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Problem gaming - dealing with the inevitable
New gaming jurisdictions can learn from the past to best position themselves to cope with gambling disorders.
Michael Soll is the newly appointed President of the International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG). He’s also got nearly 30 years in the gaming sector working in everything from equity research, planning and business development, as well as consultancy – or, as he puts it, “I’ve always been on the development side, one way or the other.”
Given his latest role, he’s uniquely qualified to opine on the introduction of gaming in a market and the emergence of problem behaviours. Fears about the impact on vulnerable members of Thai society were one of the objections wielded by anti-gaming protestors in Thailand before the legislation was withdrawn by the government in Bangkok in July.
Michael’s view is that these types of objections are inevitable and that legalising gaming will inevitably surface some problem behaviours. However, because the industry, and society, are aware of what happens, they are therefore better placed to deal with it.
He says, “Any new jurisdiction you bring gaming to is bound to face issues from various stakeholder groups. Until it’s there, it’s kind of hard to know how a jurisdiction will behave. Suddenly, the people whom the opposition represented become the players.”
Acceptable gaming
Michael says gambling is widely acknowledged as an acceptable form of entertainment with some problems to address, contrasting that with the long-held consensus around the deadly health impacts of smoking.
If Thailand had gone ahead with its plan for casinos within Entertainment Complexes, Michael argues that a lot of issues could have been brought to light and addressed proactively.
“There’s a lot of information on player behaviour in surrounding territories; there’s information on how Thai players play in other markets, and there’s information about what happens in illegal markets,” he states.
“Ultimately, the ICRG’s independent academic partners would chart the clinical research path, but one area for predictive market research would be gaining an understanding of how Thai players behave in border markets like Cambodia, and how non-casino video game play in Asian markets is playing out.”
“And I would be looking at discretionary income; in what categories it is spent across all sections of the population, trying to focus on those things that mimic gaming-related spend.”
To explain further, he highlights the situation in Japan, where problem gaming caused by Pachinko’s longstanding presence has gone untreated because there had been little public discussion of gaming behaviors prior to the arrival of the international gaming industry in the early 2000s, seeking integrated resort licenses.
“Asia has a high propensity of people who want to play; it can be double that of some places in the US. That makes it all the more important to be aware of that and to have good practices around responsible gaming,” Michael comments.
Testing ground
When it comes to assessing the propensity for problem gaming, Michael doesn’t factor commercial market influences, like branding or facility design. “It is game design and behavioral psychology where engineers and advocates for responsible gaming come together, whether in a land casino or online environment”.
But what Thailand or any new gaming jurisdiction could use to its advantage is that it can benefit from the experiences and learnings of every other gaming market that’s gone ahead of it, perhaps becoming a testing ground for the latest technologies, Michael suggests.
The mission of the ICRG is to help individuals and families affected by gambling disorder and to prevent the onset of gambling problems through high-quality scientific research and evidence-based educational programming on gambling disorder and responsible gambling.
Since 1996, the ICRG has provided independent, peer-reviewed research that helps increase the understanding of gambling harms and find effective methods of mitigation. Its work is impacting public policy, strengthening responsible gambling and improving the health and well-being of the people and communities affected by the continued growth of the industry.
Nearly $50m has been committed to the ICRG, through contributions from the casino gaming industry, equipment manufacturers, vendors, sports wagering companies, tribal casinos, related organisations and individuals, with the ICRG firewall protecting the integrity of the research it funds.
