SBC News

The rollout of Entain’s player protection journey over the past eight years has been a ‘bumpy journey’, according to the firm’s Director of Player Protection Systems and Analytics, Jez White, but the improvements have been ‘massive’.

White made his observations whilst speaking at Navigating The Maze, a panel session during ICE London 2024 within the expo’s Consumer Protection Zone which delved into the journey from problem gambling detection to effective intervention, while also studying Entain’s development in the sector.

Meanwhile, Dan Spencer, Director of Safer Gambling at EPIC Global Solutions, shared how his personal experiences of gambling addiction have helped detect others in a similar position, specifically highlighting the importance of meaningful human interactions.

Finally, Rasmus Kjaergaard, host of the panel session and CEO of Mindway AI – a scientific-based protections solutions provider based on AI in combination with human psychology assessments – highlighted the i..

The rollout of Entain’s player protection journey over the past eight years has been a ‘bumpy journey’, according to the firm’s Director of Player Protection Systems and Analytics, Jez White, but the improvements have been ‘massive’.

White made his observations whilst speaking at Navigating The Maze, a panel session during ICE London 2024 within the expo’s Consumer Protection Zone which delved into the journey from problem gambling detection to effective intervention, while also studying Entain’s development in the sector.

Meanwhile, Dan Spencer, Director of Safer Gambling at EPIC Global Solutions, shared how his personal experiences of gambling addiction have helped detect others in a similar position, specifically highlighting the importance of meaningful human interactions.

Finally, Rasmus Kjaergaard, host of the panel session and CEO of Mindway AI – a scientific-based protections solutions provider based on AI in combination with human psychology assessments – highlighted the i..

Kindred Group plc-owned brand Unibet has launched a new health awareness campaign across Belgium and the Netherlands in collaboration with the Dutch cycling team Tour de Tietema (TDT).

The new project called ‘Follow Your Heart’ aims to boost the public’s knowledge about the potential heart issues that could arise within the cycling community.

Both entities have developed a specialised online learning tool to deliver on the campaign’s objectives. TDT cyclists will also wear custom jerseys that will bring attention to the importance of heart health.

An eight-step guide on how to perform resuscitation and increase survival rates in heart failure can be accessed through an Augmented Reality experience, featuring the owners of TDT Bas Tietema, Devin van der Wiel, and Josse Wester.

Tietema said: “I try to follow my heart in everything I do, but I have noticed both in cycling and outside the sport that a less well-functioning heart can also make you very insecure. Unfortunately, you he..

GamCare has promoted Mark Weiss to the position of Deputy CEO of the gambling harms treatment support and intervention charity.

Updating stakeholders, GamCare informed that Weiss will take on the new role alongside his existing duties as GamCare’s Director of Communications and External Affairs.

An expert in public health, Weiss joined GamCare in 2022, from the Royal College of Anaesthetists where he served as Head of Policy and Public Affairs.

His tenure was distinguished as he spearheaded all aspects of Policy and Public Affairs for the UK’s largest hospital specialty, anaesthesia, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

GamCare highlighted Weiss’s diverse background in promoting public health organisations and initiatives, having worked for the Faculty of Public Health and as an advisor to the All-Party Parliament Group on public health and welfare policies.

In his new role, Mark will work closely with Margot Daly, Executive Chair, in providing strategic leadership and direction across G..

Kindred Group Plc cites that improved customer interventions have led to a ‘slight decrease’ in revenue share generated from harmful gambling, recorded during the close of 2023.

The Stockholm-listed gambling group continues to report on responsible gambling metrics and customer interventions on a quarterly basis as part of its ‘Journey towards Zero’- a social responsibility initiative launched in February 2021.

Updating stakeholders, during Q4 Kindred saw its share of gross winnings accumulated from high-risk accounts stand at 3.1% – a decline on 3.3% reported during Q3.

The figure sees Kindred detail stable tracking of safer gambling metrics, which stood at 3.1% during year trading.

Of significance to Kindred’s safer gambling objectives, the percentage of detected customers who exhibited improved behaviour after interventions increased to 87.4% – the highest index recorded in 2023 (Q1: 83%, Q2: 86% Q3: 86%).

Kindred noted that the sustained positive trajectory in the improvemen..

A review by GambleAware has shed more light on the success of the residential rehabilitation programme for gambling harm victims.

The initiative was first launched back in 2021 when GambleAware commissioned Adferiad Recovery and Gordon Moody – charities that facilitate addiction rehabilitation – to lead a service that is tailored for people with severe gambling issues and those suffering from substance misuse.

The programme sought to address a gap in the services available in Great Britain that conventional treatment providers offer, which could prove insufficient for clients with complex conditions.

This has been done by giving individuals the chance to be in residential settings where they can receive detox, intensive treatment for gambling issues, as well as specialised mental health support, which has led to ‘positive short-term outcomes’ in large due to the residential settings providing an ‘intensive, but also safe and and supportive environment’.

Encompassing the period b..

GambleAware has revealed that some members of the LGBTQ+ community may be at a higher risk of gambling harm.

The newly published scoping study – ‘LGBTQ+ People and Gambling Harms: A Scoping Review’ – was commissioned to build an understanding of the lived experience of gambling harm amongst the LGBTQ+ community in Great Britain.

Researchers from the University of Brighton completed the study by analysing articles published between 2000 and 2023 on gambling harms in the LGBTQ+ community and its impact on people’s mental health, finances, relationships and employment.

Evidence on experiences of LGBTQ+ people accessing support services for gambling harms was also examined, as well as any barriers faced in doing so.

The study noted that “gay and bisexual men and young lesbian and bisexual women may be at increased risk and may experience greater harms associated with gambling”.

In addition, gay and bisexual men could be 3.4 times more likely than heterosexual men to suffer from gamb..

Jake Pollard
The Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), France’s gambling authority has updated its framework related to how operators should protect minors and players at risk of excessive or pathological gambling.

The French gambling regulator said the framework was set up to implement a sustainable and recreational business model among land-based and online operators in the country and while new studies set to be carried out this year should provide updated figures.

The authority cited that between 2014 and 2019, the number of “moderate risk gamblers” had stabilised, but was still at a high level of 1 million people.

However, it added that the number of excessive and problem gamblers had risen significantly over the same period, affecting almost 370,000 people in 2019, compared with 200,000 in 2014. There has also been evidence that minors have been gambling.

ANJ noted, therefore “the prevention of excessive or pathological gambling, and, beyond that, the protection of gamblers, app..

Jake Pollard
France’s gambling regulator Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has placed reducing excessive gambling and the protection of minors at the heart of its 2024-26 strategic plan and has called on all economic and institutional stakeholders to work alongside it to reach those targets.

ANJ’s plan marks the end of its first cycle of regulation since it succeeded ARJEL as industry regulator in 2020 and arrives at a key juncture for the French gambling sector.

Industry revenues have increased by over 50% to more than €13bn since 2010 when the market opened to regulation and in 2024 “gambling has become a mainstream consumer product for people of all ages and from all walks of life”, said ANJ.

French gambling in the spotlight….

On the commercial side, France’s largest gambling group Française des Jeux (FDJ) this week tabled a €2.6bn offer for the European online operator Kindred Group, which the Swedish group has accepted. In terms of regulatory developments, in the past year t..