Has Solution Been Found for Problem Gambling?

A group of addiction scientists and gambling consultants believe they can use casino customer-tracking information to spot high-risk gambling addicts and turn them away from their habits, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Research Breakthrough

Problem gamblers are unsurprisingly suspicious of online casinos, but researchers believe that the casinos themselves hold the key to solving the habits of those who are most at risk - by using the same data they collect on customer betting habits to create computerized models that identify and warn problem gamblers.

Early forms of this system have been employed by some government-run casinos and online betting firms outside the US, according to the WSJ report. Although these models vary, they all look for risky betting patterns, intensive play over long periods, big swings in behaviour, and chasing losses - that means betting heavily in an attempt to win back prior losses.

Gamblers who are flagged as exhibiting problematic behaviour are given educational tools or a detailed analysis of their behaviour. In extreme cases, some casinos have even banned them from playing.

Will it Catch On?

While some online gambling firms have embraced the idea, experts such as Caesars CEO and former Harvard Business School professor Gary Loveman call it "a terrible idea". Loveman argues: "Is it McDonald's obligation to decide you have a problem because you have a tendency to eat high-calorie lunches?

The idea gained some traction in the industry following a presentation by Harvard Medical School professor Sarah Nelson at a gambling and risk conference at Caesars Palace. She demonstrated the "Sports Bettor Algorithm 1.1", something we are sure to hear more about in the future.