Online gaming: online poker operators help combat gambling addiction

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We saw in a previous post that the 2014 i-Gambling in Europe conference will be held in September in Italy, an important international event on online gaming. Rome was not chosen randomly as the location, given that Italy itself is one of the main global markets in this sector.

Let’s take stock of the situation, as in recent months the issue of gambling addiction and the regulation of the Italian gaming market has strongly emerged, also at a political level.

Italian legislation on remote gaming is one of the most advanced in the world. Online casino games and poker were legalized in Italy in July 2011, and two years later, many European states (and beyond) have taken our law as a model.

What Italian regulations provide is that every online gaming company, to operate in our territory, needs a license issued by the Italian state: which involves not only paying to obtain the license itself but also undergoing a series of constant checks on compliance with fair play rules and player protection.

This is why, to combat gambling addiction, many hope for a stringent and well-structured law for non-online games, such as bar video lotteries, similar to the one that regulates online and mobile gaming operators. Consider that even a country like the United Kingdom might review its online gambling regulations to move towards a model more similar to the Italian one. Besides the legislative aspect, there are all the protective actions that various operators implement to protect players. The major operators in this regard are those who usually implement the best player protection systems.

The online poker site Pokerstars.it for example, offers players automatic limitation and exclusion systems. With self-limitation systems, you can choose to limit the daily, weekly, or monthly budget to dedicate to poker: if you lower the limit, the change is immediate, while if you raise it (if you want to spend more money, therefore), the modification will be effective only after seven days. The effects of self-exclusion systems from gaming are even stronger. You can choose to suspend your gaming account from a minimum of seven days up to a maximum of 6 months (fixed term) or even indefinitely.

If you choose self-exclusion from gaming, the player’s personal data (including the tax code) are transmitted to the Customs and Monopolies Agency, making it impossible for the player to continue playing, even by trying to create another gaming account.

PokerStars has also been awarded as Best Mobile Operator in 2013 at the iGaming Business Awards organized by iGaming Business for its application PokerStars mobile , a completely autonomous system that allows poker lovers to play in complete mobility while retaining the functions of the PokerStars software, including player protection.

In short, from the perspective of mobile and online gaming, both Italian law and the major operators in the sector are aligned against gambling addiction.