9 minute read
FEATURE: GAMING TECH
Proactive safeguards
New technology is helping clubs with their responsible gaming obligations, writes Vanessa Cavasinni
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF club, pub and casino operators to do all in their power to meet their gaming obligations is a hotbutton topic at the moment. The majority of operators meet these obligations and go further to ensure that their community of punters is gambling in a safe and sustainable manner.
But as the saying goes, ‘one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch’. Misconduct at Crown Melbourne and The Star Sydney has meant mandatory cashless gaming will be introduced into both casinos, and the calls have become louder for similar, tougher legislation to be introduced for any venue that operates EGMs.
When announcing a $120m fine for Crown Melbourne, the Royal Commission’s chairperson Fran Thorn stated: “This disciplinary action also sounds a warning to all in the Victorian gambling industry that we expect them to do everything they can to minimise the harmful impacts of gambling. The Commission will be resolute in pursuing our new requirement to regulate for harm minimisation, and the industry can expect further action from the Commission on this matter.”
In Tasmania, the Rockcliff government has announced that all venues operating EGMs will move to a mandatory precommitment scheme by 2024, with an annual limit of $5000 per person. Meanwhile, the NSW Crime Commission has recommended that a mandatory cashless gaming system also be introduced for all clubs and pubs in that state.
While legislators and governments may be trying to push these harsh regulations on the industry, club operators and their industry partners are proactively implementing new technology that helps to identify and address problem gambling in a more meaningful and targeted manner.
A digital wallet
There is a misconception that club operators are against cashless gaming. In truth, clubs are happy to introduce technology that allows for cashless gaming that works handin-hand with gaming fuelled by cash – just as they do any other part of the business.
What most operators do not want, is the move to mandatory cashless gaming, as is being threatened in some jurisdictions. In a proactive move, ClubsNSW, Aristocrat and Wests Group have partnered with the Perottet Government for a cashless gaming trial using new groundbreaking technology to reduce the risk of gambling harm and to protect against money laundering.
The technology developed by Aristocrat Gaming has been installed on 36 of Wests New Lambton’s gaming machines and uses bluetooth to connect patrons’ mobile phones to machines. This will let patrons transfer money directly from the mobile phone’s gaming wallet onto the machine.
Minister for Hospitality and Racing Kevin Anderson said the three-month trial will test how the technology operates in reallife conditions and its potential benefits for venues and patrons.
“The trial is part of an exciting new era where innovations such as digital wallets offer customers greater convenience and control over their spending and help venues and authorities identify suspected cases of money laundering,” he said.
The digital wallet can be used to fund gaming machine play and players can set spending or time limits, access real-time spending data, take a break or self-exclude from gambling and access other responsible gambling tools and services. Patrons cannot load funds into the gaming wallet from the gaming floor. Other limits include session length, frequency of play, amount spent and total bets.
Wests Group Australia CEO Phil Gardner said the initiative is designed to enhance the patron experience and introduce a new level of convenience and safety.
“This trial builds on our long-standing commitment to patron choice and welfare. We know many of our patrons want the convenience of digital payments, which is part of this trial. The trial also allows us to offer a powerful new suite of digital tools to empower our members and allow them to set limits, speak to a staff member, or even exclude themselves from the club if they choose.”
Asking the question
One major new piece of tech that is being implemented in clubs up and down the country is the OK2PLAY? player protection platform. The platform allows club members to press a button on a kiosk or scan strategically-placed QR codes around a venue, which then ask that member if they feel okay to play, i.e. gamble. If they press ‘No – can I talk to someone?’, then the venue manager is alerted and can approach that person discreetly, check on their welfare and direct them to relevant services.
“With OK2PLAY? you can think of the program as the yellow lights at a school crossing. Patrons can use OK2PLAY? to have a human-to-human conversation with a senior staff member of a venue, where they can be guided directly to assistance,” explains CEO Bryan TeWani.
“[It] has been developed to increase the speed of response between a patron of a venue and staff, creating the pathway for connecting venue’s patrons to assistance in a discreet, seamless, and frictionless manner, in real time.”
-Peter Norris, Corowa RSL Club
One early adopter of the OK2PLAY? platform is Hornsby RSL in northern Sydney. It has embraced the expanding role of technology in its operations, with CEO Mario Machado one of several club operators who has pushed for technology like this platform for many years. Now that it has been developed, the club is on board and promoting the service to its members.
Machado says the club has implemented a stringent procedure in case a member was to press ‘No’ in the OK2PLAY? prompts. In that scenario, the venue manager is immediately alerted and is to contact the player. If this doesn’t occur within 15 minutes, it is then escalated to the gaming manager and Machado himself. If the member still has not been attended to within half an hour, Machado then gets a text and an email. The CEO says the new platform allows guests of the club to know that they will be addressed with discretion.
Corowa RSL Club CEO Peter Norris with the OK2PLAY? tech platform.
“The venue manager will be in touch with them and speak with them in a confidential manner, as opposed to a staff member. So, you’re eliminating having to have the staff tap someone on the shoulder. We look at that as protecting both our members and our staff.”
Corowa RSL Club CEO Peter Norris also values the digital platform as a tool that protects the club’s members and staff.
“We are a club who supports the community in everything we do and by introducing OK2PLAY? we are strengthening our position as a responsible venue. For us it is about ensuring that we are providing our community, patrons and members with a safe entertainment venue and ensuring we are a responsible entertainment option,” states Norris.
“We don’t want to roll along without thinking about the impact the business has on the community. Protecting both our staff and community is vitally important.”
Machado also makes the argument that this kind of tech works efficiently as a log of any incidents.
Hornsby RSL staff with CEO Mario Machado (second from left).
“It’s also about having a record of all these conversations and that technology keeps track if someone has clicked ‘I’m not ok2play’, what happened, how long did it take to get a hold of the person, what was the outcome, and it’s logged in as an incident.”
Hornsby RSL has gone above and beyond to ensure that it does all it can to support responsible gaming. It also runs a voluntary pre-commitment scheme via the Aristocrat 7000 system and their club membership cards.
“They can still take the card out and play uncarded, but because they can select that they can be approached by a staff member, it also gives us the opportunity to talk to them and say, ‘You’ve reached your limit, is everything ok?’”
Facial recognition
Facial recognition software is also viewed as a new tool for the club industry as a method of supporting self-excluders, as well as identifying any problem gamblers or troublemakers. One leader in the space is Cognitec which makes the case that facial recognition can more effectively identify self-excluders and anyone else on a list of interest than a human can. It can also still identify people regardless of whether they are wearing masks or glasses. None of these things can be done by a human in a busy situation at the same speed – particularly in large clubs that have thousands of visitors a day.
Facial recognition has already been legislated in South Australia on gaming floors, and many clubs in other jurisdictions are choosing to follow suit of their own accord.
Across the ditch, Christchurch Casino implemented Cognitec’s facial recognition software in 2017, after having to contend with problem gamblers trying to enter the casino on multiple occasions. In 2019, they increased their usage of the system to more internal areas of the casino floor and introduced a ‘time-on-site’ function to monitor how long people were spending on the gaming floor – hence helping to identify any problem gamblers.
Facial recognition software can help detect anyone on an exclusion list, even if they are wearing a mask or sunglasses.
“The Cognitec system provides us with the earliest notice of identification and therefore minimises the opportunity for gambling related harm,” states Darren Henderson, asset protection a nd responsible gaming manager for the casino.
“The technology has exceeded my expectations in the identification of individuals that are too important to miss among the hundreds of thousands of annual guests at our premises.”
In an age of so much scrutiny when it comes to gaming, clubs must take advantage of every tool at their disposal to ensure that the wellbeing of their punters, staff and communities are well cared for. New technology is providing plenty of assistance to that end, complementing the work of club staff around the country.
