Player Protection

Spanish authorities have vowed to deepen academic research to bolster the treatment, intervention and prevention of gambling disorders. Yesterday, DGOJ – Spain’s General Directorate of Gambling – announced that 26 projects will receive research grants in the field of ‘gambling disorder prevention’. The initiative is led by Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs, which has reserved €1.3m funding for academic studies …

René Jansen, outgoing Chairman of Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Netherlands Gambling Authority, has stood up for the tighter scrutiny of the Dutch online gambling market.    Jansen, who last week announced his inbound retirement as Chairman of KSA in January 2024, backed tougher regulatory demands on duty-of-care, record keeping and the monitoring of advertising campaigns. Writing a blog titled: “Gambling addiction: prevention …

The Secretary of State has confirmed the appointment of seven Commissioners to oversee the governance and regulatory oversight of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). As announced by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS), the Gambling Commission welcomes the appointments of Charles Counsell, Helen Dodds, Sheree Howard, and Claudia Mortimore as new Commissioners, who will serve a five-year term. …

GamCare is making progress in its employment and HR policies, the charity’s Director of People and Organisational Development, Debby Morrell believes, particularly with regards to closing the pay gap. The organisation, which provides treatment and support services for problem gambling, has set itself a goal of achieving a zero pay gap across both gender and ethnicity, as well as keeping …

Spelpaus, Swedish gambling’s centralised self-exclusion system has hit the milestone of registering 100,000 users at risk of gambling harms.  Operated by Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s Gambling Inspectorate, Spelpaus was launched on 1 January 2019 as the primary player protection service of Sweden’s relaunched online gambling marketplace. By law, Swedish online gambling operators are required to connect their databases with the Spelpaus register, …

Today marks the conclusion of the annual boot camp titled “10:0 for people against addiction” in Bulgaria, created to support those affected by addictive behaviours, including people suffering from gambling harm.  Organised by community support groups ‘Rematch’ and ‘Help Against Addiction’, the three-day initiative saw its 10th consecutive edition held at the football complex Boyana in the capital city of …

The London Assembly has launched an inquiry seeking to ‘understand the health impacts of gambling in the capital city’. The inquiry will be led by the London Assembly’s Public Health Committee with the aim of informing the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, about developing policies and initiatives to reduce gambling-related harms. The Committee has issued a ‘call for response’, seeking …

Ygam and GamCare have launched an English nationwide intervention and harm prevention portal alongside several regional organisations as part of a GambleAware-commissioned project. The English Gambling Education Hub (EGEH) portal is a collaborative effort between the duo and five other organisations – Aquarius, ARA, Beacon Counselling Trust and Breakeven. Its remit goes beyond England’s borders, however, as EGEH will also …

Kindred Group has detailed a ‘consistent trend’ regarding the proportion of its revenue from harmful gambling, although the figure has crept up slightly between the second and third quarters of the year. The Swedish gambling group – active in multiple markets via its Unibet sportsbook and 32Red igaming brands – set itself a target in early 2021 of achieving 0% …