Multiple online poker operators are supporting this year’s Safer Gambling Week #SGWeek20 campaign in order to promote responsible gambling. The list of top online poker rooms supporting the initiative include PokerStars, GGPoker, 888poker and partypoker.
Previously called Responsible Gambling Week, the annual cross-industry event is backed by the UK’s Betting and Gaming Council (BCG) and other betting and gaming industry associations with an initiative aimed to raise awareness of how to gamble more safely.
This year, Safer Gambling Week is running from November 19 to 25. Over 100,000 staff members across all sectors of the gambling industry are expected to participate in this campaign by creating conversations around safe and responsible gambling between businesses and organizations, customers and their friends and family.
Just like every year, the organizers of Safer Gambling Week have compiled a list of safety tips that will be displayed on various platforms detailing five key responsible gambling behaviors:
- Only spend what you can afford
- Set your limits for time and money
- Don’t gamble when you’re angry or upset
- Don’t let gambling interfere with your personal relationships
- Gambling is not the answer to any problem
Furthermore, the organizers are distributing free promotional materials to all online gambling operators who want to support the campaign.
Supporting materials have been created to help:
- Ask questions about players’ spending limit and other gambling behavior
- Highlight five key responsible gambling behaviors
- Provide tools to help players gamble safely
- Provide sources to encourage conversations around safe and responsible gambling
The campaign has attracted many industry leaders including top online poker rooms with a presence in the UK and Ireland all coming together to support the SGWeek initiative by regularly posting responsible gambling-focused messages through banners on their website as well as through multiple social media platforms.
This includes PokerStars and its sister site Full Tilt, partypoker, GGPoker, 888poker, Microgaming, and Bet365 Poker.
What Poker Operators Are Doing to Promote Safer Gambling
GGPoker in particular is sending its entire UK players base a message focused on Safer Gambling Week, highlighting the tools available to them, pokerfuse has learned.
“We have a duty to our community to ensure that playing at GGPoker is an enjoyable experience, and as a result players’ safety and well-being are always a primary consideration of ours,” said Paul Burke, Head of PR & Content at GGPoker to pokerfuse.
“GGPoker works hard to continually educate our players about the responsible gambling features and options open to them, and this week is a great opportunity for us to re-focus on this vitally important message,” Burke added.
Rebecca McAdam Willetts, Associate Director, Group Public Relations for The Stars Group and PokerStars told pokerfuse, “PokerStars is committed to providing a safe environment for its customers. This has always been a top priority for us and one that is embedded in our mission.”
“To give further emphasis during Safer Gambling Week there are many teams working on various activities which are being highlighted across multiple channels, McAdam Willetts continued before providing examples of some of the efforts underway including:
- Sending out additional emails and push notifications to all our UK & Irish customers
- Surfacing Safer Gambling Week banners in the Client/Apps
- Posting Responsible Gaming information daily on our PokerStars UK&I Twitter and Facebook channels alongside our PokerStars branded Responsible Gaming ads, which are a core component of our new brand approach
- James Hartigan will be talking about RG Week on our Central channel today (Mon 23 Nov) during the Sunday million broadcast
As part of its wider Safer Gambling Week initiatives, 888 announced it has begun rolling out a new initiative this month called Control Centre which “provide[s] all players with improved understanding of their gambling behaviour and further increase the prominence of 888’s safer gambling tools.”
Itai Pazner, CEO of 888 commented: “The Control Centre has been developed over a number of months and we have identified new ways to ensure safe gambling remains at the heart of the user experience for all 888 players from the first time they visit our websites.”
“The Control Centre will be an integral part of 888’s product offering moving forward and reflects our commitment to invest resources and expertise to create industry-leading, user friendly and AI -driven safe gambling tools,” Pazner continued. “Our business rests on ensuring our customers are empowered to make safe and responsible decisions about their gambling. We are committed to continually investing in our teams and technology to prevent gambling-related harm and we are confident that this innovative feature will offer customers new levels of data and clear, transparent insights that will help them to stay informed and in control.”
This year’s campaign marks the fourth annual run of Safer Gambling Week. For the first three years, the project was called the Responsible Gambling Week. However, in June this year, the campaign was replaced by the Safer Gambling Week but retained the same “*Let’s Talk About Safer Gambling*” as its strapline.
Last year, the campaign achieved more than 25 million impressions on social media.
“Safer Gambling Week is incredibly important, but safer gambling should not be seen by anyone as simply something we support for one week of the year – it is a commitment for every week of the year,” said Michael Dugher, chief executive of British industry body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC).
To find out more about these workshops and training sessions you can visit the Safer Gambling Week website.
