There are different statements related to online gambling. On one side, it is considered as fun, while according to another statement, it is a family disease that can affect the whole family if a person may get addicted to it. Both statements can be true depending on how you are gambling online. It can be a rewarding and exciting experience if you are playing responsibly. So, if you don’t want online gambling to become a destructive compulsive addiction that becomes too difficult to control, then go with responsible gambling. Don’t know what it is? Read on this article to get the most basic yet valuable information.
What Is Responsible Gambling?
Responsible gambling is a wide concept that comprises a complete set of various rules, policies, best practices, and requirements that aim to protect the players’ experience from negative results of online gambling. These norms and policies are created, regulated, and supported by national gaming organizations and authorities to ensure that gambling stakeholders respect the highest quality standards and form positive conditions for online gambling activities.
Responsible gambling is applied to players, online casinos, bookmakers, and all gambling organizations. Players should play responsibly considering the dangers of gambling addiction. Gaming companies and all organizations operating and providing gambling products or services should also follow these rules to ensure a fair and secure gaming environment for players. They must take care of the major concerns such as money laundering, prevention of vulnerable gamblers, fast and accurate customer payout, online payment protection, ethical marketing, information privacy, etc.
Key Responsible Gambling Elements
The following are the main areas that online casino operators and gaming software providers should consider to comply with responsible gambling.
1. Prevent Underage Online Gambling
This is one of the most important elements of online responsible gambling that helps in preventing young people from getting trapped into the abyss of gambling addiction. The gambling organizations and operators need to ensure that no person, who is below the legal age (18 or 21), is not allowed to gamble online for real money. Casinos should take the necessary steps to prevent underage gambling activities on their websites. They should clearly define the registration process for all players on their site and perform a complete verification to confirm the customer’s age. They need to ensure that laws protecting minors in their respective authorities are fully respected.
2. Protection Of Unsafe Players
Sometimes the desire to earn more money and have unlimited fun makes some players become addicted to online sports betting or online casino games. They start spending lots of money on gambling which eventually affects their normal lives and make it difficult to meet everyday necessary expenses.
To protect vulnerable gamblers, renowned regulators of the gambling industry have set certain measures such as clearly mentioning time & bet limits and self-exclusion programs on a site. They must set financial limits to players’ accounts to let them responsible gaming sessions. Operators can provide a separate section to responsible gambling on their site and suggest special organizations that can provide the necessary support to vulnerable gamblers.
3. Safeguard Gamblers’ Privacy
Online casino operators must protect their users’ personal and financial details from unauthorized access. For this, they can use advanced encryption technologies and provide various strong privacy policies on their casino site. They must ensure that their customers’ information privacy and confidentiality are fully respected throughout the session as per the regulator’s requirements.
4. Ethical And Responsible Marketing
While promoting or marketing any gambling activity, casino operators should go with pertinent regulatory advertising codes of practice to make sure that all the content they have used in the advertisement is factually accurate and does not mean for vulnerable or underage players. They should take a specific customer’s permission before using their personal information for direct marketing.
5. Payment Protection
Online bookmakers and casino operators must provide a safe banking method to guarantee the online payment protection of their customers. They should pay the utmost attention to the selection of reliable gaming solutions and software platforms to ensure safe deposit, withdrawal, and transfer of money with complete protection of players’ financial and personal data.
6. Prevention Of Criminal Activities
Just like all other sectors, the online gambling industry also has the risk of criminal activities. So, operators providing online sports betting or casino games should use services, procedures, software programs, and technologies that identify and block malicious software, money laundering activities, and all hacking devices.
7. Secure Gambling Environment
Another most important aspect of responsible gambling is to create a secure and fair gaming environment online. Operators must use safety measures, fair game software, and mechanisms that provide the structure for a safe and fair gaming environment online. They should ensure that the games they are providing on their site are launched by trusted software providers and audited by independent agencies to confirm 100% fairness. Furthermore, they need to make sure that all the technical procedures and online payments are designed in a secure way.
Tips For Responsible Gamblers
To gamble safely without making it an addiction, players must clearly and thoroughly understand the concept of responsible gambling. Here are some top recommendations given by the industry experts for casino players –
1. Online gaming should not be considered merely an easy source of earning money.
2. Online gambling activities such as casino games and sports are just a form of entertainment.
3. Keep patience in all the situations and try to accept the reality. If you are losing for a long time, then take a break and come back after developing effective strategies.
4. Never bet going beyond your budget if you cannot afford to lose. For this, you can choose a site having a mechanism that lets you set the maximum amount of money you can bet in a specific duration.
5. Limit your wins & losses and regularly check them to determine how much you win and how much you lose. If there is a less winning potential and you decide to take a break, then use “Self-Exclusion” to close your gambling account for a certain time i.e. few months or years.
6. Schedule and regularly check your gambling time. Find out how much time you can spend online on a specific casino or a sportsbook without affecting your everyday schedule. If you are losing most of the hours every day, then stop gambling for a certain time.
7. Contact a specialized organization or a group for the most favorable support in case you have any problem with online gaming or gambling.
By following these tips, you can gamble responsibly getting the best value for your hard-earned money and precious time.
Recommendations For Gambling Companies To Work Responsibly
Casino operators, sportsbooks, and all companies operating or promoting gambling activities, products, or services should stay responsible online. They must make sure that responsible gambling principles they are practicing should be clearly and completely understood and well respected by all the associated parties. It includes players, casino game suppliers, license granting authorities, platform providers, and regulators.
Even though platform providers do not have direct connectivity with their end customers i.e. players, but they must also follow the responsible gambling principles. The reason is that they are under juridical and moral requirements to provide web-based casino operators the essential tools and ways to control several things such as –
☞ Underage betting or gambling issues by identifying the players’ age.
☞ Gambling addiction by providing self-exclusion tools and setting certain minimum and maximum betting limits.
☞ Incorporate software monitoring capabilities to provide a safe and secure gambling environment.
☞ Software providers and suppliers must support online casino operators to go along with legislative and technical demands.
☞ Prevent security issues and assure 100% safety and confidentiality of players’ data by providing security tools and technologies against online criminal activities and online risks.
So, they should also ensure that their gaming software products are included in a comprehensive management system to give players a fair and secure gaming experience.
Best Resources For Responsible Gambling
The most reliable and recommended resources for responsible gambling are based in the United Kingdom. Here is a list of them –
• GamCare Site – This is a platform where you can get useful suggestions and information on different aspects of problem gambling.
• UKGC (UK Gambling Commission) – This is world-renowned gambling jurisdictions that regulate gambling laws in Great Britain. On this commission, you can get informative details related to the process of gambling addiction in general and the UK.
• BeGambleAware – This is another site where online gamblers can get the best information on the proven ways to play responsibly without getting addicted to gambling.
Besides these, there are many gambling addiction support groups and Gamblers Anonymous in nearly every big city of the world to provide online gambling addiction help. Gamblers Anonymous is men’s and women’s companionship, where members share their hope, strength, and experience to help each other in solving gambling problems.
