- Joined
- Jun 30, 1998
- Location
- Bierland
PRESS RELEASE -
Ref. : CMOPR19
Date : 2nd May 2008
ALLEGED SELF-EXCLUSION BREACHES CONTINUE TO DOG THE INDUSTRY
Stories of operators failing to implement their own self-exclusion policies continue to be reported to social enterprise Count Me Out, the national self exclusion scheme, who at the request of the problem gambler has taken the unprecedented step of relaying the account of an incident reported to them. The problem gambler tried, unsuccessfully, on several occasions to get his self exclusion enforced to help prevent himself from further gambling opportunities and a truncated version of accounts as reported by the individual is given below:
February 07
PROBLEM GAMBLER: I was told by the gambling operator's (name withheld) helpline to SELF EXCLUDE YOURSELF AND WE WILL STOP YOU FROM GAMBLING.
I self-excluded myself from [the premises] and machines in my home town and told them that as I am addicted to gambling I need some one to stop me.
I took my picture to one of the operator's shops and requested that they do not allow me to gamble in any of their shops in that town.
April 07
As I was in debt from credit cards I got an 8000 loan from the bank and went to a premises to gamble. They did not stop me and I lost 3000 on roulette machines. I went to their counter and said to the staff please don't let me play as I am a self-excluded customer. They checked their album and said sorry we didn't know that. The next day I went to different premises owned by the same company and I lost 5000. Again their staff told me sorry we didn't know that you are self-excluded.
June 07
I went back to the gambling operator and banned myself until December 07.
September October 07
I started going to the same gambling operator again at various branches around the town and lost 7100 between September and October.
I got a 13000 loan from the bank and at the end of October lost 4000.
November December 07
I continued to gamble at other branches of the same operator and lost 5900.
December 07
I gave my picture and self-excluded myself again for the whole of 2008 from my home town and all their other premises in the county where I live as I wanted to start a new happy life.
February 08
I visited a premises and lost 2000 and asked the staff to stop me if I try to gamble again. A week later I went to another branch of the operator and lost 1500, again I requested the staff to stop me from gambling. The following week I lost another 1200 at another branch and told the staff I had lost my rent money and that I was self-excluded and should not be able to gamble. She replied that she hadn't realised.
That evening I could not sleep and so visited the same branch again with 1100. As I was playing I lost 623 and had 477 in the machine. A member of staff came to me and told me I was self- excluded and that I had to leave the shop and then she refunded me the 477 that I had in the machine. I thanked her for carrying out her duty properly and explained I wished all the staff I had encountered had done the same.
Gary Pettengell, founder of Count Me Out commenting on the incident said I do not see Count Me Out's role as being one of preaching to the industry about the merits of self-exclusion, rather as a not for profit, service provider to help operators comply with their social responsibilities in line with the rulings of the Gambling Act and provide maximum protection to their customers. However, personally I do feel that if a problem gambler asks the industry to stop helping him feed his addictions then the industry not only has a duty of care towards that individual but should also show some level of sympathy to a vulnerable person in need of help. The man's plight is plain to see and the operator in this instance failed time and time again to implement their own self-exclusion policy leaving them wide open to court action and the problem gambler in a more vulnerable position than he should be.
Pettengell continued The problem gambler reported to Count Me Out that at almost every branch he visited during his gambling spree he was not stopped, despite his self-exclusion agreement with the operator and despite the fact that each time he went to the counter to tell them he was self-excluded and to never let him gamble again. It is evident from this story that individual company self-exclusion schemes can fall far short of the gambling regulation's requirements. If they had adopted the national scheme provided by Count Me Out it would be almost impossible for these numerous breaches to have occurred, the company would be far better protected in the unlikely event of a breach and the problem gambler, a vulnerable person who needed protection, could be working on beating his gambling addiction.
For more information on Count Me Out visit www.countmeout.org
- ends -
Press enquiries and further information is available from Gary Pettengell,
Tel: +44(0)1502 576888 Fax +44(0)1502 531988 Email info@countmeout.org.uk
NSEP Ltd., Riverside Business Centre, Riverside Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 0TQ
Background on Count Me Out
N.S.E.P. Community Interest Company is a not for profit social enterprise trading as Count Me Out (CMO).
CMOs mission is to help vulnerable children and adults who are addicted to, harmed or
exploited by gambling globally by promoting self exclusion and social responsibility.
CMO is the only organisation in the UK and globally set up solely to offer self exclusion solutions to gaming operators and problem gamblers.
CMO is the only organisation offering and operating a national self exclusion scheme in the UK and bespoke self exclusion software to companies to operate their individual self
exclusion schemes.
The CMO International Self Exclusion Database for problem gamblers is the only truly
impartial and independent system available to problem gamblers, gaming operators, Payment Service Providers and ID verification companies.
International Database of self excluded persons:
Ability to instantly self exclude from several websites, using just one agreement form
3rd party, malicious exclusion safeguards in place
Encourages maximum participation by gaming operators and associated service providers
Counselling offered at every stage of the self exclusion process and request to gamble again has to be made to a counsellor, then a 24 hour cooling off period is enforced.
Ability to self exclude without having to visit a gaming website
Self exclusion remains in place unless positive request to gamble again is made
Expired self exclusion agreements are held in an archive database in order to provide
operators and associated service providers with a self exclusion history.
Data Protection Act compliant and all systems have been legally verified
Enables members to evidence duty of care, social responsibility, independence and
transparency in relation to self exclusion
Allows ID verification companies and Payment Service Providers to raise awareness of
vulnerable persons to their customers who are not CMO members.
National UK Self Exclusion Program Key Points:
CMO is the UKs only national, multi sector and cross company, Gambling Self Exclusion scheme.
CMO provides a central, national database of self excluded individuals which enables information to be legally shared between operators.
CMO provides effective self exclusion both locally and nationally and complies with all the
recommendations set out in the Gambling Act 2005 and the Data Protection Act 1998.
CMO provides an accessible, confidential and simple to use Self Exclusion Program giving vulnerable gamblers the opportunity to remove themselves from a potentially harmful gambling environment.
CMO allows vulnerable persons to obtain self exclusion forms from the internet and support agencies and to submit these forms via a designated, responsible person such as a doctor, solicitor or counsellor. This enables them to self-exclude without ever having to enter a gambling premises to either obtain or submit their agreement forms.
CMO notifies all members of a self exclusion agreement relevant to their geographical area.
Notification isnt limited to the premises named on the agreement making the scheme more effective and easier for support groups, operators and their staff to identify, monitor, engage with and support vulnerable persons.
CMO encourages and simplifies self exclusion from a number of different premises, companies, sectors and geographical areas. As a National scheme information can legally be shared between premises and companies. By simplifing the self-exclusion process the CMO system makes self exclusion more effective, easier to monitor and evaluate.
Ref. : CMOPR19
Date : 2nd May 2008
ALLEGED SELF-EXCLUSION BREACHES CONTINUE TO DOG THE INDUSTRY
Stories of operators failing to implement their own self-exclusion policies continue to be reported to social enterprise Count Me Out, the national self exclusion scheme, who at the request of the problem gambler has taken the unprecedented step of relaying the account of an incident reported to them. The problem gambler tried, unsuccessfully, on several occasions to get his self exclusion enforced to help prevent himself from further gambling opportunities and a truncated version of accounts as reported by the individual is given below:
February 07
PROBLEM GAMBLER: I was told by the gambling operator's (name withheld) helpline to SELF EXCLUDE YOURSELF AND WE WILL STOP YOU FROM GAMBLING.
I self-excluded myself from [the premises] and machines in my home town and told them that as I am addicted to gambling I need some one to stop me.
I took my picture to one of the operator's shops and requested that they do not allow me to gamble in any of their shops in that town.
April 07
As I was in debt from credit cards I got an 8000 loan from the bank and went to a premises to gamble. They did not stop me and I lost 3000 on roulette machines. I went to their counter and said to the staff please don't let me play as I am a self-excluded customer. They checked their album and said sorry we didn't know that. The next day I went to different premises owned by the same company and I lost 5000. Again their staff told me sorry we didn't know that you are self-excluded.
June 07
I went back to the gambling operator and banned myself until December 07.
September October 07
I started going to the same gambling operator again at various branches around the town and lost 7100 between September and October.
I got a 13000 loan from the bank and at the end of October lost 4000.
November December 07
I continued to gamble at other branches of the same operator and lost 5900.
December 07
I gave my picture and self-excluded myself again for the whole of 2008 from my home town and all their other premises in the county where I live as I wanted to start a new happy life.
February 08
I visited a premises and lost 2000 and asked the staff to stop me if I try to gamble again. A week later I went to another branch of the operator and lost 1500, again I requested the staff to stop me from gambling. The following week I lost another 1200 at another branch and told the staff I had lost my rent money and that I was self-excluded and should not be able to gamble. She replied that she hadn't realised.
That evening I could not sleep and so visited the same branch again with 1100. As I was playing I lost 623 and had 477 in the machine. A member of staff came to me and told me I was self- excluded and that I had to leave the shop and then she refunded me the 477 that I had in the machine. I thanked her for carrying out her duty properly and explained I wished all the staff I had encountered had done the same.
Gary Pettengell, founder of Count Me Out commenting on the incident said I do not see Count Me Out's role as being one of preaching to the industry about the merits of self-exclusion, rather as a not for profit, service provider to help operators comply with their social responsibilities in line with the rulings of the Gambling Act and provide maximum protection to their customers. However, personally I do feel that if a problem gambler asks the industry to stop helping him feed his addictions then the industry not only has a duty of care towards that individual but should also show some level of sympathy to a vulnerable person in need of help. The man's plight is plain to see and the operator in this instance failed time and time again to implement their own self-exclusion policy leaving them wide open to court action and the problem gambler in a more vulnerable position than he should be.
Pettengell continued The problem gambler reported to Count Me Out that at almost every branch he visited during his gambling spree he was not stopped, despite his self-exclusion agreement with the operator and despite the fact that each time he went to the counter to tell them he was self-excluded and to never let him gamble again. It is evident from this story that individual company self-exclusion schemes can fall far short of the gambling regulation's requirements. If they had adopted the national scheme provided by Count Me Out it would be almost impossible for these numerous breaches to have occurred, the company would be far better protected in the unlikely event of a breach and the problem gambler, a vulnerable person who needed protection, could be working on beating his gambling addiction.
For more information on Count Me Out visit www.countmeout.org
- ends -
Press enquiries and further information is available from Gary Pettengell,
Tel: +44(0)1502 576888 Fax +44(0)1502 531988 Email info@countmeout.org.uk
NSEP Ltd., Riverside Business Centre, Riverside Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 0TQ
Background on Count Me Out
N.S.E.P. Community Interest Company is a not for profit social enterprise trading as Count Me Out (CMO).
CMOs mission is to help vulnerable children and adults who are addicted to, harmed or
exploited by gambling globally by promoting self exclusion and social responsibility.
CMO is the only organisation in the UK and globally set up solely to offer self exclusion solutions to gaming operators and problem gamblers.
CMO is the only organisation offering and operating a national self exclusion scheme in the UK and bespoke self exclusion software to companies to operate their individual self
exclusion schemes.
The CMO International Self Exclusion Database for problem gamblers is the only truly
impartial and independent system available to problem gamblers, gaming operators, Payment Service Providers and ID verification companies.
International Database of self excluded persons:
Ability to instantly self exclude from several websites, using just one agreement form
3rd party, malicious exclusion safeguards in place
Encourages maximum participation by gaming operators and associated service providers
Counselling offered at every stage of the self exclusion process and request to gamble again has to be made to a counsellor, then a 24 hour cooling off period is enforced.
Ability to self exclude without having to visit a gaming website
Self exclusion remains in place unless positive request to gamble again is made
Expired self exclusion agreements are held in an archive database in order to provide
operators and associated service providers with a self exclusion history.
Data Protection Act compliant and all systems have been legally verified
Enables members to evidence duty of care, social responsibility, independence and
transparency in relation to self exclusion
Allows ID verification companies and Payment Service Providers to raise awareness of
vulnerable persons to their customers who are not CMO members.
National UK Self Exclusion Program Key Points:
CMO is the UKs only national, multi sector and cross company, Gambling Self Exclusion scheme.
CMO provides a central, national database of self excluded individuals which enables information to be legally shared between operators.
CMO provides effective self exclusion both locally and nationally and complies with all the
recommendations set out in the Gambling Act 2005 and the Data Protection Act 1998.
CMO provides an accessible, confidential and simple to use Self Exclusion Program giving vulnerable gamblers the opportunity to remove themselves from a potentially harmful gambling environment.
CMO allows vulnerable persons to obtain self exclusion forms from the internet and support agencies and to submit these forms via a designated, responsible person such as a doctor, solicitor or counsellor. This enables them to self-exclude without ever having to enter a gambling premises to either obtain or submit their agreement forms.
CMO notifies all members of a self exclusion agreement relevant to their geographical area.
Notification isnt limited to the premises named on the agreement making the scheme more effective and easier for support groups, operators and their staff to identify, monitor, engage with and support vulnerable persons.
CMO encourages and simplifies self exclusion from a number of different premises, companies, sectors and geographical areas. As a National scheme information can legally be shared between premises and companies. By simplifing the self-exclusion process the CMO system makes self exclusion more effective, easier to monitor and evaluate.
