ECOGRA COMPLETES FIFTH YEAR OF RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING
TRAINING
20 November 2009
Courses held in several countries
Seventy key online gambling personnel working at eCOGRA-accredited
operations in four countries received responsible
gambling training from the standards and player
protection body this year, the fifth in which courses
have been offered.
The non-profit organisation's
Responsible Gambling manager, Tex Rees conducted the
courses in-house at online casino, poker and sportsbook
operations.
The course included tuition on:
* Identifying and dealing with problem gamblers and
understanding how a compulsion can develop, concluding
with role-playing exercises and in-depth discussion
sessions.
* Awareness of what issues a problem
gambler faces.
* Perceived numbers as opposed to
actual prevalence study percentages.
* The
implementation of eCOGRA best practice standards and
requirements, including practical sessions on gambling
websites where the dedicated responsible gambling
facilities were analysed critically, and the reasons for
inclusion in eCOGRA standards discussed.
*
Advertising standards, with examples of gambling ads
recently criticised by the UK Advertising Standards
Authority.
"Responsible gambling ranks very high
in eCOGRA priorities for both social responsibility and
business reasons," said Rees. "This year is the fifth in
which eCOGRA has provided this professional service to
Fair and Safe seal-bearing online gambling venues across
the online casino, poker room, mobile, bingo, live
dealer and sports betting platforms of the 145
international, tier one gambling sites that are
accredited.
"It is heartening to note that this
vitally important service is in constant demand,
illustrating a real commitment to responsible gambling
by eCOGRA operators that goes beyond merely meeting the
standard accreditation requirements in this regard."
In the real world, problem gamblers constitute a
miniscule percentage of the hundreds of thousands, if
not millions, of punters who go online for usually
disciplined and enjoyable betting entertainment on a
regular basis. For example, in its 2007 UK gambling
prevalence study, an independent survey for the Gambling
Commission found that 0.6 percent of adults were
possibly at risk as ‘pathological’ gamblers.
That
small percentage attracts a disproportionately large
amount of political, social and above all media
attention, and this often overshadows the good community
work carried out by many operators, said eCOGRA chief
executive Andrew Beveridge.
"Nevertheless,
problem gambling is frequently seized on by industry
detractors, and for this as well as moral and business
reasons it is essential that operators ensure that staff
is trained and facilities are available to the players,"
he added.
Stopping problem gamblers at website
level is just one aspect of a responsible gambling
program, which should also embrace marketing and
advertising, providing self-diagnostic aids and advice
on counselling, and training staff in the right way to
handle self-exclusion requests and indeed problem
gamblers per se.
The objective of the eCOGRA
courses is not only to address problem and underage
gambling timeously, but to continually underline for
operators the critical moral and commercial imperatives
of continued vigilance, and the diligent application of
genuine responsible gambling programs using rapidly
evolving exclusionary technologies and training content.
Online Casino News Courtesy of
Infopowa
More news here.
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