In the safer gambling discourse, much is made of the responsibility that each stakeholder has towards player protection. Operators, regulators, suppliers, affiliates and even the players themselves hold a responsibility to ensure that responsible gambling is at the heart of the industry.
But when the industry is full of jargon and most punters tend to be recreational customers looking for a form of light entertainment, how can they be expected to actually understand how to play safely?
A clear pattern has emerged globally that the industry needs to better educate players on safer gambling, and that has been discussed at length in the International Player Safety Index series, published by SBC Media and supported by 1xBet.
Simon Westbury, Strategic Advisor to 1xBet, outlined that player education must go right back to basics, teaching players about the most fundamental pieces of terminology in the sector.
“If you ask the casual player how many of the terms that we use every day, like RTP, RNG or volatility, do they actually understand? When a fruit machine in a pub says it has a 74% RTP, I’m not sure my friends understand what that means.
“There’s a lot of work to be done, let’s see what comes out. But we’re in the same situation where governments give an act for a regulator that may not fully understand.”
Westbury’s comments came following the publication of the fourth report in the IPSI series focusing on player education.
Some of the key statistics to come out of the report include:
- Over 67% of respondents said players are not interested in higher quality education.
- 49% highlighted commercial considerations getting in the way of rolling out better education.
- Only 5% of operators were able to strongly agree with the statement that “players understand what positive play is”
- 69% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that safer gamblers are more profitable
- Commercial considerations (48.7%) and regulations (29.7%) were the other two major hurdles to better player education
Westbury raised concerns about some of the findings and suggested that the industry should have a period of introspection to correct some of these attitudes.
“Maybe we need to educate ourselves and bring in player protection from the conception of anything that we do with that product. People view player protection in the industry as losing money but we understand those who gamble safely are actually more profitable in the long run. So I think that when product managers first get a brief or a concept, they have to think of the player. That isn’t just profitability, it’s about player protection and education. No one wants player education to be clinical.”
How can operators educate players on responsible gambling?
It is a difficult question to answer, given that player apathy is cited as a key blocker to improving player protection policies.
Peter Marcus, a former executive at William Hill and Entain, suggested that utilising the vast amount of data that operators have can provide an informative and interactive experience for players to understand their betting habits and when it might be getting out of control.
“It’s really about what helps the customer make informed, sensible decisions,” Marcus explained. “Regulators should be looking at having a dashboard page, for example, that tells players what they’re losing, what they’re depositing, and how long they’re spending. That is true education.
“Unfortunately, in most regulations, they go to one extreme or the other and don’t come up with something that actually helps the customers while making a decent business as well.”
Marcus also used the comparison of the restaurant industry in the UK, which is now required to disclose the amount of calories in each menu item to help consumers make more informed decisions about their dietary habits.
“I hate it,” he exclaimed. “It makes me feel awful, but it also helps me make decisions subtly.”
He believes that the same approach can be implemented in gambling. Instead of vilifying players for their choices, operators should subtly suggest that players take the low-risk option.
“I haven’t bought the double cheesecake since I’ve seen the calories. It’s about subtle marketing. You don’t say, “Don’t do that, it’s dangerous!” You use safer gambling as a subtle marketing tool. Regulators don’t trust the industry, but these are big companies that do believe in ESG. We need to start with trust.”
Ireland as a case study
In Ireland, the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 has overhauled the regulation of the industry and introduced a new regulator – the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland.
It has been suggested that the Act has given the nation a ‘clean slate’ to introduce best-in-practice, realistic and collaborative policies and regulation to adequately protect players while maintaining a commercially viable market.
Alan Heuston, Partner at McCann FitzGerald – a leading commercial law firm in Ireland – suggested that the Act is still in its infancy, but that player protection is at the heart of the new governing system.
Heuston, an IMGL member, said: “It’s been framed as a public help measure, which is unusual in the context of legislation of this nature. I suppose you won’t be surprised to hear that there are quite significant provisions in ensuring that consumers are protected because that goes to the core of the legislation.
“But the act itself probably provides the bones and then the meat that’s going to go on will come and the form of regulation. We do not have all of those regulations yet.”
One of the more than 30 jurisdictions where 1xBet is licensed to operate is Ireland and Westbury pointed towards the nation as at an interesting point in its evolution as a market.
“I’m always a bit nervous when a regulatory review brackets gambling as a public health initiative. Gambling is entertainment, but I understand why (they have done so). I think we are facing the usual challenge.”
Player education as a marketing tool
Public apathy was cited as a big hurdle to player education, as players tend to think that it is always somebody else who needs support with problem gambling, not themselves.
Marcus suggested a method to help that is by placing player education into the marketing function of a brand, not the compliance function.
“Compliance teams are legally trained people; they are not marketers,” he said. “Education should come from marketing. In the same way they educate you on how to get a bonus, they should educate you on how to gamble responsibly and manage what you spend. Safer gambling is not a cost to the business.”
Westbury suggested that a tool to combat this is to not overcomplicate things for new players upon registration. The industry, he said, is too quick to try to cross-sell players between sportsbook and casino. More often than not players are being cross-sold before they fully understand the vertical they signed up for.
“You need to educate the player but you don’t want to overwhelm the player. It needs to be informed and targeted; you don’t need to know everything, because I think most people in the industry themselves wouldn’t understand every terminology that we use.”
To get the full insights from Simon Westbury, Peter Marcus and Alan Heuston and learn more about how player education can be put at the heart of the industry, register for the on-demand version of the webinar “Does player education offer the biggest potential to improve safer gambling provision?”
For the full research, download the International Player Safety Index – Player Safety.
