“People who gamble frequently and spend large sums of money on gambling are at increased risk of gambling harm,” states an article provided by partner IAGR, Greo Evidence Insights.
“The work conducted to develop guidelines on low-risk gambling – we read on the IAGR website – has demonstrated that a person's risk of financial, relational, emotional and health harm is directly related to the frequency with which they gamble gambling, the percentage of your income spent on gambling and the number of forms of gambling you regularly engage in.
Loyalty and VIP programs reward and encourage people to play more often and/or spend more on gambling. Research shows that participation in these programs is often linked to more frequent gambling, longer gaming sessions, and greater spending on gambling. Additionally, several studies point to a connection between people who are enrolled in a loyalty program or have VIP status and experiencing gambling-related harm.
What actions can regulators take to reduce the harm associated with loyalty and VIP programs?”
Recently published gambling research
Below are examples that offer insights into strategies to prevent and reduce gambling-related harm for VIP or loyalty program members. Regulators may find these examples useful when developing harm mitigation strategies.
Australia (Victoria)
In Victoria, Australia, loyalty programs must provide points for gambling and non-gambling activities. The award of points for gambling activities cannot exceed the award of points for non-gambling activities. Loyalty Program Points cannot be redeemed for gaming machine credits, gaming tokens, or anything that can be used for gambling; Instead, they must be redeemable for non-gambling prizes.
Denmark
In 2019, Danish authorities established a law that limited gaming bonuses to 1000 Danish crowns. Additionally, people cannot be offered bonuses based on inactivity (for example, to try to entice people to return to gambling). Furthermore, if operators create favorable conditions or have specific bonuses for people who are part of VIP programs, the operator must pay specific attention to warning of signs of harm, including actively ensuring that people with gambling behaviors problematic people do not join loyalty programs or become VIPs.
Sweden
In 2019, Swedish authorities enacted a law limiting gaming bonuses to 100 SEK. Operators can only offer people a bonus when signing up and it cannot be worth more than 100 SEK. As a result, some Swedish operators have chosen to change their reward strategies within VIP/loyalty programs. For example, Maria Casino (owned by Kindred Group) has switched to a rewards strategy that offers people 10% cashback for weekly losses.
UK
In September 2020, the UK Gambling Commission outlined new rules to stop irresponsible (high value) VIP practices.
