As more and more states expand access to sports and online gambling — amid ever-advancing technology — the need for comprehensive compliance and consumer protection will be critical to minimizing the harm to gamblers.

Advanced technology is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it provides easier access to gambling options, as one can place their bets on the bus, on a lunch break or from their home, playing with little to no disruption. For those with a gambling problem, this could exacerbate the harms. However, on the flip side, with so much data being collected on the player (and information used by the operator for marketing purposes and to keep players engaged), there are opportunities to do more advanced player interventions if they appear to be exhibiting problem behavior. This means that as more gambling migrates to online platforms, regulators and operators can no longer turn a blind eye to customers who are not playing responsibly.

Gambler education is one key to reducing harm for those who gamble online. Bettor Safe (www.bettorsafe.org) is a new consumer education campaign designed to highlight the risks of illegal betting sites and provide consumers with resources to improve their understanding of online betting. Currently, online gambling and sports betting is not legal in Minnesota. This means that those engaging in these activities are being directed to offshore, unregulated sites. Bettor Safe points out the differences between regulated sites and unregulated sites. It is currently running campaigns in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, two early adopters of sports and online gambling.

Bettor Safe was developed by the founders of GEOComply, the iGaming industry’s go-to for reliable, accurate and precise geolocation services. GEOComply has been expanding its offering beyond its primary focus of geolocation into areas such as multi-state KYC (Know Your Customer) and digital ID verification, payment and fraud analytics, and responsible gaming. Bettor Safe is the first initiative of GEOComply’s Conscious Gaming, a separate nonprofit that is developing responsible gambling tools as a way of giving back to the industry.

The annual New Horizons Conference in Responsible Gambling, hosted by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), attracts critical and forward thinkers that consider how the gambling industry can improve its role in developing meaningful responsible gambling tools. Last year, BCLC committed itself to a long-term aspirational goal of future proofing the industry — a point where no gambling revenue would be generated by those exhibiting problem gambling or gambling disorder. This year’s theme was Player Health Reboot: Resetting the Future.

Futurist Sanjay Khanna detailed the large-scale environmental and societal changes the globe is grappling with and how this era will impact the future of the gambling industry. Khanna explained how influences like climate change and the proliferation of smart phones and social media will affect player health, social resilience and the future concept of play. He offered suggestions on how operators, product designers and policy makers can use technology, innovation and diversity to ‘reset’ and prepare for a future that is positive, resilient and sustainable. He emphasized that player health needs to be considered by design and incorporated into the early inception of new products and services.

Another thought-provoking session was presented by Dr. Brett Abarbanel, director of research at the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She examined the definition of gambling and how elements of gambling and chance appear in unexpected ways in video games, Esports, virtual reality and other applications.

Dr. Abarbanel explained how the word gambling can mean different things to different people. She noted that it can mean a casino game, a slot machine, a poker game, the flipping of a coin at the start of a sports contest, or when rolling the dice in a board game. Regulators in jurisdictions worldwide are challenged by these questions in determining the legality of emerging video-gaming elements such as loot boxes.

“Game developers, toy designers and spectator- engagement tool creators who are putting these things together may not even realize the potentially legal and certainly social ramifications of even just adding a simple random number generator to their games or other gambling-like elements,” says Dr. Abarbanel. “How we define gambling really starts to come into play.”

As most people know, the American healthcare system has not treated people of color (POC) equitably. The pandemic has focused attention on the disparities between Whites and People of Color, as COVID fatalities are much higher for POC than Whites. Add in the racial unrest occurring in our own backyard — and around the country — and you get a sense of the stresses faced by POC. As a result, traditional counseling that White people might access is not the first choice for POC seeking help.

A virtual webinar conducted by Dr. Deborah Haskins, Ph.D., LCPC, ACS, MAC, ICGC-II, BACC, CEO, Mosaic Consulting and Counseling Services and President of the Maryland Council of Problem Gambling, highlighted some of the cultural interpretations among POC, examined some of the cultural considerations influencing gambling disorder, and introduced the cultural attunement model in her program Cultural Competency, Equity and Inclusion and Disordered Gambling Treatment and Prevention. Dr. Haskins stressed the need to understand cultural context when considering clients of color. Problem gambling is perceived as a “White man’s problem” because the approach to prevention seems only geared to Whites and POC do not see themselves represented.

Dr. Haskins provided overviews of various communities, including African American, Native American, Southeast Asians and Latinx. Each have very different views of gambling and how, when and where to seek help. Talk therapy is not the best fit for many communities and Dr. Haskins suggested we need to do more to shift the way in which we design and support problem gambling programs. She also described the cultural attunement model whereby counselors incorporate these five dimensions into a program:

1. Acknowledge the pain of cultural oppression.

2. Employ acts of cultural acceptance — ability to maintain a balanced perspective about one’s talents, successes and failures. Try to emphasize the positives to buoy their spirits since they have been so marginalized.

3. Act with cultural reverence. This requires that counselors think/listen/act from the heart and bring forth feelings of wonderment regarding how people bring meaning into their lives.

4. Engage in mutuality — cultural kinship — appropriate sharing of common experiences.

5. Possess the capacity to “not know” and be culturally open. The client is the true expert on their lives so tap into the expert knowledge they possess.

Overall, there needs to be new ways in which we approach treatment for POC. There must be real awareness of social and economic justice and understanding of past traumas (Adverse Childhood Experiences – ACES screening). Dr. Haskins stressed that we need to acknowledge the pathologies along with the resilience and keep stressing prevention.