Player Protection

Officials in Japan have called for facial recognition systems to be installed at pachinko parlours, boat and horse racing venues across the country in a bid to clamp down on problem gambling. Legislators hope that the idea behind rolling out the technology will help refuse entry to both under-aged gamblers, which is under the age of 20 in Japan, and …

National online self-exclusion initiative, GAMSTOP, has committed to broadening its governance and providing a trusted environment for all stakeholders through two new appointments to its board of Non-Executive Directors. The two new members, Dr Jo Watts and Kevin Beerling, follow the selection of the initiative’s Independent Chair, Jenny Watson CBE in September. Watson commented on the new appointments: “We are …

Bookmaker Betfred has stepped up to help fund the Royal Manchester Hospital £4 million appeal seeking to purchase vital equipment for children facing life-threatening conditions. Today, Betfred founder Fred Done has declared that the bookmaker will donate all over-the-counter (OTC) profits made at the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival 2019 (12-15 March), to Royal Manchester’s ‘iMRI Appeal’. The appeal, which …

The UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has confirmed the appointments of civil service and fundraising veterans Emma Boggis and Danielle Palmour as Board members of the ‘National Lottery Community Fund’. The Community Fund, which is commonly known as the ‘Big Lottery Fund’, acts as an independent public body responsible for distributing money raised by National Lottery …

Industry figureheads and wider health and education stakeholders addressed the issue of whether children are really gambling – at the latest meeting of the ‘Parliamentary All Party Betting and Gaming Group’ (APBGG – 26 February 2019). The subject matter which has become a prominent issue for the UK gambling industry was discussed by –  David Williams, Director of Public Affairs …

UK responsible gambling body Senet Group believes that more needs to be done to actively reduce gambling-related harm through targeted intervention as discussed in its independent research report which aims at examining gambling behaviours in the wider context of personal control. The report, entitled ‘In Control: How to support safer gambling using a behaviour change approach’, sets out the criteria required for a behaviour …