SMP eGaming is collaborating with addiction charity Motiv8, with the motive of driving education on responsible gambling in the Isle of Man’s gaming industry.
The multi-jurisdictional licensing, and regulatory compliance provider has partnered with the Isle of Man-based charity to deliver a responsible gambling course tailored to the needs of the local sector.
The course, which will be delivered through SMP’s online training platform – SMP Compliance Academy – integrates the company’s knowledge of regulatory requirements and the charity’s understanding of harm minimisation to provide a complete educational package, designed for gaming staff of all levels.
The course is being offered free of charge to operators for all their staff, regardless of whether they are existing partners of the SMP Compliance Academy.
Ted Pepper, Director at SMP eGaming, explained the rationale behind this decision: “The vast majority of gamblers enjoy themselves responsibly, but we nevertheless want to ensure the industry is well equipped to deal with the occasions where that isn’t the case. We have been supporters of Motiv8 for many years because of the great work they do in this area of harm minimisation.
“We made the decision to build this course and offer it for free so that we could disseminate their knowledge as wide as possible within the industry, to help with prevention, identification, and treatment of gambling related problems.”
In addition to other services for people with addictions, Motiv8 Addiction Services runs the island’s GamCare service, an affiliated partner of GamCare UK, which provides free, non-judgemental and confidential help and support for anyone worried about their own or someone else’s gambling on the Isle of Man. It also delivers educational and awareness raising programmes in the workplace, at local schools and University College Isle of Man.
SMP eGaming formed an affiliation with the charity in 2015, when an international regulatory change threatened its primary source of funding for its gambling related work.
It was at this point that SMP stepped in to encourage the local gaming sector to direct their donations to Motiv8, saving the charity’s gambling addiction service.
Motiv8’s Thea Ozenturk added: “There is no doubt that SMP eGaming’s support of the work we do around problem gambling has underpinned our services over the past couple of years. Without it, Motiv8 wouldn’t have been able to continue its free and confidential gambling addiction support, and that would have been hugely damaging for the people who need our help.”
The new partnership was officially announced to gaming professionals at an event hosted by SMP eGaming on Thursday 1st November, which kicked off Responsible Gambling Week. Around 100 people from the local eGaming sector attended to hear first-hand stories of gamblers who went too far and how, collectively, the industry can minimise risk to players.
At the launch, guests heard from two ex-problem gamblers from the UK’s leading independent gambling harm-minimisation consultancy, EPIC Risk Management. Both suffered devastating loss after battling with pathological gambling disorders for over a decade. Representatives from Motiv8 also took to the stage to share their insight with the audience.
