igamingbusiness . com FEATURE
RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING :
WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS ?
Cole Rush looks beyond the boilerplate statements on problem gambling to give a US perspective on how the industry can genuinely make a difference in protecting players
I t ’ s easy to talk about a desire to better protect players , but what actually works in making gambling safer for players ? There ’ s a lot said about this subject , but is the industry actually doing enough ?
TAILORED APPROACH
Problem gambling is different from other problems of abuse or addiction . It ’ s helpful to compare it to other injurious activities . Dan Trolaro , vice-president of prevention at Epic Global Solutions , sets the stage .
“ Vaping , drinking , smoking … those are substance-related issues ,” Trolaro says . “ For each one of them , you have to put a foreign substance into your body . Gambling is a process addiction .”
This distinction – substance versus process – is crucial to understanding problem gambling and to combating it .
“ When you understand this ,” Trolaro continues , “ it ’ s not hard to see why there ’ s a stigma . You ’ re not injecting , smoking , ingesting something . ‘ So why don ’ t you just stop ?’ That is what people say . When you ’ re on a mobile device , things hit you differently . There ’ s a rapid reinforcement ; you ’ re getting an outcome every few seconds in some cases . You ’ re conditioned to know you ’ ll win every so often .”
Telling someone suffering from a gambling problem simplistically to “ just stop ” is akin to telling someone who
ICE LONDON 2024 • ISSUE 135 • 71