Gambling Addiction

[sampendleton]

To gamblers, I want to hear your thoughts about this.

Most of the time, casinos are blamed for gambling addiction but in fact casinos are just another leisure activity. So, are they really the one responsible for people who are addicted to gambling or the gamblers themselves should be responsible for their own actions?

[p.arena]

People need to be responsible for their own actions.

- McDonald's isn't responsible for people getting fat
- Beer manufacturers aren't responsible for alcoholics
- Casino's aren't responsible for people gambling too much

I've had that opinion since before getting into this industry so it's got nothing to do with my role as an affiliate manager, just raised that way I guess.

I remember seeing on the news several years back about a guy who managed to lose huge amounts of money at a casino, just googled and found an article on it. Anyway the casino treated him like a VIP and he was losing consistently. In the end, he was suing the casino for allowing him to continue losing so much money there and giving him loads of perks. I can't recall now how it ended up, but I remember thinking at the time - if he had been winning consistently and collecting large sums of money, would he find it fair if the situation was flipped and the Casino sued him to claim back all his winnings?

My opinion is that any reputable betting provider should offer self exclusion programs and carry them out at the customer's request. If they ask for help it should be provided. But aside from that people need to take responsibility for themselves.

[F-L-C]

I don't agree that casinos are blamed for gambling addiction

[Mia Kerr]

If player is losing more than expect - he/she has to look for help from family, friends, psychiatrist, special Gambler's-Help authorities. Casinos are not taking (stealing) money out of their pockets/credit cards, players are making their own decisions to deposit money into account. If player is complaining to us about gambling addiction - we will close his/her account without right to reopen. That's our mandatory rule.

[Roulette Zeitung]

To gamblers, I want to hear your thoughts about this.

Most of the time, casinos are blamed for gambling addiction but in fact casinos are just another leisure activity. So, are they really the one responsible for people who are addicted to gambling or the gamblers themselves should be responsible for their own actions?

No, casinos are only the catalyst. Also a prostitute can't be blamed for sex-addiction, and a clothing store can't be blamed for kleptomania.



It's scientifically proven that Gambling addiction is the result of biochemical processes in the brain. The formation and release of several neurotransmitters (hormones of happiness) like Dopamine, Serotonin and Endorphins are the origin of gambling addiction.

All psychological peculiarities and problematic behaviour in everyday life are secondary effects and will always occur later on.

Leopold

[grem]

Players are responsible for gambling addiction but so too are casinos and establishments. They know they will encounter problem gamblers so it is really a matter for them if they are ethical and will do anything to help the player. Some casinos will close accounts at the players request but not all.

[Markdiss1992]

It's not the casino that makes the players addicted. Otherwise guns kill people and food makes people fat, all lies, the people do.

[DanHorvat]

While I'm on the same page with the rest of you, casinos are taking advantage of weak people who are potential gambling addicts. Same way the drug dealers are taking advantage of weak people who are potential drug addicts. Drug dealers are saying "I didn't make them take heroin, they came to me".

From this perspective, selling drugs and running a casino are the same thing. People will come to you on their own, but you're still taking advantage of their weaknesses and are doing everything you can to make their addiction worse.

Player value is higher in the casino industry than in heroin industry...

You're not supposed to base your business model on your customers being addicted to your product. Period. That's illegal and that's wrong. There has been an incident of someone, either McDonald's or Kinder or whatever adding a substance which gets kids addicted. And everyone went crazy about it. That's the line right there. The casinos are selling an addictive product so they've crossed the line. "The product is addictive, we didn't make it addictive" is not an argument. Otherwise let's all sell drugs.

Markdiss1992, guns don't kill people, people kill people - I agree. But the gunrunner will use the same argument in an effort to explain he's not doing anything wrong. And we all know these guys are rotten criminals, the worst of the human race, making money on blood. So it's not that simple.

There will never be a definite answer. But since people who talk crap about casinos are usually idiots who don't know what they're talking about, especially in the USA, I'm closer to saying the responsibility is on the gambler. In USA it's definitely a different problem that involves all kinds of other addictions and mental illnesses caused by God knows what. Boredom I guess. My Hummer didn't start this morning and my hot gf didn't like my FB post, I need therapy. In any case, the answer to this question is also dependant on the country and the society we're talking about.

In USA I'd put responsiblity on the gambler, though I'd actually blame the society. In Asia it's part of the culture, they're enjoying the element of luck. In Europe it's just a method of self destruction for those who need it, but people are more down to earth and aren't really prone to gambling addiction in general.

[WilliamGreen]

Well, casino is not the exact reason for gamblers to addict in gambling, it is just the way of winning money. The reason for gambling addiction is "money" that one should get from playing it online. Betting in casino and winning some money, make people to addict in it and they just keep on trying their best for winning lots of money.

[eaton2003]

Good brands such as bet365 etc... encourage 'responsible gaming' and this is clear in the footer of every page of their site. This basically means if a gambler recognises they have a problem they can self exclude themselves from visiting the site or placing a bet. During my time working at bet365 all the staff attended a seminar pointing out how to recognise someone with a gambling issue and how to deal with it. I believe gambling operators have the duty to point people in the direction of where to get help should they feel they have a problem. Gambling addiction is a horrible problem which affects a lot of people so recognition of this by the brands is a positive thing.

[Sherlock]

It is the same question if junkie is responsible or his dealer. Or soldier that is killing or his government going into war. Or teenager who was abused and is abusing someone.

The OP question does not make a lot of sense. Everyone is partially responsible for the **** we live in. And everyone will feel the consequences.

For me the important question is: what can be done. And I really do not think that much can be done. The excuses for responsible gaming are just ridiculous. It is obvious that those notes are here just for politicians to have excuse for voters who pretend that trust to politicians. And those "responsible gaming" excuses are here also for casinos and affiliates to allow them to sleep a bit better on the bloody money. And it is part of the marketing as well.

[bonusbrother]

Yes exactly.
I Agree to the most of the above written replies, That Gambling or Casinos Online are not responsible for the addiction or so. It is purely from the people side who get addicted to it. Well there are different types of Addictions like, Alcoholic people get addicted by their own, not like the company force them to drink or someone else. Same goes for Smokers too. They are all Self Responsible for the addiction.
Casinos are just a Recreational Activity which is very much stress relieving.

[Sherlock]

^incerdibly stupid one-sided post

[JackTenSuited]

Some responsibility certainly lies with the casino, they need to be able to allow people to self-exclude/set deposit limits etc.
Most do this but I've come across a few casinos which force you to fax in a self-exclusion form and make you jump through various hoops.

[muffincrumbs]

Some people lack education and therefore do not know the truth about gambling.

I think all casinos should recognize problem gambling behavior and take action. A simple algorithm should be able to pick it up and they should popup on live chat. First they should ask the player if they feel that this expenditure is significant. Different amounts of money hold different value to different people.

Then, if the casino informs the player of the odds, how quickly they are spending, projected outcome of spending the same amount over the next hour, and they still want to play, great! Job well done.

The problem with self exclusion without faxing in that an angry spouse could cut you off, but I still thinnk if the request is made the account should be put on hold.

[iGamingWriter]

Gambling addiction isn't a one sided issue. It's neither the casinos fault nor the individuals. In fact the root causes are gambling addiction are normally entirely outside of the gambling itself and involve other stresses in life. Be that a job you hate or a relationship in crisis or the death of a loved one not properly dealt with. The causes are varied but the result is the same.

That said let's not polish up the banger we have sitting in the drive and try pretending it's a Porsche. While the gambling industry is not responsible for gambling addiction, neither is it blameless nor in fact doing all it should be. I'm dealing with two complaints revolving round failed self-restrictions at the present time and in neither case would I lay the blame squarely at the feet of the casino. That said in neither case do I feel that the casino's done what should have been done.

Case 1: The player "forgot" they'd self-excluded and opened a second account using the same personal information but changing the username they'd used. In the first instance I don't accept that the player forgot they'd opened an account, but I also want to know why when an account was opened at an address already in the casino's database - remembering that all online casinos have terms restricting more than one account per household - with a name matching one already registered no check was done on the account before play occurred. It would be a straightforward job to put in a system that sent an alert for a manual check on a new account when entered details are a close match to a currently registered account. This would also help nip some fraud at the bud.

Case 2: The player asked the casino to lock their account until such time as the player's withdrawal was in their bank. The player then requested that the casino re-open their account and lost all their funds before the withdrawal was paid. In this situation the player wouldn't have ended up at my door if they'd won - they'd have happily taken the money. It would be unfair to place the casino in a position where they had to pay if the player won or refund losses if the player lost. That's not okay. However, had the casino held the line of the player's original request and refused to reopen the account until the withdrawal had been paid this situation would never have arisen in the first place.

Both these cases to my mind represent a fundamental breakdown in the systems that are supposedly in place to protect players who are starting to feel out of control.

Much like a barkeep or shop attendant are meant to refuse sale of alcohol to someone who's clearly intoxicated (UK), it's the moral responsibility of the casino to protect their patrons from self-destructive behaviours (the drugs industry isn't a relevant comparison as it's unregulated). Casino staff aren't all trained psychologists and I'm not suggesting that they should be, but there's certainly a lot of improvements that could be made. Just from the above, a basic program checking new accounts and forwarding unusual ones on for manual review and ensuring that the operator dealing with any request for self-restriction does their best to find out the reason for the restriction and the time frame the player want the restriction to be non-liftable would be a huge improvement.