Jan Rehola in SGT with Šimon Vincze: “We really try to put everybody on board.”

In the latest episode of Safer Gambling Talks, host Šimon Vincze, Casino Guru’s Head of Sustainable & Safer Gambling, sits down for a heart-to-heart with Jan Rehola of the Institute for Gambling Regulation.

The conversation focused on explaining how the Institute works on bringing together operators, regulators, politicians, researchers, treatment professionals, and other experts to address gambling regulation in the broader framework of responsible gambling.

Under Rehola’s stewardship, the Institute has focused on promoting stronger player protection measures, gambling harm prevention, and redoubled efforts against the black market in the Czech Republic.

Rehola brings a very interesting analogy as to why shared data and cooperation between operators to strengthen consumer protections works, and it is the core idea that underpins the Institute’s work.

He likens common efforts in the regulated market towards strengthening consumer protection to a peloton. For 90% of the race, the cyclists stick together to help them overcome drag, and this is precisely what the Institute seeks to promote as a behavior.

A shared goal of protecting consumers for 90% of the race to make it better for everyone - businesses and players - while the rest 10% of the race, as Rehola puts it, is left to operators competing between themselves to capture player interest and retain paying customers.

Importantly, the Institute seeks to galvanize the industry and all those stakeholders into action, bringing this collective effort in order to push against the illegal market.

Among the Institute’s achievements is the initiation of the IRIS framework, a cross-operator system designed to help identify risky gambling behavior, intervene and support players early on, no matter where they gamble.

The Institute has similarly pushed for a better understanding of pressing issues vis-à-vis player safety based on evidence, data sharing, and self-regulation.

Efforts towards strengthening consumer protection cannot be left to a handful of people, Rehola notes, as he further digs deeper into the need to show up and do the work, which is why some frameworks, such as IRIS, have a better chance of succeedingthan other RG efforts, he notes.

You need people, he remarks, adding that you could hardly leave an ambitious undertaking such as reducing problem gambling to just a handful of people who are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of what needs to be done.

The conversation also pivoted towards misconceptions about the industry and whether the people involved in responsible gambling, and even regulators, should engage with the regulated market, often seen as a conflict of interest by outsiders, but essential to ensuring that all stakeholders understand the common problems that they face.

As Rehola aptly noted, 90% of the race is a collective effort - the remainin 10%, whether it’s market forces or regulators tightening the screws, only matters if the peloton holds together.

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