tools and reduction in gambling harms, as measured in a natural gambling context as opposed to a laboratory trial.”

It said that operators should be more inclined to promote these tools, as the study suggested that the impact of uptake on revenue was likely small or nonexistent.

“There is inevitably some tension between increasing uptake of safer gambling tools and bottom-line outcomes for operators (such as the total amount deposited or total play time),” it said. “We found no evidence that developing effective safer gambling interventions had any negative impact on these at all. 

“Further, safer gambling messaging proved to be an effective way to engage with customers and could have potential as a general engagement and advertising technique. This finding is encouraging, because it suggests there is the opportunity to normalise the use of safer gambling tools while still engaging effectively with customers on social media.”

The BIT added that simply sending players messages through SMS or email alone appeared to be a “generally ineffective” way of promoting safer gambling. Instead, it recommended operators use alternative forms of intervention such as social media campaigns and a sign-up processes designed to reduce friction and increase awareness of safer gambling tools.

Research agency Revealing Reality also published a report of its own on the five operators’ interventions. It said that it was important for safer gambling messaging to not be “overshadowed” or contradicted by sales techniques.

“Layering safer gambling messages with others which directly contradict them is confusing to players,” it said. “Being totally consistent about safer gambling might mean removing other messages and cues the customer is exposed to, not just adding new things into the environment.

“Almost every available surface and display in any gambling environment, off or online, has been optimised for encouraging people to gamble. Against this sheer volume of sales techniques, and even with the best-intentions, safer gambling messages alone are likely to be insufficient.”

It pointed to a number of possible examples of this, including that wins are usually presented in a more attention-grabbing way than losses which makes them more memorable, high defaults on stake sizes that act as “anchors”, and features such as machine-reserving services that could imply that random games are not random.

“For many operators, safer gambling is often viewed as an add on,” Revealing Reality managing director Damon De Ionno said. “But our report has shown that in order to be successful in communicating safer gambling to customers, operators need to build safer gambling messages into every aspect of business and customer interaction.

“It is time operators look to prevent gambling harms, rather than just react to them”.

Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller encouraged operators to look at both reports to understand more about what methods work in encouraging safer gambling.

“Safer gambling messaging can play a key part in this preventative approach,” Miller said. “This is why it is so important that the work from Revealing Reality and the Behavioural Insights Team has focused upon better understanding what works and what doesn’t when it comes to safer gambling messaging.

“We would encourage gambling operators to look at this research and consider how it can help shape their approaches around safer gambling messaging.”

In January, the Behavioural Insights Team published a report that found giving players the option to set their own deposit limits, rather than allowing them to pick from a list of options, encouraged lower limits.

However, like the most recent report, the study based on Bet365 data did not find a significant impact on spending.

The initiative gives consumers access to a trio of services via the organisations, including GamCare’s 24/7 support hotline available over the phone and online.

It also provides access to Gamban’s gambling blocking software for free, to anyone calling the National Gambling Helpline, or who uses GamCare’s support and treatment services.

Gamstop’s self-exclusion tool, meanwhile, offers consumers the option to block access to gambling accounts and ensure consumers do not continue to receive direct marketing from gambling companies.

GamCare said the combination of tools and support, which is backed by the National Gambling Treatment service, is vital to adding additional layers of protection for anyone struggling to control their gambling.

In addition to these core services, TalkBanStop offers consumers access to additional support and content, including a podcast featuring former Premier League footballer Michael Chopra and podcaster Chris Gilham, discussing their own personal experience of gambling-related harms and the importance of getting the right support.

The initiative’s website also explains how to block gambling transactions through a consumer’s bank or building society account.

The partnership follows on from GamCare’s existing partnership with Gamban, formed in December 2020, which saw the charity offer access to Gamban’s self-exclusion tool free of charge to all UK residents.

Banks including Lloyds Banking Group, the owner of British high street banks Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland, as well as HSBC, now offer their customers the option to block transactions to gambling operators.

Allied had previously agreed to sell its poker-related business, including the World Poker Tour, for $78.3m to Element Partners. Under the Bally’s deal, Allied would terminate the Element deal.

Allied said that its board of directors will “evaluate Bally’s proposal in due course”.

“There can be no assurance that the Company will enter into a definitive agreement with Bally’s or consummate any transaction with Bally’s,” it said.

Rad the full story on iGB North America

The supplier said the closures of its customers’ businesses caused by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic were the main driver of the lower figures in 2020.

The majority of the year’s revenue came from the supplier’s electronic gaming machines (EGM) sales, which brought in $151.2m of the $167.0m total.

The supplier then paid $211.2m in expenses, down 24.9% year-on-year. Depreciation and amortization costs were the largest expense at $85.7m while selling, general and administrative costs were down 24.8% to $46.5m.

This led to an operating loss of $44.2m, compared to an operating profit of $23.7m in 2019.

After interest expenses and a $5.9m income tax benefit, total net loss attributable to PlayAGS was $85.4m, down from a net loss of $11.8m in in the previous year.

Including a foreign currency translation adjustment, the company’s total comprehensive loss was $88.1m in 2020, compared to $10.4m in 2019.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Introduced earlier this year by Democratic Representative Harold Dutton, House Bill 1121 sets out plans to legalise sports wagering via the internet and similar platforms.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation would assume responsibility for overseeing the market, including awarding licences to any operators wanting to launch in the state.

Licences would cost $250,000 each, though only five permits may be issued at any one time.

If more than five operators apply for a licence, the Department would select the operators that it determines would best adhere to licensing requirements and maximise sports betting revenue for the state.

Operators that secure a licence would be subject to a tax rate of 6.25% on sports betting revenue generated in Texas. This would be payable to the Department on a monthly basis.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Skottling, who officially moved into the new position on 1 March, will focus on building the operator’s cooperate structure and organisation.

Skottling joined Videoslots in September 2016 as chief operating officer, prior to which he spent two years as deputy managing director at NetEnt.

“It is a very exciting time to be at Videoslots and I am delighted to continue working closely with the senior management team to take the business on to bigger and better things,” Skottling said.

Videoslots chief executive Alexander Stevendahl added: “Ulle has worked tirelessly to get Videoslots to where we are today and fully deserves his new title and position of authority.

“We now have the opportunity to grow the business, not only in terms of the huge range of games for which we have become famous, but into new regulated markets where we can entertain a new generation of players with those games.”

The appointment comes after Videoslots last month entered into the Danish market in partnership with supplier Nolimit City.

Approved by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden, the reappointments will see Baillie and Seddon continue to serve as commissioner until at least 10 April 2022.

Baillie is a former partner of KPMG and was most recently chair of the Accounts Commission for Scotland, having also been a member of the reporting panel of the UK Competition and Markets Authority.

Seddon spent 20 years as a filmmaker before taking up public non-executive roles. She currently sits on the Legal Services Board, where she chairs its audit and risk assurance committee.

The double reappointment comes after John Whittingdale, the Minister for Media and Data in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), this week took on the brief for lotteries and gambling.

Taking over from Nigel Huddleston, Whittingdale will now oversee the Gambling Act review.

Whittingdale adds lotteries and gambling to a number of other responsibilities, including the media, EU and international strategy including approach to future trade deals, overall approach to union policy issues, data and the National Archives, and public appointments, among others.

The Great Britain Gambling Commission’s consultation on remote player interaction has mostly attracted attention because of its proposals for affordability limits.

While Broadway Gaming chief operating officer Mark Cleary has expressed reservations about those potential limits, he said among the most concerning features in the consultation was something it lacked.

Alongside the affordability proposals were proposals about time indicators for interaction. But Cleary was concerned that these lacked a way of differentiating between different types of gambling products, and most notably between bingo and slots.

The Commission did point out in the consultation that bingo and poker are more likely to see sessions of more than an hour, and that this time spent gambling “will not in and of itself be harmful”.

However, Cleary notes that the proposed changes in the call for evidence currently do not actually make a differentiation between types of games offered. If not clarified, he warned, this could see operators left to implement new restrictions on play beyond an hour for all types of game.

“It doesn’t seem to apply a differentiation between any form of gambling,” Cleary says.

Cleary – whose business operates both online bingo and casino games including slots – says that he’s seen enough to know that those two types of games are simply too different to lack specific indicators.

“We hold both a casino licence and a bingo licence and the games are fundamentally different,” he says. “If you want to place a wager on a slot game, it takes three seconds to place a wager. But if you wanted to play a game of bingo, it takes – on average – three minutes.

“We see that a bingo player’s average wagering in an hour is significantly less than a casino player. Their average wagering days are less than a casino player. The idea that an hour is the same between both types of games just doesn’t stand up.

“The characteristics of those games are different. The types of players attracted to those games are different. The level of spend people have, the averages, the time spent: all of those are different.”

Instead of differentiating between games specifically, the Commission said operators should take actions “linked to the nature of the gambling provided”.

This could offer some leeway for operators of slower-paced games, but Cleary said a lack of specificity was not going to help create a framework where gambling can be safer for all.

“It really lacked definition for some of the concepts, so you’re really being asked to give your opinion about something, but exactly what you’re asked isn’t defined,” he says. “That means you sort of have to interpret what they mean.”

This lack of specificity, he notes, extended to the term “time spent gambling”, which he says has a number of plausible definitions and no guidance on which one to use.

“They talk about time spent gambling, which could be defined in so many different ways,” he continues. “It could be time logged in, it could be time spent within the banking client, it could be active gameplay, there’s a lot of different ways of defining it.”

Again, Cleary warns that the way the consultation is worded risks placing especially strict limits – which may be more appropriate for online slots – on bingo. As bingo’s more social gameplay

differs from the relatively isolated nature of slots, time spent in the bingo client may include as much interaction with other players as it does gambling.

“It’s not just how you play and how much you spend,” Cleary says. “In bingo there’s a lot of social interaction, a lot of time spent just in the chat and that isn’t gameplay: it’s just social interaction.

“People have been starved for social interaction lately too; that definitely needs to be considered.”

A question of implementation

Stronger differentiations between games need not only make sense, however, they must be able to be implemented by operators.

Sweden has shown that limits on certain types of game could potentially be troublesome. There, many in the industry decried the challenges of bringing in a SEK5000 (£428/€476/$540) deposit cap that applied only to online casino games, and operators including ATG have faced discipline for inadvertent loopholes that allowed the limit to be easily circumvented.

Yet Cleary is confident that rules dealing mostly with one specific type of game can be implemented smoothly.

He notes the example of £2 stake limits for fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) as one example of the Gambling Commission creating rules for only one type of gambling already.

“It’s been done before,” he says. “A couple of years ago the gambling commission delved into the world of FOBTs and came up with new rules just for those, and those rules were probably appropriate for the time.

“So, it can be done, you can create rules just for one type of gambling. You don’t need to treat every type of gambling the same way and in fact if you do so it doesn’t recognise that these games are fundamentally different.

“Yes, that was in a retail environment, but I don’t think that matters. The game design changes set to come in are all about online slots, a particular type of online activity. Where there’s a will there’s a way, and just because there’s been challenges elsewhere, I don’t think they have to be repeated here.”

Unintended Consequences

Like many who have raised concerns about potential affordability thresholds, Cleary warns that the black market may stand to benefit from stricter regulations, meaning players may be placed at greater risk.

Yet there may be signs already that this risk may be stronger in bingo that with other game types.

Professional services firm PriceWaterHouseCoopers’ BGC-commissioned report into the British online black market found not only an increase in unlicensed play, but also that this increase was fastest in bingo.

According to the report, bingo saw a more rapid increase in the number of players using unlicensed sites than any other vertical, and a larger percentage of bingo spend, at 4.3%, came from these sites than in any other game category.

Cleary says the fact the report showed an increase in overall black market play was worrying. He adds that he’s concerned the unintended consequences of the proposed limits could be harmful to player protection if his warnings aren’t heeded.

“There’s a real risk here that we drive more and more people to unregulated, illegal black market gambling sites,” Cleary said. “The risks of this have possibly been downplayed by politicians and the gambling commission as this latest report indicated a significant rise in the total number of people playing with illegal sites.

“There can be unintended consequences so what’s designed to improve the area of responsible gambling can end up having the opposite effect.

The multi-year agreement will see Bally’s become an authorised sports betting operator of the NBA.

Bally’s will have access to official league data, as well as rights to use official NBA marks and logos across its portfolio of online sports betting products.

The two parties will also work together on practices to protect the integrity of NBA games.

“Partnering with the NBA is an exceptional opportunity for Bally’s, adding to our ongoing momentum with professional sports leagues,” Bally’s president and chief executive George Papanier said.

Read the full story on iGB North America.