Funny thing happened on the way to my retirement… I couldn’t do it! It’s not like I don’t want to sit back and enjoy the rest of my life after passing on GGB to Clarion Gaming. I would really love to kick back and observe, but I can’t.
You see, I’ve discovered that there’s a big hole in the gaming industry. There’s no single place to turn to when you need to find information on responsible gaming. Sure, all the publications and online sites publish stories on RG when something happens, but otherwise, you have to wade through lots of different topics that have nothing to do with RG until you find what you’re looking for.
No more. We’re launching RG Journal, a singular online publication that focuses directly on RG and how it impacts the industry. RG Journal will be neutral as it pertains to solutions for problem gambling. But we won’t be neutral when it comes to illegal gambling, whether it be offshore gambling websites, so called “skill games” and especially prediction markets that claim to be federally regulated but are in effect operating with little oversight and failing majorly when it comes to KYC, AML and RG responsibilities.
Nothing is more vital to the gaming industry’s future success than responsible gaming. No one in the regulated gaming industry wants to appeal to the small percentage of people who have a problem with gambling. No one wants to be the cause of someone developing a gambling problem.
With land-based gaming, gambling has become an amenity to the entire experience of a casino resort. On the Las Vegas Strip, less that 35 percent of revenue comes from the gaming floor. That number is much larger at regional casinos, but it doesn’t obscure the fact that even regional casinos make the experience front and center.
Sports books and online casinos are different. Gambling is the reason they exist. Does that heightened accessibility make them more dangerous than land-based casinos for at-risk players? Possibly, but they’re also able to collect data from everyone who logs onto their platforms, so they should be able to spot a problem gambler long before their land-based cousins. But are they doing that?
RG Journal provides the foundational insights behind responsible gaming, bridging the gap between RG strategy and industry compliance.
Most importantly, RG Journal will break down the jargon that are a mainstay of academic studies, reports and conclusions. We will make RG and its impact understandable to everyone from the valet parking attendant to the the C-Suite executives. I’m far from an expert so I need to understand these developments and our goal is to make the content readable, understandable and even entertaining at times.
But I’m not doing this alone. Since I had this revelation I’ve spoken to many of the true experts in the industry and they concur. Several have agreed to sit on our editorial advisory board, which we will be releasing soon.
Just like she was with GGB, my wife and partner Beck Kingman-Gros will play a key role in organizing and directing the fortunes of RG Journal. And we plan to build a team that has the knowledge, the dedication and the passion to address the RG issue and help those afflicted with problem gambling.
But I know that any publication—online or print—needs to gain your trust before you can accept the content. We will go the extra mile. We’re open to contributions from any corner of the RG or compliance world. We want to be the clearinghouse for the widest variety of information when it comes to RG. We want to highlight best practices, different viewpoints, but most importantly success stories in RG. Because that’s what we’re all here for, isn’t it? We can be proud of the organizations that are designed to help problem gamblers, but the ultimate goal is to minimize and virtually eliminate problem gambling across the industry.
