Friendly Fire

Every responsible gaming group in the world agrees that compulsive gambling is a terrible disease and must be treated with compassion and understanding. But the way to that goal is littered with landmines and conflicts.

When the American Gaming Association founded the National Center for Responsible Gaming (now the International Center, ICRG), the industry took the initiative to avoid what happened to the tobacco industry. Frank Fahrenkopf, then CEO of the AGA, commented that he didn’t want to see casino executives called before Congress to defend their product and be lambasted the way tobacco CEOs were. At the time, there was very little research addressing the small percentage of people who are susceptible to compulsive gambling. Fahrenkopf says no one knew what the research would uncover, but the industry was committed to finding out, no matter the results.

That initiative has worked very well so far. The ICRG has funded groundbreaking research into problem gambling, adding greatly to our knowledge about the issue and producing some innovative treatments and approaches.

Over the years, hundreds of responsible gambling groups have sprung up around the world. Very few have the level of integrity the ICRG has earned, but all share the goal of helping problem gamblers. You would think they’d cooperate and share information and resources. Think again.

Take the current legal actions over the 1-800-GAMBLER number. This was the brainchild of Arnie Wexler, legendary leader of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey. Over the years, this number has become the go-to referral for people having problems with gambling. A few years ago, the council leased the number to the National Council on Problem Gambling, which spread the message across the country. The original lease expired last year, and the New Jersey council took the number back. It’s a power play in the responsible gambling space, which helps no one.

Ironically—or maybe not so much—those two organizations just replaced their leaders in clumsy and controversial manners, leading to questions about egos and power.

And how about the problems in the U.K.? There, many different problem gambling organizations are in danger of closing because of a lack of funding. The British government’s schizophrenic relationship with the gaming industry isn’t helping.

In Australia, gambling research has become something of a cottage industry with dozens of academics launching studies with little in the way of real guidelines and almost no peer review. Ironically, Australia is home to two of the most esteemed problem gaming researchers, Alex Blaszczynski and Sally Gainsbury, who are based at the University of Sydney.

Complicating the issue is the spread of online gambling, which many believe is exacerbating the problem by putting a casino into every smartphone, accessible to players of all ages and in all locations. There’s little agreement on how to address this problem. Clearly banning gaming in any jurisdiction doesn’t work, since many illegal online sites are willing to exploit this situation.

All gaming companies pay lip service to responsible gaming. But each company has a different approach. They don’t talk about procedures and processes that work with other companies. Many consider their approach to RG as “proprietary,” and they are often reluctant to share their successes.

The same is true of the many responsible gaming organizations. They all talk a good game, but once again fail to publicize their best practices and procedures. Apparently, they’re fearful that if a successful treatment for problem gambling is discovered, their funding will dry up.

Let’s follow the lead of the ICRG, which just launched a new publication, ICRGINFO, to communicate the latest research and trends in problem gambling to all stakeholders involved in this issue. Under the new leadership of President Michael Soll, with the most respected and peer-reviewed research, the ICRG can be a repository of all that is proven to be effective. It can be the peacemaker of the RG world.

The ICRG was an effective organization when there was little knowledge of or research into problem gambling. It can again play a pivotal role in moving the industry forward in an organized and cooperative manner. Stop the infighting, please.