Casino Guru brings their experience to bolster RG efforts in the Philippines

Casino Guru and Casino Guru’s Sustainable & Safer Gambling Lead, Šimon Vincze, attended the 1st International Conference on Responsible Gambling and Gaming Addiction last week.

The event, a first-of-its-kind platform seeking to pilot an effort to establish universal standards for responsible gambling and player protection, was held in Quezon City, the Philippines, and was backed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

The event was hosted by the International Seagulls Flock Organization Inc. (SFO) and Gambling Counsellor Certification Board (IGCCB) on May 20-22 and set a global agenda for addressing pressing issues that the sector faces locally.

To get there, the conference sought to promote multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary solutions that are often the result of a collaborative effort – often across borders but with a particular local focus in this case - and an approach that cites good practices rooted in both scientific data and real-world examples.

Some of the experts contributing included policymakers, academics, local and government officials, gambling operators, psychologists, and clinicians. Notably, Vincze delivered three individual presentations focused on different aspects of the industry::

• Overview of the European Gambling Market
• Introduction to Casino Guru’s Global Self-Exclusion System
• Best practices on using Terms & Conditions for player experience

Casino Guru and Vincze have been passionate advocates for instilling responsible gambling principles at the very core of the gambling industry.

Apart from having the resources to track and address pressing matters in the gambling industry vis-à-vis safer gambling, Casino Guru and Vincze have embarked on an ambitious international product known as the Global Self-Exclusion System.

Part of the wider RG efforts at Casino Guru, the Global Self-Exclusion System is a true call to action for operators to become the pillars of player protection efforts internationally.

The conference also reunited a number of other experts, among whom were:

• Dr. Marc Potenza, Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the Divisions on Addictions Research at the Yale School of Medicine
• Teresita Castillo, Chairperson of Seagulls Flock Organization
• Jody Bechtold, Chief Executive Officer of the Better Institute (USA)
• Dr. StephanieDiez-Morel, Vice President of the International Gambling Counselor Certification Board (USA)
• Dr. Alyssa Wilson, Board-certified Behavior Analyst (USA)
• Tracy Parker, Responsible Gambling Council ( Canada )
• Dr. Lourdes Ignacio, Professor Emeritus in Psychiatry, UP College of Medicine
• Dr. Gina Hechanova-Alampay, Professor, Psychology Department of Ateneo de Manila University

The ICRGGA's inaugural event is only supposed to broach the dialogue with more determined efforts and tracking of ongoing initiatives to come up in subsequent events, as the Philippines is taking a harder look at responsible gambling.

Image credit: ICRGGA