3 things about Safer Gambling

Three things you should know about safer gambling

As with other controversial vices like drugs and alcohol, the conversation surrounding legalized gambling is a complicated one that touches on a wide range of personal, societal and political issues. These are intricate topics with valid opinions on both sides of the discourse.

There are some basics that we all tend to agree on, though. The rudiments of safe consumption are largely a matter of common sense and simple restraint, things that come easily for most people… until they don’t.

Despite all the preventive attention paid to gambling behavior in particular, expansion has brought with it a measurable increase in addiction and other forms of harm across the globe. So maybe it’s worthwhile to revisit the fundamentals for a moment.

Here are three things that we think are important to know about safer gambling at a basic level.

The language around gambling behavior is already becoming outdated

Most of the articles written about gambling behavior in recent years have relied on a set of terms and phrases that we can all recognize by now.

“Responsible gaming” is often used as the blanket term to cover things like excessive and impaired play, and it’s the right idea. Referring to gambling as “gaming” is one of the oldest tricks in the book, though, and that language places the onus on the customer in the most literal way. If someone develops a “gaming” addiction, the phrasing implies that they were acting irresponsibly. Pundits therefore tend to talk more about the customers’ ability to police their own actions than we do about the industry’s responsibility to do so proactively.

We find that “safer gambling” is a more thoughtful term that conveys the underlying goals and responsibilities more precisely. Protecting customers cannot be fully reliant on them acting in a responsible way every time they gamble. Unfortunately, that’s just not a realistic expectation. What is more achievable is for the industry to create a gambling environment that is stronger and safer and less likely to create real problems for their customers.

For that matter, “problem gambling” is becoming an antiquated phrase. The trend among experts is to instead focus on the harm gambling can create, zeroing in on the effects of gambling addiction as much as the causes. Generally speaking, the collective conversation around protecting customers amid the expansion of legalized gambling has yet to produce meaningful solutions to address gambling-related harm.

These adjustments are mostly a matter of semantics, but this language does help to destigmatize gambling addiction and redirect attention toward finding solutions when prevention and detection fail.

Most stakeholders aren’t doing enough to protect gamblers

We touched on this a bit on our last article on the topic, but this is a fitting place to expand on the thought.

Beyond the responsibility that any gambler inherently bears on their own, three other parties hold a direct stake in their well-being: lawmakers, regulators, and the operators themselves. These three groups have an increasing level of contact with the end-user and, therefore, an increasing level of influence over their behavior.

Lawmakers represent the first rung on the safer-gambling ladder. As representatives for the people, they turn the possibility of expanded gambling into a statutory reality. Enabling laws vary in length and complexity from one jurisdiction to the next, but their scope is typically limited to spelling out (1) who can take a bet, (2) who can place a bet, and (3) what can be bet on. There’s an argument to be made that the majority of these laws don’t go far enough to protect gamblers, but there’s a corresponding counterargument in favor of a lighter approach that allows for greater personal liberty and greater regulatory flexibility.

So, let’s talk about the regulators. They’re responsible for building upon those legislative foundations to create the walls and the roof for legalized gambling. Written regulations are often much wordier than the underlying law, as they need to clarify every single detail involved with licensing, monitoring, and taxing the new industry from scratch. Whereas a law might simply authorize an activity, regulations impose limitations that shape the way it’s implemented – primarily with a focus on preventing customers from being taken advantage of in one way or another. Gambling regulations almost universally include mechanisms to combat underage and excessive play, but they typically leave most of the remedial work to operators. Enforcement can be hit or miss too, for that matter.

At the top of the safer-gambling ladder, operators are required to comply with the law and the regulations as a condition of their licensure. And their ability to produce revenue depends on keeping those licenses in good standing. But as we mentioned previously, compliance represents the bare-minimum effort needed to create a safer gambling environment. Operators should – and will – learn that that the long-term future of their business hinges on more than mere compliance, but on a serious effort to protect their customers and those around them who may be adversely affected by gambling. They’re the party that has the direct point of contact with the end-user, after all.

Any sincere endeavor to protect customers must go beyond compliance and into the realm of sincere, thoughtful sustainability.

Acknowledging that there’s a problem is the necessary first step

This is something of a universal tenet for addressing any destructive behavior, and it applies to all parties involved in the legalized gambling apparatus too.

Lawmakers and regulators must acknowledge that the structures they’re putting in place broadly aren’t strong enough to prevent or treat gambling addiction. Despite their efforts to craft a safe framework, customers continue to engage with the gambling industry in a way that causes tangible harm to themselves and others. Evidence of this is everywhere, most notably in a number of mainstream media articles that have continued to cast the industry in a predatory light. It’s okay to acknowledge that there’s more work to be done.

Operators also need to realize that there is this gap between compliance and the types of protections that demonstrate a real concern for their customers’ well-being. It’s important for these companies to understand that merely following the law and the regulations often isn’t enough to truly protect customers from harm. It’s okay to admit that some of their customers are experiencing harm.

This need for self-awareness applies to the customers too, of course – to all of us. Like a nasty mold, hiding any addiction away in the dark is the one of the surest ways to allow it grow into something unmanageable. Fresh air is a great disinfectant (not medical advice) and exposing a problem to daylight is the first step toward treating it. If you realize that your gambling behavior is causing harm to yourself or those around you, it’s okay to admit that. It’s necessary.

Creating a safe and sustainable future for the global gambling industry really is a team effort, and these efforts should be driven by empirical data and a real desire to help rather than a habitual recitation of a few responsible-gambling catchphrases.