British bookmaker William Hill has enlisted its full media and sponsorship portfolio in support of Safer Gambling Week – #SGWeek20. 

The initiative, which kicked-off yesterday runs through to the 25 November, and has seen William Hill launch a series of mini-clips and personalised messages from its brand ambassadors and major sponsors, with the aim of promoting #SGWeek20’s messages. 

Helping lead the awareness campaign are William Hill ambassadors Anthony Joshua and Robbie Savage, and Tottenham Hotspur players – who will be highlighting the safer gambling tools and resources available to the public. 

Regarding William Hill’s initiative, UK Managing Director, Phil Walker, said:

“Our teams have once again delivered a really impactful Safer Gambling Week activation, and I would like to thank all our colleagues involved in bringing this important campaign together.

“We hope the general public will learn more about gambling safely – and remember you can join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #SGWeek20.”

In addition to headlining the operator’s press, TV, and social media marketing in November, the campaign will also be promoted across William Hill’s retail shop fronts – despite closures due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

It’s Safer Gambling Week 2020 – and we want you to keep it fun and stay in control.

Find out more about Safer Gambling here – https://t.co/o7ZGuMb6mZ#SGWeek20 @SGWeek20 pic.twitter.com/1NrBzobuhY

— William Hill (@WilliamHill) November 19, 2020

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s great to see so many initiatives for this year’s Safer Gambling Week, and William Hill should be commended for bringing so many assets to bear on this. 

One of the most effective safer gambling tools available to UK gamblers, betblocker, yesterday announced a new calendaring feature – allowing users to control how they block gambling activities, and set specific dates for the feature to turn on and off. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

UK gambling charity BetBlocker has revealed a new calendaring feature in time for Safer Gambling Week 2020. 

BetBlocker’s new calendaring feature makes it easier for users to control how they block online gambling activities, allowing them to select specific dates for the feature to turn on and off. 

The charity says it introduced the feature in response to feedback from both players and the industry, which revealed many people didn’t want to block their activities completely, but rather simply manage them in a responsible way. 

For example, while the previous BetBlocker software could only block all gambling for a set length of time, the new version allows people to block specific days or periods of time, still allowing them to gamble at specified periods. 

Discussing the new feature, BetBlocker Trustee, Duncan Garvie, said:

“Responsible gambling is about more than the binary option of do or don’t. It’s about helping ensure that people who enjoy gambling can access this activity in a safe and controlled manner.”

“BetBlocker’s new calendaring feature is a leap forward for blocking softwares, extending the service from a simple on/off to a point where users can now tailor restrictions that suit their specific needs.”

The new feature has been launched on BetBlocker for Android, and will be implemented in the Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, and Fire OS apps in the near future. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Well done to the BetBlocker team for listening to users and working with the gambling industry on this new, more nuanced control feature. Far too often, the debate around gambling comes down to those who just think it should be blocked or banned, and those who favour no controls at all. 

In reality, if people are provided with easy-to-use tools and comprehensive education, most will be perfectly fine managing their own activities in a responsible way. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Gambling technology provider EveryMatrix has applied for a licence with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

The license will allow the Malta-based company to supply operators with its iGaming integration platform and gaming aggregator CasinoEngine. 

Commenting on the move, President of EveryMatrix Americas LLC, Erik Nyman, said:

“We are very pleased to inform that we have filed our license application in our first US State. The Garden State has enjoyed great success with exceptional development over the last years. This is a testament of the solid regulatory framework based on player protection, business stability and growth.

“EveryMatrix will enter the market in an expansive phase where our products will support the continued growth of operators in New Jersey and more states as we launch in the upcoming years.”

New Jersey is on course to generate $1 billion USD in online casino GGR for 2020, making the state one of the world’s largest online gaming markets. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Videoslots.com has become the first UK online casino to launch a Responsible Gaming Bar, to help customers play safely. 

The new bar, which is being launched during UK Responsible Gambling Week, will be permanently visible to logged-in players, even during gameplay, and features an ‘18+’ badge, session timer, and direct links to Gamestop, the operator’s own responsible gaming page, and the UK Gambling Commission. 

Videoslots is also providing players with a range of tools, including wagering limits, session timer alerts and limits, maximum bet limits, and time out opportunities. 

Commenting on the new feature Head of Responsible Gaming at Videoslots.com, Amina Norgosanow, said:

“The Responsible Gaming Bar will make sure our players are always aware of the time they spend on the Videoslots site.

“It gives them easy and direct access to information and assistance, like responsible gaming tools and self-exclusion, and will help them stay in control from the start to the finish of their customer journey.”

“In more general terms, it will enhance the standard of protection that our players enjoy and reduce gambling related harm. That is especially important while the coronavirus pandemic makes some players more vulnerable.

“With any luck the pandemic will be over soon, but our players can rest assured that the Responsible Gaming Bar will remain as an important and prominent feature on the Videoslots site.”

In April, as the COVID-19 crisis was taking hold, Videoslots was one of the first operators to take concrete action to protect players, introducing mandatory loss limits for all UK-based players.

AYO.NEWS says:

Well done to Videoslots.com for taking the initiative with this. As we’ve argued many times before, equipping players with the right, easy-to-use responsible gambling tools, and being totally transparent, is likely to be far more effective at addressing problem gambling than the blunt bans and draconian legislation favoured by the anti-gambling lobby. 

Lets hope other operators follow Videoslots’ lead on this, and its enough to head off more drastic legislation.

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Curaçao-based online betting operator Pinnacle has teamed up with identity verification platform Sumsub to improve onboarding for users. 

In addition to creating a simpler and faster onboarding process for Pinnacle users, Sumsub’s KYC and AML measures, including biometric checks and source of funds verification, will help Pinnacle protect its users from risks and promote social responsibility. 

The partnership will also give Pinnacle access to tools to combat payment fraud prevention and improve risk management. 

Commenting on the news Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Affairs Manager at Pinnacle, Veronique dos Reis, said:

“The integrity and efficiency of our platform is a part of our success. So, to keep our operational levels high, we needed a solution that could accelerate compliance processes and level-up security. 

“Sumsub’s solution was a great choice for us. We have accelerated the verification of clients, source of funds verification, and have enabled the detection of false chargebacks. It was a great leap forward in terms of the internal organisation of our compliance processes. Overall, we are providing a better onboarding experience for the members of our betting community.”

While Co-founder of Sumsub, Jacob Sever, added:

“Betting companies have to stay compliant with both AML and responsible gambling requirements, which is not an easy task. We are glad to be utilizing our expertise in order to help Pinnacle to become more socially responsible and protect their customers from any possible gaming-related issues.”

AYO.NEWS says:

As we reported last week, despite being well-known as a soft-touch regulatory jurisdiction thus far, Curaçao has announced plans to introduce a new regulatory regime, in coordination with the Dutch government. Though Pinnacle has clearly taken a proactive approach to compliance, it remains to be seen if the bulk of license holders in the Dutch Caribbean territory will put in similar efforts, or simply leave for pastures new. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

The Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) is extending its Spelpaus self-exclusion system awareness campaign.

During summer, the SGA ran a high-profile public information campaign about Spelpaus.se, featuring adverts on TV, social media, and websites. According to research, the campaign has resulted in awareness of the self-exclusion system rising from 54% to 71%, and some 58,000 Swedes are now registered.

Despite this, the SGA says it wants to improve awareness further, and intends to extend the information campaign until mid-January 2021.

AYO.NEWS says:

Despite responsible gambling and player protection initiatives being welcome in principle, exclusion systems like Spelpaus only block access to licensed operators, leaving vulnerable gamblers completely exposed to unlicensed offshore operators. 

Logically, this means that until unlicensed black market operators are effectively blocked, Spelpaus may actually be doing more harm than good, by pushing vulnerable gamblers to sites which offer no checks or protection whatsoever. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.