Latest News
Gambless unveils new DHYP awareness campaign
Gambling harm solution platform Gambless announces today the launch of a new “Don’t Hide Your Pain” (DHYP) awareness campaign against gambling addiction.
The launch of the campaign coincides with the start of the Safer Gambling Week, an initiative brought forward by the Betting and Gaming Council and aimed at promoting safer gambling in the UK and Ireland.
The DHYP campaign will last approx. three months and will cover various aspects of gambling, highlighting the risks involved in such activity.
The campaign aims to prevent gambling harm, conveying its message mainly to younger individuals in Britain and Italy. The two countries, despite being among the first markets to regulate online gambling, share staggering low levels of awareness.
In the UK, it’s estimated that only between 0.6 and 3% of problem gamblers receive treatment. Similar percentages are seen in Italy, where of the 1,300,000 estimated pathological gamblers, only about 12,000 get help each year.
The campaign messages focus on the fact that one does not need to be a problem gambler to suffer gambling harm, thus resonating with a larger audience.
The first batch of promo assets will begin circulating on various social media starting this weekend, putting the spotlight on some of the clear signs of problematic gambling behaviour to look out for, and will be accompanied by the #dhyp hashtag.
Below some comments on the initiative from Gambless CEO, Maurizio Savino:
“Why the need of an awareness campaign?”
A recent report from the National Gambling Treatment Service confirmed that the awareness on problem gambling in the UK is still very low. It’s estimated that less than 3% of all pathological gamblers receive help. That’s an extremely low figure, even compared to that of alcohol abusers who seek help (15-25%).
Making awareness campaigns about gambling addiction is not easy. It’s a delicate topic and we have seen recently how campaigns can easily face criticisms. However, there is a dire need to do more.
“Why borrowing a famous meme’s expression?”
We don’t have the resources of the big charities out there. So, with our small budget, we had to be creative.
Memes are one of the greatest ways of communication of our times. One may dismiss them as silly or shallow – a theory I strongly disagree with. In my opinion memes can be very deep and carry important meanings that one can relate to, stop and think for a couple of seconds. They can raise much more awareness than a distracting storyline.
Memes are also extremely popular among young adults, which are one of the categories at higher risk of gambling harm as well.
“What does Gambless do?”
Gambless is a mobile application, the first to provide psychological support to problem gamblers with an innovative and holistic approach on mental health.
Available both on Google Play and App Store, it provides several self-help tools and it offers a number of supportive programs specifically designed by our team of expert psychologists, using various techniques including CBT and Gestalt psychology.
Reception from users has been overwhelming so far. We saw more than 1,000 downloads in just two months since launch, with an upward trend. At current rates we welcome about 1 new gambler each hour through our virtual doors, which are open 24/7.
If these numbers might seem small, one must consider that the UK National Gambling Treatment services help about 9,000 individuals per year, with first appointment waiting times being even over of 104 days for residential treatment. Therefore, such remote services must be taken seriously as an immediate alternative and complementary way of support.
Gambless has the ability to reach many more people in need, with no scalability issues whatsoever. With a bit more awareness and cooperation from the industry, we could really make a difference in the lives of vulnerable individuals.
“What’s in store for 2021?”
We want to help as many problem gamblers as possible, so we will continue to raise awareness on the topic, we plan to rollout new languages, and we hope to cooperate with gambling firms and regulators in order to make gambling truly safer.
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This summer’s Women’s Euros promises to be more popular with sports bettors than the Six Nations, Super Bowl and the Ashes, a new survey shows.
A new OLBG survey conducted by YouGov shows how bettors are likely to behave in 2025, including the most popular events to bet on, which regions of the country are most likely to gamble and how having kids affects betting behaviour.
The quarterly study asked 2,054 adults in the UK how they planned to bet this year.
Of people who said they were likely to gamble in 2025, 16% said they would bet on the Women’s Euros, which will take place in Switzerland in July, with England and Wales among the 16 teams in action.
That compares with only 9% who said they would bet on the Super Bowl, 10% who would bet on Rugby Union’s Six Nations and 6% who said they would bet on cricket’s Ashes series.
The data shows that 18% of men expect to bet on the Women’s Euros, compared with 11% of women.
Among the events specified, racing’s Grand National (48%) is the event of 2025 that most respondents said they would bet on, ahead of the FA Cup Final (33%), Champions League Final (29%) and Cheltenham Festival (22%).
OLBG CEO Richard Moffat said: “The surge in popularity of women’s football is well documented and it seems that betting patterns are starting to follow suit. Undoubtedly, the fact there’s a major tournament this summer including England and Wales will drive interest among bettors.
“It’s interesting to see that more people intend to bet on the Euros than some big, established, showpiece events in 2025 such as The Ashes, the Superbowl and the Six Nations.”
North West is the UK betting capital
Data shows 26% of people in the North West plan to place a bet on a sporting event during 2025 – the highest percentage region in the country.
The region with the next highest percentage of people planning to gamble this year is Yorkshire and the Humber, with 24%. Third is London (22%) ahead of Northern Ireland (21%).
According to the results, the region with the lowest appetite for betting is the South West, with just 13% of people saying they plan to gamble this year.
In the North West, the listed sporting event people are most likely to bet on this year is the FA Cup final (39%), ahead of the Champions League final (36%), followed by the Grand National (35%).
The picture is quite different in Yorkshire and the Humber, where 55% of potential bettors expect to bet on the Grand National, 25% on the FA Cup final and just 12% expect to bet on the Champions League final.
Interestingly, London is the region with the lowest percentage of people intending to bet on the Grand National, with just 31% but the highest percentage of people expecting to bet on the FA Cup final at 55%.
OLBG’s CEO Richard Moffat said: “It looks like the North will be the sports betting capital of the UK this year, with northern regions such as the North West and Yorkshire leading the way in terms of percentage of people planning to bet.
“The breakdown of events people plan to bet on is fascinating and it’s interesting that the two big football finals – the FA Cup final and Champions League final – are the most popular events in the North West. This is perhaps driven by fans of big clubs like Liverpool and Man City optimistically planning to back their teams in those showpiece events.”
The post Women’s Euros set to be more popular with punters than Six Nations, survey shows appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Q: Gaming Corps has just released its latest slot game called Gates of Hellfire. Tell us how it works and what its standout features are.
The Gaming Corps team prides itself on our innovative approach to slot development, which is exactly what we’ve delivered with Gates of Hellfire.
It’s a slot that’s unlike any other. I say that because it uses a unique payment system, requiring players to battle various demon enemies on the reels to secure wins, for a maximum prize of 5,000x the player’s stake.
We have prizes that can only be collected if the player gathers specific weapons that eliminate the enemies – and in doing so, they collect their prizes.
The objective is to land an enemy on the grid, while simultaneously landing a weapon to destroy that enemy. For example, shotguns are the weakest weapon but will kill the lowest-valued enemy.
Then, as the game progresses, players will see different weapons with different attributes that will cause various types of damage and have different radii of destruction that will affect the grid.
Gates of Hellfire offers a thrilling and groundbreaking way for players to collect prizes. To put it another way, there’s simply nothing quite like it on the market.
Q: Where did the name Gates of Hellfire come from, and what is the thinking behind giving this slot the feel of a video game? Why will this appeal to the market?
Gates of Hellfire is a battle of Good vs Evil played out across a slot-machine grid, a sort of demonic fantasy sci-fi epic that’s a battle between Good and Evil.
We decided to have this as the theme and then the name came quickly after that.
And yes, the game is heavily influenced by shoot ’em-up video games. We took established mechanics for the millennial generation and merged them with an innovative version of a classic mechanic and themes that will induce nostalgia among our players.
We think the results will appeal to both traditional players who played video games in their youth, as well as delight a millennial generation looking for the latest and best features in their slot entertainment experiences.
Q: Are you focusing on gamification with this slot, rather than just trying to deliver a traditional slot experience?
Collection mechanics have become immensely popular with slot players in recent years, and with Gates of Hellfire we have reimagined these mechanics to offer players something unique.
People want more nowadays, the simplicity of traditional slots doesn’t deliver enough entertainment any more. Players want to be reminded of video games or the social games they play on their phones.
Gates of Hellfire is an example of how modern slots are now influenced by video games.
It’s got a lot of action but it’s still recognizably a slot machine, with the same functionality but different reward mechanisms that will remind the player of a video game.
Q: Does Gaming Corps believe mixing slots and video gaming will appeal to players?
We aim to give players captivating gameplay experiences they can’t find anywhere else.
You must offer features that connect with players if you want to attract them and then keep them coming back. There’s a lot of choice out there so you need something special to retain their loyalty and interest.
That’s why we mixed things up and offer elements of more than one type of entertainment experience.
We see animations as extremely important because they build suspense and are another way of capturing the player’s attention.
Sound is an important component too, which is why we design the music and sound effects early on so they create an appropriate atmosphere.
All these elements are used to make the slower parts of the game more exciting, and the exciting parts become truly memorable.
Q: What factors will determine whether this release is a success for Gaming Corps, and what do you aim for when you release a game onto the market?
With Gates of Hellfire and all our other slots, we’ll start gauging its impact by paying attention to the standard statistics for slots, such as player retention rate and what LTV and ROI the game offers operators.
But those aren’t the only metrics we follow. Feedback is really important to us, both from players and operators, and we’ll take that on board when we come to launch our next release.
The best thing you can do when you release any game is to have people talking about it, generating a buzz about an exciting new release.
It’s hard to achieve all the time, but we think we’ve done just that with Gates of Hellfire.
We’re already working on sequels and further iterations for it, so things are hotting up very nicely for our latest slot game right now.
Playing with hellfire has never looked so good.
The post Gates of Hellfire Q&A with Connor Blinman, Head of Games at Gaming Corps appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Compliance Updates
Michigan Lottery Achieves iCAP Re-certification for Responsible Online Gaming Practices
The Michigan Lottery has received re-certification for its commitment to responsible gaming after completing the Internet Responsible Gambling Compliance Assessment Program (iCAP) through the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG).
The Lottery first earned iCAP certification in October 2015 and was the first lottery in the United States to achieve this certification.
“We are incredibly proud to have once again received certification for our commitment to responsible gaming through the iCAP program, underscoring the Lottery’s dedication to player safety and well-being. We will continue to prioritize responsible gaming practices and provide Michiganders with the resources and support they need to play responsibly,” said Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli.
Developed by the NCPG, iCAP is the first and only online responsible gaming assessment program in the US. The NCPG evaluated the Lottery’s compliance with Internet Responsible Gaming (IRG) standards developed based on best practices from jurisdictions around the world. IRG standards are the highest standards for online responsible gaming in the nation. The nine areas of focus for the NCPG iCAP certification are:
• Corporate policy and commitment to responsible gaming
• Staff training
• Information available to players through com, and player account features to assist players in informed decision making
• Assisting players who indicate they are in distress or experiencing problems
• Self-exclusion and player-initiated restrictions on online play
• Advertising and promotion
• Game and website features that assist with gambling responsibly
• Research based on the transparency of play data
• Payment controls and limits
• iCAP re-certification provides Lottery players assurance that MichiganLottery.com is trustworthy and has adopted the best standards of player protection.
The NCPG, a non-profit organization founded in 1972, leads state and national stakeholders in the development of comprehensive policy and programs for all those affected by problem gambling.
Michigan Lottery players have a chance to win up to $500,000 instantly playing online. Players also may win prizes ranging from $1 up to multi-million dollar jackpots playing Powerball, Mega Millions, Lucky for Life, Lotto 47, and Fantasy 5 online. Through its online platform, the Lottery offers players more than 200 different games with plays ranging in price from .05 cents to $20.
The post Michigan Lottery Achieves iCAP Re-certification for Responsible Online Gaming Practices appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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