Last week it was revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the revenue of many major betting companies in the country. This is why most of them were hoping that the profit from online gambling will be enough to offset the losses. Meanwhile, the UK Gambling Commission made several warnings towards casino operators, strongly advising them to follow guidelines that will prevent the harm inflicted to vulnerable players. To protect players who are at risk, GambleAware published reports on newer tools that can be used by gaming companies to promote tools for safer gambling.
UK Gambling Commission Warns Caesars Entertainment PML Holders
After Caesars Entertainment UK Limited had to pay a £13 million fine in 2020, it became a subject of a further investigation carried out by the UK Gambling Commission. The fine of last year was inflicted due to the company’s failings in dealing with issues such as money laundering, customer interaction protocols as well as following guidelines for social responsibility.
The Gambling Commission claims that the main failings in the casino’s operations are noticed in their VIP customer practices. Last year, an inquiry on Caesars Entertainment UK revealed that the casino operator allowed one player to lose £240,000 and spend the staggering amount of £820,000, without being asked to prove their source of funds. Another case of the casino’s negligence showed that a customer spent about £800,000 in the casino and lost almost all of that money. Yet again, the player was not asked to provide proof of his source of funds. In addition to that, this customer was flagged as a high-risk gambler and was still allowed to play at the casino.
Last week, the UK Gambling Commission issued several warnings towards PML holders in Caesars Entertainment UK Ltd. Meanwhile, three senior managers of Caesars Entertainment UK lost their licenses and another seven PML holders were warned about potentially losing their operating licenses. The Gambling Commission strongly advised eighteen PML holders to conduct letters even though they were not included in the review process.
Richard Watson, Executive Director of the UK Gambling Commission, warned PML holders that the regulator will hold them accountable for all issues found in their management operations. Even though there were a few PML holders who lost their licenses, most Caesars Entertainment UK PML holders were just let off with a warning.
GambleAware Emphasises the Importance of Implementing More Responsible Gaming Messages
The latest report of GambleAware that was published last week focused on the need for promoting responsible gaming across different platforms for customer communication. The organization recognized the importance of the issue as it can be extremely helpful for the protection of vulnerable players who are at risk of problem gambling. Under the supervision of GambleAware, the research agency Revealing Reality and the Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) were the authorities that provided the reports.
The results stated in the reports are based on the feedback given by five major UK gambling operators – 888, Betfred, Buzz Bingo, Gamesys, and Genting Casino. The report reflects data collected during the period between the autumn of 2019 and the summer of 2020. The main goal of the project carried out by Revealing Reality was to help operators create a better messaging system that could prevent gambling-related harm.
Damon De Ionno, Managing Director and Head of Strategy at Revealing Reality, shared that a large number of operators view safer gambling simply as an add-on. He noted, however, that operators should be more serious about implementing safer gambling messages into every element of their business and customer communication.
The reports revealed that direct messaging like SMS and emails were not very effective in informing customers about options like setting deposit limits or using reality checks. Instead, social media campaigns and sign-ups that are regularly revised could be among the tools that can remind players about the time they spend at gaming websites or help them set up deposit limits. According to the report, social media can be a very effective marketing tool for promoting safer gambling and the tools that can help players avoid gambling-related harm while they play online.
Tim Miller, Executive Director at the Gambling Commission, suggested that all gambling operators should examine the reports of Revealing Reality and BIT and work on implementing different approaches that can help them better their safer gambling messaging systems.