Identify. Interact. Evaluate. : Assessing the impact of staff interactions for player outcomes using player data from the 2019 UK Casino Trial of the ALeRT™ BETTOR Protection System
DISRUPTING THE REGULATOR
Sparking innovation in regulatory practice
Boston Marriott Copley Place 110 Huntington Ave, Boston
Abstract
The UK Gambling Commission required all gambling operators from 31 October 2019 to ‘identify’ high-risk customers, ‘interact’ with these customers, and then ‘evaluate’ the impact of the customer interactions in reducing and preventing risk and harm. As part of a 5 year international research project involving nine operators from three different countries and co-funded by the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP), the UK National Casino Forum (NCF) and five of its member casinos took part in a live trial of Focal’s ALeRT™ Bettor Protection System using player data to identify and manage player risk. From November 2018 to October 2019, casino staff at 16 test venues conducted over 3,000 customer reviews, recording 1,550 personal interactions with ≈800 unique ‘gamblers of interest’ (GOIs) identified by the ALeRT risk detection algorithms. Focal used player data stored in the ALeRT system to set reliable pre-post play behaviour indicators to evaluate the impact of staff interactions. Findings were presented to the Gambling Commission October 24, 2019 and a final report released December 20, 2019. Trial results showed, when compared to baseline, staff interactions with high-risk customers identified by the ALeRT system produced positive changes in behaviour that were persisting up to six months following the first interaction including reductions in turnover, frequency of play , session length and speed of play. The trial results demonstrate that by better assisting and supporting staff to identify potential problematic gambling behaviour, interactions between host responsibility staff and players can achieve improved player outcomes, and operators can better provide safer more supportive gambling environments for players and staff. The presentation will summarize key learnings coming out of the trial.
Solving a Hidden Problem: Using algorithms to successfully identify and assist gamblers most likely to be spending beyond affordable limits.
DISRUPTING THE REGULATOR
Sparking innovation in regulatory practice
Boston Marriott Copley Place 110 Huntington Ave, Boston
Abstract
Since 2018 ‘Affordability’ has become a critical regulatory priority in the UK gaining greater traction worldwide throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 the Gambling Commission (GC) released formal guidance instructing operators to conduct affordability assessments using certain thresholds and triggers as a proxy for harm such as amount spent, speed of losses, frequency of wagering, and length of play sessions. May 25, 2021, the GC “concluded that stronger requirements are needed for operators to identify a range of indicators of harm and take appropriate action more often and at an earlier stage”. The authors conducted research from 2014-2020 interviewing 10,500 regular electronic machine gamblers in land-based casinos in three countries including the UK administering the PGSI and FLAGs a risk instrument that can be used to identify those spending beyond affordable limits including gambling with money that does not belong to them (e.g., gambling with misappropriated funds). The research shows that these players typically spend and play less than other regular gamblers. As a result, current methods of identifying high-risk gamblers that rely on the length of session and amount wagered are unlikely to find and assist these vulnerable over-spenders, even though they are more likely to be experiencing negative consequences due to their gambling. This session will highlight the value of a new Affordability Model specifically adapted for accommodating changes in play patterns due to COVID-19. The session will describe the survey results, construct creation and testing, behavioural cues using machine data that can be used to identify these at-risk players and the resulting profiles of ‘Overspenders’ in terms of beliefs, motives, risky practices, obsession with gambling, and the experience of negative consequences. Managerial and regulatory implications are presented.
