What is Responsible Gambling?

Responsible gambling is known as a wide concept that comes with an enormous number of policies and requirements. These apply to the gambling stakeholders to ensure that the highest quality standards are maintained. It is also created for offering safe user experience so that gamblers get protected from the negative consequence of online gambling.

Gambling for the industry experts should be treated as the means of entertainment. People should involve in it for fun-time and not expect to generate income from here. The concept of gambling has become popular as a game of chance, hence win and loss has become the inevitable part of it. Majority of the population enjoys the risk that can be affordable, while for some, it is more risky.

Both online operators and software suppliers follow the principles of responsible gambling. Software suppliers are required to support online operators in complying with legislative and technical demands. These 7 highlighted areas have a high impact on the gambling industry:

Preventing Underage Gambling
Protecting Vulnerable Gamblers
Privacy of Information
Safety From Criminal Activities
Protection on Online Payment
Securing Gaming and Entertainment
Ethical Business Practice with Responsible Marketing

The 7 Areas of Responsible and Safe Gambling

How these 7 types of responsible gambling affect the gambling industry?

1. Preventing Underage Gambling

Preventing underage gaming is an important aspect of responsible gambling. It is stressed that individuals who are not at their legal age (18 or 21 years) should not be allowed to indulge in gambling. Online operators should take the necessary steps to make sure that underage gambling activities should not happen on websites. The laws that protect minor need to be respected and followed thoroughly. Operators in this condition should opt for a registration process for players. Through this process, the mandatory data gets verified and ensure that the gambler has reached their legal age.

In this situation, parents must play a vital role by monitoring the kids and taking all the protective measures to prevent them from involving in gambling. It might be checking on their internet access or installing parental control apps on their devices.

2. Protecting Vulnerable Gamblers

Protecting vulnerable gamblers is one of the essential areas of Responsible Gambling. The vulnerability causes due to addiction and some players spend too much money on gambling that affects the normal pace of life. Regulators of the gambling industry impose period spend on the site, limitation of money and self-exclusion programs. These will helps gamblers in staying away from the ill-effects of gambling addiction. These factors give players a reality check and set their limit of gambling for their good.

3. Privacy of Information

Protecting the privacy of information of the customer details is one of the important factor of Responsible Gambling for an online operator. Keeping the private details away from unauthorized access is necessary for the safety of gamblers. It motivates online sites to respect the privacy of customers.

4. Safety From Criminal Activities

It is often seen that a gambling website attract cybercrime. Private details and different financial transactions are hacked and target website’s vulnerabilities.

Stopping these tendencies of malicious activities, operators need to be highly cautious. Casinos are requested to incorporate some security software that helps in preventing hacking and detect these activities before they involve in harming the sites.

5. Online payment protection

Online payment is one such process that can be easily targeted by hackers or for other malicious activities. Gambling sites are now become more careful in ensuring the financial safety of players. As a caution, online casinos now including software platforms & different updates. These activities help casino operators to keep transfer, deposit and withdraw operational data safe with them.

6. Creation of a secure online environment

The secure online environment is a combination of several factors. From the security of personal data to financial safety and fair play, secure online gambling includes all of it. Series of testing, updating and mechanism are adopted by the operators to motivate safe gambling.

7. Ethical and responsible marketing

Responsible Gambling promotes a fair business practice, including responsible marketing activities. Operators need to follow the regulatory codes of marketing to ensure that the advertisements facts are correct, vulnerable and underage gamblers will not get targeted. Other than this, operators should ask for permission before they use customer details.

What is Gambling Addiction?

Gambling Addiction is defined as a specific mental condition of a person. It comes with several signs, just like the other addiction. This gambling addiction is quite similar to the other mental disorder, such as compulsive disorder. It is mainly associated with behaviour, but have some differences as well.

Compulsive Gambling

Compulsive Gambling is a condition in which an addicted person feels the compulsion for gambling. Due to this condition, the person loses the capacity of controlling the gambling urge.

A person who has a problem of compulsive gambling does not care about the result of his/her gambling habits. Winning or losing the game becomes insignificant for that person.

This addiction to gambling put a negative impact on the social life of that person. It disturbs the balance of physical and psychological condition. Experts refer to this obsessive gambling condition as “pathological gambling”.

Binge Gambling

Binge Gambling is another type of gambling addiction that display all the symptoms of compulsive gambling, but it stays only for a certain time. In most of the time, the person who got addicted seems to be in control. The problem comes out when that individual started indulging in gambling.

Problem Gambling

The effects of problem gambling reflect on the psychological condition of an addicted individual. This addiction act compulsively during gambling, yet can’t get controlled totally. To get rid of this disturbance that affects the pace of a normal life, experts recommend some practices that need to be followed on a daily basis. The signs of problem gambling is not an easy thing to detect. It only shows the signs when an addicted person chase loses without knowing where to stop. People suffering from problem gambling often lie about their gambling habits and face distress when they could not be able to control their urge.

What are the Signs of Gambling Addiction in Adults?

The symptoms of “Gambling Addiction” affect cognition and create a serious mental disturbance.

The addicted individual feels the urge to gamble and increases gambling time to get excited.

Restlessness is one of the major sign of gambling addiction. Agitation is also noticed when forced to stop gambling.

Frequently failed attempt of controlling gambling habit.

Spending most of the time in thinking about gambling is another sign that can be noticed frequently. The addicted person develops a habit of reliving the past experience of gambling and make strategies to win big.

Chasing loss when the pocket doesn’t permit is another sign. Here, the person does the same thing with an aim to win big amount.

Two other symptoms of gambling addiction are lying about gambling habit and stealing money to continue gambling.

Severe mood swings can happen due to gambling addiction. It interrupts the normal pace of life. Sometimes, the addicted individual loses career opportunities and relations due to lack of hope and attention.

Know Your Problem

Therapists revealed the fact that awareness of an addicted person can make things better for them. Seeking help from family members and professionals is a good sign. Sometimes, an addicted individual tries to cover this with other issues. Professionals from psychiatric associations suggest some basic steps restrict gambling habits.

Support Group is one of the best options to get rid of this gambling addiction. Take help from a family member or a trusted friend. Attend a Gamblers Anonymous meeting with that person.
Follow your passion for hobbies can assist you to keep the problem at bay. The more time you invest in this type of activities, the more you will be able to dodge the distress, isolation and sorrow feeling.
Try your best to suppress the urge the gambling. Test patience level of yours. Don’t recall the gambling memories and think more about the career goals and relationships. A long break for an addicted person can prove beneficial.
The reality check is one of the most important perspectives of this problem. Professional psychologists recommend that addicted individual need to go through the losses to realize how much harm it causes to that person.

Treatment of Gambling Addictions

Treatment plays a vital role in every addiction. Likewise, special care is required for treating gambling addictions. Experts suggest different treatment procedure depending on the condition of an addicted individual. There is no specific standard method available to handle addiction. Treatment is decided upon the physical, social, and psychological condition of the gambler.

Treatment through Medicine

No specific medicine is indeed available to treat addiction. Having said that, psychologists recommend some anti-seizure, anti-depressant medicines that directly work on the symptoms. All these medicines improve mental health and are also effective in controlling bodily reactions. Calming the nerves make the addicts feel better from mentally and physically.

Therapy and Counseling

Addictions are lethal, and when it comes to dealing with vulnerabilities of an addicted person, psychologists often recommend therapy and counselling. Through therapy and counselling, the addicted person will be able to start fighting with the addiction. Researches have shown the promising result on behavioural patterns of addicts after opting for this method. The whole treatment occurs without disrupting social life. This treatment has done under the guidance of trained professional psychologists.

Group Support and Self-Help

Third and an equally important treatment process is a support group and self-help. Getting treatment from professional and seeking help from Gambling Anonymous (www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga) is a part of the treatment.

When the treatment of psychologists combined with a support group, it assists addicted people to suppress the urge of gambling. It helps them to learn some basic step to avoid depression, sorrow and emotional breakdown that might trigger the addiction. The addiction individual will listen to a similar person and find the strength to get over the situation. It often helps a person to gain confidence and become motivated to recover fully. The process is slow, though highly effective. All these steps must be taken under the guidance of expert professionals.

How can a Gambling Company Stay Responsible?

Companies are solely responsible for their activities. It is important to make sure that the principles related to responsible gambling are understood & followed by all parties, from regulators, gambling operators, casino games suppliers to players.

Platform Providers should ensure that the software programmes are incorporated in the complete management system by the Casino management. It assures both the parties that secure game and fair business practice is maintained.

Implementation of betting limits and setting self-exclusion tools to prevent gambling addiction.
Checking Player’s age to control underage gambling.
Stopping online malicious activities and other cybercrime through guaranteed data privacy and stringent security system.
Integrating software monitoring to deliver a secure gambling environment.