Christoffer Grönlund, Co-Founder and Head of Affiliates at Winlandia, takes a deep dive into all things safer gambling as he outlines why player protection is necessary to create a more sustainable industry.

Responsible gaming has, quite rightly, been a major talking point within the betting and casino industry over the last few months.

Regulators in markets across the world have turned their attention towards player protection. Quite often, this has involved the introduction of mandatory deposit limits, enhanced KYC checks and – in some jurisdictions – restrictions on how, where and when you can advertise gambling products.

The UK is mulling over legislation to ban front-of-shirt sponsorships from gambling brands, while Ontario has strict regulations regarding bonus offers and promotions. These are just two of the many examples of markets that have tightened their grip on advertising – there’s no doubt that more markets will follow suit in years to come.

This shift in attitude towards gambling advertising has been bubbling under the surface for quite some time. Technology advances have meant gambling is now more accessible than ever; you can visit many different apps with a few quick taps on your mobile phone, not to mention the growing number of TV, radio and online advertisements.

Simultaneously, there has also been a growing public awareness of the potential risks that are associated with the gambling industry.

As an industry, I believe that we have a responsibility to prioritise player safety – this is not only the right thing to do, but from a commercial perspective, it helps to build both trust and credibility.

Negative publicity related to lacklustre responsible gambling practices can have hugely detrimental impacts on your brand’s long-term reputation. At Winlandia, we have made sure that responsible gambling and player protection are at the front and centre of everything we do.

A technology-led approach

For us, technology can play an integral role in not only delivering an exciting experience for players but can also play a key role in effectively monitoring bettors’ behaviour and intervening when they may display signs of problem gambling.

It may be a major talking point at industry conferences, but this is where artificial intelligence comes in handy. From a behavioural analysis perspective, AI and machine learning can help speed up and streamline the pattern identification process, pinpointing whether a player may be gambling outside of their financial means.

At Winlandia, we have tapped into AI technologies to deliver much more personalised, targeted marketing campaigns. This has allowed us to restrict bonuses and promotions to players who may be at risk of problem gambling, and instead, increase the volume of safer gambling-focused communications.

The data that we have collected from monitoring player betting patterns has also helped us improve the accuracy and effectiveness of our intervention strategies, giving us the opportunity to step in at the first signs of any problems.

When incorporating safer gambling measures into your products, gambling companies must balance player protection with the creation of an entertainment-led experience. For some, this might sound like a challenge. But at Winlandia, I’m confident that we’ve managed to achieve this.

But how have we done this? Good question. For us, content is key. You firstly need to make sure that the content available on your site is engaging, interactive and informative regarding the safer gambling tools that are available on your website.

The other major consideration is how you frame your safer gambling messaging. Ultimately, if you portray responsible gambling as something that is burdensome, it’s going to deter players. You need to show that responsible gambling is a key component of the overall fun and enjoyment of gaming – a safer experience is much more sustainable, and more enjoyable in the long-run.

Responsible gambling tools and messaging needs to also be embedded into your brand in a way that is non-intrusive. If you can achieve this and empower players with a range of tools and resources to manage their own gambling behaviours, then this will encourage them to stay with your site.

Looking ahead

It would be naïve to think that the road to creating a more sustainable industry is without its bumps. With ever-changing regulations and a growing threat from the black market, alongside increasing concerns regarding data privacy, we need to make sure that we are at the forefront of positive change.

But I do think that over the last few years, we have made some considerable progress in prioritising player protection and adapting our marketing to create a safer, more enjoyable environment for all.

By investing in new technologies to enhance responsible gambling measures, and collaborating with local regulators and stake holders, we can continue to develop best practices.

At Winlandia, we will continue to educate our players on the importance of responsible gambling and the tools available to them.

We remain strongly committed to corporate social responsibility by supporting initiatives focused on safer gambling. In 2024 and beyond, player protection will continue to be our top priority – and we can’t wait to see what the future brings!

Stefano Mandelli, Business Development Manager for Innovative Technology Ltd (ITL), is celebrating a decade with the leading provider of cash handling equipment and age & identity validation technology this month. Stefano is responsible for ITL’s presence in Italy and several countries within South East Europe.

Commenting on his long-standing achievement, Stefano said, “When I first joined Innovative back in 2014, my role focussed solely on growing our presence in Italy with an emphasis on the gaming and vending industries, alongside developing new markets. After a short period I expanded my territories, and as well as looking after customer in Italy, I am now responsible for a large part of South East Europe including Slovenia, Greece and Turkey. I am particularly proud of the strong partnerships I have established in all my regions, both with the main OEMs and with our approved Trading Partners and Service Centres. These collaborations have assisted with the growth of my markets, and even during difficult periods of supply, we have optimised lead times to ensure prompt product delivery.”

Enrique Jütten, VP of Sales & Business Development for ITL’s Gaming, Amusement and Vending sectors said, “ Stefano is an asset to our company and highly valued by the team, and his customers. Stefano’s main responsibilities are customer sales, forecasting and researching potential new business segments. He is an excellent account manager who understands his customers and their business models to ensure they choose the right ITL products to meet their needs.”

Continuing Stefano said, “ The growth of ITL and the development of new products has given me the tools to create opportunities in new sectors such as retail, banking, parking and transportation over the past few years. The best thing about my job is meeting people from different countries and getting to know their culture and advising them on how our products can elevate their business. My focus for the future is to continue to expand my area with the target to introduce and extend our new technologies and solutions in emerging sectors.”

Concluding Enrique said, “This is an impressive achievement and I would like to thank Stefano for his commitment to ITL. I look forward to seeing Stefano continue to grow our presence in his regions, and reach new markets over the coming years.”.

To claim to be the best betting platform, it is necessary to first understand what it is all about. First, it comprises a compilation of the odds and limits of the best online sportsbooks in one place. Then, it should display them side by side, making it easy for them to be compared quickly so that bettors can select as many as they want and place their bets simultaneously. And most importantly, it should be a licensed sports betting software.

Now, what makes VIP-IBC the best among the myriads of sites that follow the aforementioned concept? The answer to that is that they go far beyond basic services.

Selection process

Once someone has decided to venture into the world of online sports betting, they will immediately be faced with a decision: which bookmaker to choose. This decision becomes more difficult when noticing that there is a wide variety of options. However, since we are talking about money, we cannot simply take the first option that seems reasonable to us. Moreover, once the novice becomes an expert, a single bookmaker is no longer sufficient and things become even more complicated.

In both cases, an evaluation of the bookmakers in the market becomes a necessary step to mitigate risk as much as possible. However, such a process takes a lot of time and effort and requires a level of expertise that bettors may not have. Fortunately, a rigorous selection of bookmakers is exactly what VIP-IBC does before incorporating them into the platform. Although this process is so strict that, unfortunately, some big names in the industry fail to get a pass, it is the only way to ensure that customers do not face problems related to the brands’ unreliability or their fraudulent way of doing business.

All in one account

So far, there are 16 bookmakers that passed the arduous vetting process of VIP-IBC. Among them, we can count impressive names such as Betfair, Betdaq and Singbet. However, the number of cooperating betting establishments is a bit more complex than you think, as all displayed odds are available alone or combined. In other words, since VIP-IBC seeks to facilitate the maximization of profitability for bettors, something that bookmakers don’t really care about, the platform offers bettors the opportunity to place their bets at as many bookmakers as they want simultaneously.

This possibility extends the betting limits that bookmakers are forced to set, allowing users to exploit to the fullest any betting opportunity they deem valuable. However, betting against the house (or houses) is not the only service offered by VIP-IBC. In fact, they understand that betting against other players has its own kind of excitement. That’s why they offer exactly that, by incorporating the concept of betting exchange, in addition to the fixed odds format.

Customer Service

When it comes to betting, having the backing of experts in the field is of great help. VIP-IBC makes sure to help its customers by offering a team of customer service professionals who are available 24/7 and are able to provide real answers and solutions to any inconvenience that may arise.

In addition, customer feedback is highly appreciated not only because, as mentioned above, they are committed to adding new things to the platform according to the customers’ requests, but also because it is the most effective way to measure their satisfaction levels to make sure they get exactly what they pay for, or even more.