Spelkoll the answer for problem gamblers?

[jetset]

RESPONSIBLE GAMING TOOL GETS THE SWEDES' ATTENTION

Spelkoll making an impact at Svenske Spel

The introduction of a potent new responsible gaming tool at the Swedish government gambling website Svenske Spel went largely unnoticed early in July (see previous InfoPowa report) but is increasingly catching the eye of Swedish players.

"Spelkoll" roughly translated as 'player or gambling control' is an ingenious technology development specifically designed to identify gambling patterns that may suggest a gambling problem developing in an individual. Svenske Spel has made Spelkoll available as a voluntary sign-up aid that players can use to monitor their playing activity and warn of any indication of a problem.

The software checks over a hundred different parameters, such as frequency of play, play habits, wagering levels and indications of loss chasing. Users are divided into three different categories: green, orange and red with corresponding levels of the danger of a problem developing.

Orange category users are excluded from Svenska Spel promos and advertisement notifications, whilst red category players can be invited to withdraw from the site.

Developed jointly with ICU, the software deploys cutting edge data mining technology. The tool is the first of its kind and is efficient at detecting at an early stage gamblers with a tendency to become a problem.

ICU intelligence data mining technology is based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and more specifically Genetic Programming (GP), which is a new phenomenon in the e-gaming business. The strength of ICU’s technology is its ability to find weak, almost invisible, patterns in customer behaviour in large databases without any human interference.

The outcome is in each case based on facts and real data, not on human assumption and bias. It also gives the user the power to use all available data, not just a small part of it, and the software has the ability to "learn" from experience, optimising itself and adapting to changes in the user's behaviour.

"Spelkoll is a new and innovative tool that shows one of many different solutions our technology can provide," says Andreas Holmström, CEO ICU intelligence. "The complexity in developing Spelkoll has been a challenge for all involved parties and the outcome has been more than satisfying."

Jespers Kärrbrink, CEO Svenska Spel says, "By combining behavioural science and psychology with mathematics, Artificial Intelligence and IT we have developed a tool that will sustain the thrill and excitement of gambling and help players to avoid transforming that into an addiction or an unhealthy gambling pattern".